ESI: Early Scent Introduction

Why do we spend time introducing scents at such an early age with puppies? Early Scent Introduction creates a more aware and alert dog, which in return makes an even better companion, service, and/or therapy dog. Studies have shown that stimulating puppies scent ability early on has been proven to dramatically increase their scent ability later in life. Dog’s with scent training can help with search and rescue, diabetic alerting, seizure alerting, and much more. The benefits are not just for people - puppies also benefit from this simple stimulation and many breeders said they have seen improvements in confidence and stability in their pet and service dogs. Dogs that are taught and engage in scenting have a more optimistic attitude toward life and with that, fewer behavioral problems…and who wouldn’t want that?

How to do ESI

ESI should be done on days 3-16 of the puppies life. Each day, one scent will be introduced. We use these scents:

• Soil, pine shavings, cinnamon, star anise, lavender, black tea, tennis ball, coconut, leather, rabbit, chamomile, alpaca fur, cloves, and lemongrass

Once a day, pick up each pup individually and hold it gently but firmly in one hand, so that there is no chance of it falling. With the other hand, hold the scent item about ½ inch from the pup’s nose. If the pup wants to move towards the item, allow it to do so for up to 30 seconds. If the pup tries to move away from the scent item, allow this as well. Do not move the scent item toward a pup that is trying to avoid it.

Make a note of the responses to each scent:

+ is a positive response when the puppy actively tries to sniff the scent.

0 is a neutral response when the puppy does not respond in any way.

– is a negative response when the puppy turns its head away from the scent.

ESI should be performed at a different time of day to Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS). If the puppies are feeling mild stress from the ENS, you do not want them to associate that stress with the novel scents you are introducing.

By engaging our puppies’ scenting capabilities through ESI, we are giving them a foundation toward companion, service, and therapy roles. This investment in our puppies becomes the foundation for a lifetime of enriched cognitive function, ensuring that our puppies are amazing pets and also have the potential to meaningfully contribute to the world around them in significant ways!