These puppies begin their training at 3 days of age by being introduced to Bio-Sensor Stressing and human interaction. The Bio-Sensor Stressing continues everyday from day 3 to day 18. Beginning around day 10 when the puppies' eyes and ears are beginning to open, they are exposed to many noises and visual stimulants.
By 21 days of age they are introduced to many small obstacles that must be negotiated each day to reach their food and water bowls. At this time they begin to climb up and down small stairs, cross "cat walks," crawl over wobble boards and slippery surfaces. From 3 to 5 weeks as they become more agile, the difficulty of the obstacles and noise stressing increases. They are encouraged to chase and bite small "prey" items at this time. They spend several short sessions a day in the indoor training room playing on many different surfaces and obstacles. They eat three times a day at this age and each meal is awarded only after an obstacle, or series of obstacles have been successfully negotiated.
By 5 weeks they are spending 15 minute sessions in a small puppy crate 2 - 3 times daily. They begin spending more time separated from their littermates and are taking short trips out in the public for social and environmental exposure. The social and environmental exposure continues to increase throughout the puppies stay. As the puppies grow they continue to become more confident in different environments. They are exposed to many different real life scenarios: different types of open and closed stairwells, different slick surfaces, confined and crowded areas, noisy spaces, elevators, escalators, busy streets, airports, bus and train stations, working cattle farms and schools
Around 7 weeks the puppies are allowed to start doing "rag work" and their prey drive is first evaluated at this time. They are encouraged to chase and bite everything at this age. From this age on they are taught to properly grip and counter and begin to learn good biting technique. They also receive ball and hunt drive building exercises beginning around 7-8 weeks that continues throughout the remainder of their training.
As the program dogs continue to mature they are worked with an increasing amount of pressure, while still keeping a good balance of prey drive. By one year of age the ball and hunt drive has been built to its maximum genetic potential and the dog has no environmental issues by the end of his/her stay. By the time the dogs reach 12-16 months they are ready to enter into any department's training program.
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