Early Scent Introduction (ESI) was created by Avidog International about two decades ago. The owners of Avidog were breeders of a wide variety of competition and show Golden Retrievers. ESI was created with the hope of developing dogs who at maturity would demonstrate exceptional scenting ability. At the time, it was primarily used on dogs who were expected to be working dogs in areas where scent work is key (i.e.: hunting/field, tracking, search and rescue, avalanche, and service dogs, to name a few).
Prior to eyes and ears opening, puppies have the working senses of touch, taste, and smell. For ESI, primarily when the puppies eyes and ears are still sealed, & their brain waves initially show very little activity yet, a new scent is introduced to each puppy every day. This is done during a period of explosive brain development where, according to Avidog, the puppies brain quadruples in size during the first three weeks of life.
After 7 years of integrating ESI into their breeding program, Avidog noticed that they were seeing more of their dogs have increased successes in competition, and at an earlier age. A retroactive study was done and their observations were proven correct in the study. Specifically the puppies who had received ESI compared to puppies from the same breeder raised prior to ESI received more competition titles, titles that required higher complexity in scent work, and titles received at an earlier age. After even more time has elapsed since that study, and more dogs have been served through ESI, the owner of Avidog said that they have seen nothing but benefit to all dogs that receive ESI.
The mission of my own breeding program is not on competition dogs, but on foundations that promote Health, Longevity, and Temperament to benefit all dogs. Because I see ESI as a positive exposure that can only aid our dogs, I am happy to integrate it. It's one more layer of work we provide in growing strong foundations for our dogs and their futures.
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