A dog’s Conditioned Emotional Response (CER for short) is exactly as it sounds – an emotional reaction to something (that something called a neutral stimulus). The connection to the neutral stimulus creates an involuntary (usually) reaction whenever the dog sees, hears, or smells the neutral stimulus. This process is called classical conditioning, also known as Pavlovian conditioning, which is learning by association.
As you may recall, Pavlov took a neutral stimulus, in his case a bell, and combined it with an unconditioned stimulus (food in Pavlov’s case). After many iterations of ringing the bell and presenting food, the neutral stimulus (bell) became a conditioned stimulus, which triggered the same reaction (salivation) even when the unconditioned stimulus (food) was not present. In effect, Pavlov created a CER in the dog.
There are positive and negative CER’s. A positive CER would be pairing the dog’s leash/collar with an ensuing walk. Over time, the neutral stimulus (leash/collar) becomes the conditioned stimulus and the dog gets crazy when it is presented to the dog. A negative CER example would be a dog’s reaction lightning. Initially, the lightning is simply a bright light, somewhat neutral. But over time, the dog generates a negative emotional response to it because of the large boom that follows it.
How to apply this knowledge of CER’s to dog training:
Given the fact that positive CER’s can be created in dogs, a trainer can directly impact the pup’s emotional state when reacting to something that is scary or stressful. Depending on the level of stress that the dog has to the stimulus, it may take quite a bit of effort to change the dog’s CER, but with time and patience, it usually can be done.
Example:
A brush often carries with it a negative emotional response. However, by going through the following steps slooowly, we can create a positive CER around brushes:
- Hide a brush behind your back, with the dog sitting and facing you. Flash the brush quickly with one hand and then hide it behind your back quickly. Immediately after hiding the brush, offer a “yes!” (a marker word) and a treat to the dog. Continue doing this for 10 to15 treats.
- Next, test if part 1 has successfully altered the dog’s CER.by holding the brush in front of you and seeing how the dog reacts. If the dog backs off, you need to repeat step 1 more times until this test is successful.
- Next, hold the brush in front of you and wait for the dog to sniff the brush. When that happens, say “yes!” and treat. Repeat as many times as necessary to get to the next step.
- Next, with the brush in one hand in front of you, hold a treat between your thumb and index finger tightly and let the dog nibble on the treat. At the same time, move the brush ever so slightly toward the dog as the dog continues to nibble on the treat. We are slooowly changing the negative stimulus to a positive one. Repeat for a few minutes, then take a break for at least a half-hour and then repeat everything again from step 1.
- Fast-forwarding a little, once the dog is not backing off to any of the above, begin touching the dog with the back of the brush while the dog nibbles on a treat. Repeat as necessary.
- Ultimately, you can see where this is going. After many sessions of all of the above, begin touching the dog with the brush side in small doses, all while the dog is getting treated.
- Finally, after building sufficient trust with the dog, after moving at the dog’s pace, you will have created a positive CER within the dog.
