The United States was the only country to enter WWI without trained dogs, and as such, had to “borrow” dogs from the French and British. By WWII, the US still hadn’t established a military working dog program. Aware of the benefit of dogs in helping their soldier sons, brothers, husbands, cousins, and fathers, frustrated dog fanciers lobbied the government to adopt a war-dog program and in January, 1942, Dogs for Defense was started with recruited and trained dogs for the military.

Fast forward to the 1960s and the “Super Dog” program which produced almost 1,000 German Shepherd Dogs in five years, dogs who’d had neurological stimulation at an early age. ENS (Early Neurological Stimulation) is now common practice among many breeders. It includes:

1. Tactile stimulation;
2. Head held erect;
3. Head pointed down;
4. Supine position;
5. Thermal stimulation.

Researchers found that when done correctly (or more specifically, not over done), benefits included improved cardiovascular performance (heart rate), stronger heart beats, stronger adrenal glands, tolerance to stress and greater resistance to disease.

Do you have an opinion on the value of ENS?

For more on ENS, read Dr. Carmen Battaglia’s article here.

German Shepherd Dogs by Mick Cawston
John Stanbridge
Permission granted by Amanda McLaren
Canine Fine Arts
www.corsini.co.uk/fineart