Bio Sensor Research - About Early Neonatal Stimulation and Superdogs

 

How it Began
Last October there was a spirited discussion on the Justlabradors Forum (Neonatal Stimulation)among breeders and others about using a program in which puppies in the 3-16 day age range were stimulated in particular ways. Some breeders use it and find good results with it; others do not.
Some members asked what it was and were referred to this article (Bio Sensor)(Methods of stimulation)
For those of you who did NOT read through those posts, here's a summary:
Bob Pr. questioned the validity of the program since it offered no data, it's not mentioned in any references on effects of early experience, and the write-up didn't follow usual scientific conventions. He did not question that there could be some benefit but it might be for reasons other than given.
Some voices said, if breeders say it's a benefit, don't question it. Some said, we've tried it and don't see a benefit. Some said, we've tried it and it's great.
Bob Pr. persisted in trying to find out more about the origin and foundation for the program. Lynn (Casey's Mom) and I volunteered to help and the three of us --Lynn, Bob, and I -- formed a team which has been working on this since late October. Each of us have spent an average of 3 hours a day working on this and, on some days, far more.
It has taken us on a sometimes frustrating but fascinating journey; at times it has felt like we were living a mystery novel written by Agatha Christie. We've discovered many new things, met many new people, read many new books, and found new possibilities opening up that we may explore.
Our team -- Lynn, Bob Pr. and I -- divided up our work and efforts but we made decisions by consensus. Lynn was especially gifted in tracking down people, addresses, and finding references. I managed to find some really critical references and combed the web to locate all breeders who mention using Battaglia's program (List of breeders). Bob Pr. wrote many of the letters to participants and interviewed some by phone. So far, we've located and communicated with almost 10 people who were in the Army Bio Sensor Research program in the 1960s and 1970s.
We are still receiving more information and probably will for several months.
It took us far longer to get the definitive answer that we sought because the key person for us to ask, Dr. Jeffrey Linn, DVM, the Deputy Commanding Officer of the Army Bio Sensor program during its life, left for China for five weeks the day before we tried to contact him. Dr. Linn was the Deputy Commanding Officer of the Army Biological Sensor Research and, in that position, had knowledge and perspective of its complete operation.
Below is a letter typical of those we sent out to those we located who'd been involved with the program. It also serves as a review of the basic issues.
[NOTE: the neonatal ("newly born") period is between birth and the time the eyes open.) In puppies, it is between birth and 13 days (+ or - 3).]

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Dear -----,
Several colleagues and I have some questions about the Army Biological Sensor Research program and some findings that are said to come from it.
Recently, we learned about a program of stimulation of 3-16 day old puppies published by Dr. Carmen Battaglia.
Dr. Battaglia provides no data but he says that this program was developed by the Army Bio Sensor Research Program in its quest to develop a "Superdog."
The findings he reports and his recommendations were news to me; I'd not seen references to anything like them in my past reading on the effects of early experience (e.g., Scott & Fuller) -- or in books on dogs I've read more recently (e.g., Serpell, Coppinger, etc.).
In searching the web for references to the Battaglia program, my colleagues found 76 (so far) dog breeders, toy to giant breeds, who are following this program (aka "Superdog", "Early Neurological Stimulation", or "Developing High Achievers"). While most are in North America, it's spread to many continents. Counting those with no websites, there must be a hundred or more dog breeders who follow this program. The article is posted on websites of MANY breeders who use the Battaglia program. For example, see: http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/biosensor.html OR http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com/achiever.html Essentially this same article (under the various titles) also has appeared in the AKC Gazette and several dog breed magazines.
In these Dr. Battaglia says:
"The U.S. Military in their canine program developed a method that still serves as a guide to what works. In an effort to improve the performance of dogs used for military purposes, a program called "Bio Sensor" was developed. Later, it became known to the public as the "Super Dog" Program. Based on years of research, the military learned that early neurological stimulation exercises could have important and lasting effects.
Their studies confirmed that there are specific time periods early in life when neurological stimulation has optimum results.
"The first period involves a window of time that begins at the third day of life and lasts until the sixteenth day. It is believed that because this interval of time is a period of rapid neurological growth and development, and therefore is of great importance to the individual.
"The "Bio Sensor" program was also concerned with early neurological stimulation in order to give the dog a superior advantage. Its development utilized six [sic] exercises, which were designed to stimulate the neurological system. Each workout involved handling puppies once each day. The workouts required handling them one at a time while performing a series of five exercises. Listed in no order of preference the handler starts with one put [sic] and stimulates it using each of the five exercises. The handler completes the series from beginning to end before starting with the next pup. The handling of each pup once per day involves the following exercises:..." and the exercises, 3" - 5" each, are: held in hands supine; held in hands with body vertically down; same, body vertically up; toes tickled with Q- tip; placed on a cold (refrigerated) wet towel.
We've written to Dr. Battaglia asking for references to the data for this. His response was:
"The government has not released any data to the public. I have picked up pieces from friends who were connected to the program."
We are curious as to what evidence there is for viewing Battaglia's program as based on a proven Army research program. We've tracked down many references and names associated with the Bio Sensor program.
Your name came up as one who spent some years with the program and who would have an excellent perspective. In addition to your name, we have also found those of Steven Lindsay, Col. Castleberry, Dr. Eldin Leighton, Capt. Haggerty, and Dr. Michael Fox.
Steven Lindsay expressed doubts about the recommended procedure but said he did not have contact with the nursery.
I've talked briefly with Col. Castleberry, the commanding officer of the unit. He had obvious difficulty hearing (he's 86 years old). He said Dr. Linn, his deputy commanding officer, would be able to answer any questions. He recommended that we locate a film reporting on the work of the Bio Sensor Unit; we have found it and will get a VHS tape copy of it.
We received a message from Dr. Fox recommending we read a couple of his books (which I've done). Dr. Fox did several experiments on stimulation of beagle puppies in their first 35 days that bear slight similarities to Battaglia's recommended program. Dr. Fox did not seem aware of Battaglia's program but commented that Battaglia should have referenced Dr. Fox's work.
Our questions are these:
Did the Army Bio Sensor Research Program conduct this type of research? -- did it produce findings such as those Dr. Battaglia recommends in his program? -- if so, can you suggest how we might see the data (or summaries of it)?
Are there any descriptions of the Biological Sensor Research program to which you can refer us? -- can you tell us of any other people like yourself with knowledge of and perspective on the program? (Our main interest is in the effects of early experience on adult functioning.)
Do you have any comment on Dr. Battaglia's representation of the Army program or on his article?
While we have doubts that the Battaglia program came from a tested Army recipe, we're aware that following it could be beneficial although for reasons different than what is claimed. We've located a study on neonatal experience that found the amount of maternal licking and grooming when the neonate was returned to the nest (rather than the experience outside the nest) had a strong positive correlation with a gain in function of the young -- and this persisted even into old age. So we are aware that there could be some beneficial results from the Battaglia program even if it does not come from tested Bio Sensor procedures.
Thank you very much for your help and consideration of this.

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Below are excerpts from an e-mail we got from Dr. Linn after he returned:
"....I don't recall ever meeting Dr. Battaglia....I just returned from China and am writing with....severe jet lag ....[re:] the Biosensor "early stress" program. I can tell you that it was attempted on a limited basis for a brief time and was based on suggestions by a consultant, Dr. Mike Fox.
There was no scientific study on the results in so far as I can recall.
"The program consisted of 3 components:
1. Exposure of neonatal (less than 21 days old) puppies to mild centrifugal force (a device similar to a carnival tilt-a-whirl only much slower was used).
2. Placement of the pups in a refrigerator for a short time and
3. Stroking their hair in a direction opposite to the way it laid on their back.
"I am sure we did not use a wet towel and do not recall holding pups in different positions or "tickling their toes" as he describes.
"I recall Dr. Fox saying that Russian scientists had been doing early stress with children with encouraging results. "Incidentally, NBC Nightly News with John Chancellor did a 2 minute spot highlighting the early stress program. It showed the "tilt-a- whirl" device. The show started out with Chancellor saying something like, "We've just learned that the Army has spent 3/4 of a million dollars over the last 6 years centrifuging puppies and putting them into refrigerators." You can imagine the congressional and presidential inquiries after that one. As I recall, that was the main reason we stopped using the early stress program before data could be developed.
"I hope I have been helpful. It may well be that early stress is beneficial but we certainly did not prove that at Bio-Sensor."

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In our generic letter (above), we mentioned that there was some evidence that early stimulation of neonates may be helpful for reasons other than those Battgalia advocated.
I tracked down a psychology graduate student at the U.of Wisc. who is currently doing research in the area of neonatal experience.That graduate student very graciously sent us an article done by the Michael Meaney group at McGill ((Maternal Care - Responses to stress - see Science, Vol. 277, 12 Sept 1997, pp. 1659-62; also on www.sciencemag.org). That article reports some research on neonatal rat pups. Rat pups are not dog pups but there is a great deal of similarity between all mammalian neonates and those relationships found in one mammal species would be hypothesized to similarly occur in other species until research proves otherwise.
This study found that brief handling of pups through the neonatal period resulted in a different type of licking and grooming by the mother when the pups were returned to the nest. The amount of this maternal response was strongly correlated with favorable physiological changes in the young and these persisted into adult life.
James Serpell's book(Cambridge University Press), "The Domestic Dog," has a chapter, "Early experience and the development of behaviour" (by Serpell & Jagoe) which is excellent in its summarizing and referencing the scientific work that was done in this area up to 1995. It would be useful for breeders and any who are interested in effects of early experience.
So, while there's no evidence that the Battaglia program came from the Army Bio Sensor project, there IS the possibility that it might be helpful for reasons other than those suggested by Battaglia. We suggest that those breeders using it NOT discontinue the program.
However, breeders might look very carefully at the response of the mother to the young when the young are returned to the nest. Removing the pup and handling it MAY very well induce a response in the mother that may be very helpful to the young. [If any breeders would like to participate in research to test this out with their dogs, please contact us to get a protocol.]
What now for our detective/research team?
Dr. Linn has agreed to write an article with us on early experience. We have established contacts with people in the MWD (Military Working Dogs) programs. We were approached about our willingness to chair a symposium on early experience at a 2003 MWD convention but declined. We are considering our options -- describe the various MWD, Schutzhund, Seeing Eye, etc., programs for early treatment of puppies? Summarize the scientific studies on early experience? We're not sure.
We are still getting responses from participants in the Bio Sensor program and material about it. We'll post that on this website.
Lynn, Bob Pr., Paola

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