How monitoring your dogs daily triggers can help you avoid an outburst…
To talk about trigger stacking I first need to explain about thresholds
A threshold is the point in which your dog goes from one emotional state to another - from being able to think, process information, and learn - to a dog who is unable to do all of that. If you are currently working with a dog to overcome an issue; you will know exactly what I mean.
You might have read or heard that you should try to keep your dog ‘under threshold’; but why is that so important? Basically, a dog over threshold is a dog unable to use their thinking brain and is instead reacting from instinct and an emotional overload. Therefore, keeping your dog under threshold is an important part of working through the problem, so your dog is able to think and respond to training.
Although the majority of people that are looking to understand their dogs thresholds and triggers are those with a behavioural ‘problem’, it’s actually important for every dog guardian to learn these concepts to prevent future problems. EVERY dog will go over threshold at some point in their life, but learning to read body language and understand your dog will help you prevent too much of this. Whether that’s when you’re socialising a puppy, training a teenage dog, or you’ve brought a rescue dog into your home.
It’s often assumed that only dogs with behaviour problems go over threshold when they’re barking and lunging at the end of the lead, but actually these things are also classed as a dog over threshold:
Fooling around - ie doing zoomies, twirling at the end of the lead, maybe even jumping up at you (this can often be misunderstood for a ‘playful’ dog, but is actually a dog who is using the fool around option to cope)
Freezing / Shut down - those dogs that choose to just be very still and hope the situation passes soon. (this can often be mis-read as a ‘good calm dog’ but actually is a dog that is going through the same stress as the lunging and barking dog, just showing different outward behaviour)
Overexcitement - the dogs that are so ‘distracted’ that anything in the environment is causing them to be unable to listen to the most simple instructions. These dogs also may be jumping and mouthing at their guardian as a way of redirecting their emotions. (It’s often misunderstood that these dogs are not going through a hard time, they are just disobedient and need a firmer hand; when actually they need their stress levels, triggers and thresholds monitored just like every other dog)
So what is trigger stacking?
When a dog is exposed to a trigger under threshold, this allows them to cope with that trigger and process information while you work on your training plan. Even though the dog is under threshold with that trigger, they should still be given plenty of time before being exposed to another one, in order to recover from any stress placed on them.
If triggers appear with enough time in between each one, the dog will remain under threshold and be able to cope. However if the triggers all happen either in close proximity to one another, or at the same time as each other; this then reduces the dogs ability to cope, the triggers stack onto each other and the dog goes over threshold. See chart below:
It's important to note that thresholds don't always stay in the same place. They are flexible to moving dependent on the environment, the trigger itself, and the dogs mental state at the time. Some triggers will be harder to cope with largely depending on the dogs past experience and associations with those triggers. If your dog is under continued / accumulated stress, then their threshold for being able to cope would be much lower; they could tip over threshold with even the smallest trigger that they would usually be able to cope with. See chart below:
See my blog on Stress in Dogs to learn more about how stress affects behaviour.
What can be triggers for our dogs?
Most people will only see the triggers that immediately send their dog over threshold, the really obvious ones. However there are many more triggers throughout our dogs day that go unnoticed because they are only get a minor reaction that goes unnoticed by people unable to read body language. These triggers are equally as important because they are the ones that can stack up quickly and cause the 'over reaction' of the big trigger when it happens. It's also important to note that not all triggers are things that cause fear, anxiety or aggression, triggers can also be events that increase arousal and excitement in our dogs.
Potential triggers
People
All people
Men
Children
People in hats
People in High Viz
Groups of people
Dogs
All dogs
Small dogs
Big dogs
Black dogs
Bouncy dogs
Groups of dogs
Noises
Obvious noises (thunder, fireworks, gunshots, bird scarers)
Less obvious (Traffic, horns, doors slamming, washing machine, dishes banging, industrial work)
Movement
Traffic
Cyclists
Joggers
Skateboards/scooters
Others
Doorbell
Being 'told off'
The use of punishment in training
Being left alone
Pain or health issues (short term or chronic)
Arousing activities (dog sports, searching/hunting, chasing, play)
Grooming, nail clipping, tick removing
Vet visit
How to help your dog stay under threshold
The first thing is to write a list of your dogs triggers; the obvious ones and the not so obvious ones. An example of a not so obvious one would be a dog who is in the kitchen, hears a dish banging against another one and leaves the room quietly. They haven't made a huge deal out of it, but this was enough of an issue for them to leave the room. This is still a trigger that has gotten a response, the dog is not 'fine' with this (example is of my own dog).
Secondly you need to start to learn how to read your dogs body language. Dogs give of very subtle signs of stress (like above) without resorting to the big signs. The more you can be proactive and note down what causes your dog stress, you can figure out your dogs triggers and act accordingly. A good place to start is the mobile phone app Dog Decoder; https://www.dogdecoder.com. This also allows you to see during the training process the signs your dog is starting to verge on going over threshold; this gives you the change to get them out of the situation before they go over. A good one to test this is with treats; if your dog is usually very food motivated but has stopped taking food, or is snapping it up quickly while not really paying attention, this is a good sign of a dog entering their threshold zone.
Once you have figured out what your dog reacts to on a daily basis you can control their environment better in order to keep them under threshold while you work on helping them through their issues with positive reinforcement training. Lets say for example that your dog has had an exciting day practicing agility in the morning and a visitor came round for dinner that loves your dog. These two things haven't necessarily sent your dog over threshold but they are triggers that have raised arousal and stress levels (even if that's positive stress). You therefore would take into account that your dog may not be emotionally equipped to deal with the over friendly dog down the park that night or even the next day.
What to do if your dogs stress levels are too high and they are constantly over threshold and trigger stacked
For these dogs, before even attempting to work on the issue at hand, whats called a 'stress vacation' is needed. If their stress levels have continued to rise due to being over threshold and trigger stacked on a daily basis then they won't be in the right place to learn as effectively as they could. A complete stress vacation means literally going out of your way to avoid situations that increase your dogs stress levels for a period of time (usually two weeks if the situation has been persistent for some time).
This usually means having to change their environments and routines to avoid putting them under stress. For example finding quieter walks away from home, or not walking at all if the trigger is unavoidable. You can provide alternative forms of physical and mental enrichment to meet their needs and start to slowly introduce them to some simple training exercises that will help in the long term. This might seem like a big task, but dogs actually get used to their new routines very quickly, and contrary to popular belief our dogs don't need to be doing "xy&z" on a daily basis to live fulfilled lives.
The stress vacation is temporary (but may need to be repeated occasionally throughout a behaviour plan if they accumulate stress to that degree again). Long term, it is not always a good strategy to just avoid triggers because that's not real life. But the stress vacation gives the dog that time to come back to normal levels and be able to work with their trigger under threshold while retaining information and enjoying the learning process.
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