SOCIALIZING AND CREATING POSITIVE CONDITIONED EMOTIONAL RESPONSES (CER)

 I'd like to introduce you to a very useful tool called a "conditioned emotional response" which is abbreviated as "CER".  The emotion can be happy or stressed/worried/scared. 

Think of a conditioned emotional response (or CER) as an automatic response to a stimulus that has been learned from past exposures and experiences. It is not under your dog's control-- it is an automatic reaction. This is similar to what happens to soldiers who suffer from PTSD. They often have CERs to sounds that mimic explosions or gun fire. If they hear fireworks, even outside of the context of warfare; they may have flashbacks which may cause violent responses to the noise. We all have CERs in our daily life, for instance, how do you feel if you hear a police siren and see flashing lights in your rear view mirror? You may tap your breaks and slow down but your adrenaline flows and your heart rate races because you are anticipating something bad, a speeding ticket. I have a strong CER to spiders.  

We also have more happy CERs, such as hearing the music from an ice cream truck. The truck’s song may signal a happy CER from within us from our childhood memories of eating ice cream treats. When we socialize puppies, we are trying to proactively introduce them gently to new things AND create a positive happy CER about that new thing.  It's not just about letting them play with other dogs (though that's important, too).  It's about introducing them to everything in the world they have not yet been exposed to, during this prime very special developmental stage of puppyhood.  If this stage is missed it requires a LOT of compensating later in life.

I'm providing a few resources that utilize the tool of creating a positive CER.... the first one here is Creating a Positive CER to Unfamiliar Dogs.  https://carriepawpins.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Creating-a-Positive-Conditioner-Emotional-Response-to-Unfamiliar-Dogs.pdf 

And for those who have a puppy, here is the "How to Socialize a Puppy" YouTube playlist from Susan Garrett, a famous trainer and one of my favorites.  Watch all of these!  And let me know what if any questions you have.