Stressed Dog? How Trigger Stacking Might Be Putting Your Dog Over Threshold #112
Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett
DogsThat
4.8 • 679 Ratings
🗓️ 24 September 2021
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Visit us at shapedbydog.com
Has your dog ever done something suddenly and without warning? A growl, snap, bite, or behaving in a way that is of character? Sudden behavior change could be the result of trigger stacking. Stacking triggers is your dog accumulating stress. All the small stressors become a big thing, and that last trigger in the stack is the equivalent of the straw that broke the camel’s back. We’re looking at stress reduction and trigger stacking prevention to help dogs have a long and happy life.
In the episode you'll hear:
• How different triggers have different intensities for dogs.
• That we also experience trigger stacking.
• The way dogs can express trigger stacking.
• Examples of triggers getting stacked for your dog.
• About adrenaline, cortisol and over threshold dogs.
• What to look for in your dog’s body language.
• The things that could create trigger stacking.
• How our dogs take on our emotions.
• What to do when you see your dog is stressed.
• About stress recovery and your dog’s cortisol level.
• How the way we train reduces stress in dogs.
• About generalizing positive conditioned emotional responses.
• Why to counter condition and desensitize to remove triggers.
• That stress reduction helps dogs have a long and happy life.
Resources:
• Wag Nation: Special Opportunity to Join - https://dogsthat.com/wagnation-hstd/
• Podcast Episode 111: How An Anchor Dog Can Help Overcome Your Dog’s Anxiety Or Reactivity - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/111/
• Podcast Episode 4: T.E.M.P. (Tail, Eyes/Ears, Mouth, Posture) - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/4/
• Podcast Episode 107: Pedicure Please: 3 Steps To Dog Nail Trimming Or Grooming Success At Home! - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/107/
• Podcast Episode 75: Stop Motion Sickness: Helping Your Puppy or Dog Love the Car - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/75/
• Podcast Episode 103: Excited Or Suspicious Dog? Dealing With Your Dog’s Emotions - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/103/
• Podcast Episode 25: Why All Dogs Can Bite and How to Reduce the Risk with R.E.A.D. - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/25/
• Podcast Episode 66: Resource Guarding: Dog vs Dog Aggression - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/66/
• Podcast Episode 71: Pro Dog Trainer’s Secret to Help Your Naughty Dog - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/71/
• Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Vxp2rQC8VMY
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | If you've ever found yourself saying the words suddenly and without warning, my dog just bit, |
| 0:18.3 | or just went berserkow or just wouldn't do what I asked. If you've ever found yourself |
| 0:25.1 | saying that, then you might be seeing something called trigger stacking in your dog. |
| 0:30.7 | Hi, I'm Susan Garrett. Welcome to Shape by Dog. Trigger stacking is what Shrek might refer to as |
| 0:37.4 | getting on my last nerve. |
| 0:39.9 | It's where small things add up to become a big thing. |
| 0:44.9 | It's like when your partner asks you to put away your phone at the kitchen table and you |
| 0:50.4 | go all spider monkey on them because of all the things that happen in the day. |
| 0:55.7 | It's like the straw that broke the camel's back and think about it. |
| 0:59.4 | Like it's a piece of straw. It's like weightless. How could it break a camel's back? |
| 1:04.0 | Well, it can if there's like a quadrillion, |
| 1:07.3 | bajillion pieces of straw eventually there is an amount of straw that would break a |
| 1:13.0 | camel's back. I don't know what that amount is, really. But you get what I'm saying. It's an accumulation |
| 1:17.9 | of stress that has happened to your dog that day. It's trigger stacking, triggers being |
| 1:23.7 | stressors that your dog has experienced. and not all triggers are the same. |
| 1:27.6 | For example, one trigger may have more intensity than another trigger based on the size, |
| 1:33.7 | the volume, the distance, whatever it appears to be that dog. |
| 1:37.7 | Now, dogs of different ages will have different thresholds to different stressors. So, a threshold is the place where your dog goes |
| 1:47.1 | all spider monkey or gets stress out to the point that they can't function. So, for example, |
| 1:53.0 | let's say you just get your hair done. You're coming out of the salon and it's pouring rain, |
| 1:57.5 | but you don't have anything to put on your hair. And so you just kind of put your hands over your hair and you run out to the car and then you get to the car and you |
| 2:04.9 | realize you don't have your keys and your phone is locked in the car. So, you're stressed a little |
... |
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