Trigger stacking
“The mind is like water. When it is turbulent it's difficult to see. When it's calm, everything becomes clear.” Prasad Mahes.
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What:
Triggers:
Triggers are events, opjects or can bring about a heightened emotional response from the dog.
Triggers can bring about a positive or negative response.
Some big triggers that most people don't think about are Health or medical issues, Physical discomfort or pain, the owner's mood, Hunger or thirst, lack of exercise, a change in routine, Changes in household members (babies, guests, absent members), separation from owners, car trips, weather, lack of sleep, Corrections or frustrations during the walk, etc.
Trigger stacking:
When multiple triggers are presented in quick succession, the dog's body and mind often don't have enough time to recover from the previous one, resulting in the dog getting overwhelmed or overstimulated.
The image below, retrieved from Homesitters, explains how trigger stacking works.
The Dog below has a threshold of 100, beyond which they struggle to cope.
Let's imagine :
1. The Dog had to wait 20 minutes for their usual walk since the owners ran late. (Frustration +20) = 20
2. The owner decided to drive to the park instead of walk. Car rides stress this DogDog since they usually are to the VET. (Fear +30) = 50
3. As soon as the Dog got to the park, they were excited and pulled to sniff their favourite tree. The owner then scolded the Dog for pulling (Anger +20) = 70
4. They now see an overexcited young puppy. Since the Dog is usually good with other dogs, the owner takes them up to the puppy on a lead. (Excitement +50) = 120
The Dog is now above the threshold, unable to cope; it gets annoyed and snaps at the puppy.
Removing these triggers or giving the Dog enough time to recover after them may have prevented the negative outcome.
Why it is important:
- Understanding Trigger stacking, in conjunction with knowing our dogs' Body language signals, allows us to steer clear of potentially unpleasant situations.
- If there was ever a time that your dog reacted unusually, it was probably a time they were stacked. Using tools like the Socialising Checklist, you can understand what triggers our dogs and help them overcome or avoid their triggers.
- Knowing how trigger stacking works can help us make visits to VET less stressful and can save you from needing to use expensive sedatives.
- Preventing trigger stacking also helps to make visits to the groomers, and doggy day cares more enjoyable.
- Recognising signs of trigger stacking is helpful when introducing our dog to new unknown dogs.
To recognise the signs of trigger stacking, we first need to know the signs of stress in our dogs. Each dog responds to stress differently. This page on Understanding Stress in dogs may help.
How to prevent it:
- Where possible, avoid triggers.
- When you see signs of stress in your dog, avoid any new interactions. Instead, choose a quiet, sniffy walk or go home and play a game.
- Give your dog time to recover between stressful situations. The amount of time needed may vary from a few minutes to a few days, depending on the intensity of the stressor and the dog.
- Help your Dog Decompress
Trigger stacking at the VET.
Vet visits are stressful for dogs and owners. To make matters worse, most dogs only see their vet when they are already unwell or in pain, lowering their threshold.
Prevention is always better than cure. The best solution is to take your puppy to see the vet for fun visits where they get pats and treats and have fun before and after. Soon, they will start to see the VET clinic as a fun place to go rather than a place to be afraid of.
Links with more information.