U.S.ARMY recipe for creation of Super dogs - cross post

A few weeks ago, in one of the pet magazines in my country, I've read an article about the improvement of dogs' temperament characteristics with a study and experiments done by the U.S. Army and I want to share that info with all of you.

In dog breeding, it is often believed that all process of good selection lies in choosing the best blood lines and that all good characteristics are fully inheritable, and even though it's pretty much true, studies have shown that only 35% of dog characteristics are a result of inheritable factors. What does that mean? It means that other 65% goes to other influences, like training, feeding, etc.
Studying that phenommenon, many scientists with many different opinions tried to find out new ways of dog stimulation to improve their inherited characteristics ( mostly psychological ), and tried many new methods. Some were significant and important for further research, some were not, but never the less, one thing that every one of them approves is the fact that first days and weeks of a new born pup are of most importance for further development of the dog.
Studies have shown that if pups were removed from a litter every day for 3 minutes for 5-10 days, their body heat will be lower than normal. This sort of small stress is enough to provoke hormonal inconsistency. Further researches have shown that "very small amounts of stress" at an early age can give us grown dogs that can reach the maximum of their abilities. When they were tested as grown up, those dogs had much better reactions then the dogs that were not stimulated as pups, which were enourmosly scared when they were exposed to highly stressed situations.
In need for improving dog charasteristics, the American Army launched the "Super Dog Program". After years of research it was determined that early neurological stimulative exercise can give important long term efects. For the optimum result to be achieved it is also very important to know when to apply those exercises and that period is between the 3rd and 17th day of life of the pup. For that purpose, five exercises were created. It is important to do all five exercises every day, but only once a day, because you will not get better results if you repeat that more then once in one day. The best way is to do all five of those exercises with one pup and then to do it with another.

1. Stimulation between fingers. Holding pup in one hand, try to gently tickle it between the fingers on any paw. The best way is to use q-tips and it is not important for you to notice that puppy feals that tickelling. This exercise lasts 3-5 seconds.

2. Using both hands, hold pup upright (head up) for 3-5 seconds.

3. Holding pup gently with both hands, turn it up side down (head facing ground) and hold it like that 3-5 seconds.

4. Lay the pup on your palms in the way that his head is facing you. It is OK for pup to wiggle (it is only important to lay on his back). Hold him in that position for 3-5 seconds.

5. Take dry towel wich was refrigerated for at least five minuts. Put the puppy on that towel (belly down). Do not try to stop pup if it want to crawl. This exercise lasts 3-5 seconds too.

If you do that exercises right, you can expect next results:

-better blood flow
-stronger heart beats
-stronger adrenalin glands
-low stress sensitivety
-better immunity

In later tests, it was noticed that dogs on which that practice was applied are much more active and willing to explore, fast to learn and very dominant toward other-unstimulated pups from same litter.




Aleksa

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