What is Trigger Stacking?
A trigger is anything that ‘triggers’ your dog’s reactivity (whether that’s reactive barking and lunging, frustration or overexcitement). It could be a dog, person, noise – whatever your dog is not comfortable with.
Your dog can usually cope with certain triggers, but they might not be able to cope with multiple triggers happening all at once, or one occurring after the other (like seeing another dog on a walk).
This could happen all at the same time, or at separate times throughout the course of a walk, or even spread out over a day or longer.
If you’re the owner of a reactive dog, you’ve likely experienced situations where your dog reacts, even to things they normally handle well. This behavioural phenomenon, known as trigger stacking, happens when a dog is exposed to multiple triggers (i.e. scary things or events they are worried about) resulting in heightened stress and reactive behaviours.
On their own, your dog might cope OK with triggers such as:
- A cyclist
- Another dog
- A high-visibility jacket
But put all together on one walk, or over the course of a day, and your dog may react at one of them.
This can often feel ‘out of the blue’ or unusual – but is your dog’s response to the building stress they are feeling. It’s like the saying, “the straw that broke the camel’s back”. That individual piece of straw on its own is not too heavy, but combined with lots of other ‘pressures’ or events, and the stress becomes too much to manage.
How Trigger Stacking works
Imagine this scenario: you’re out for a walk, and your dog spots a cyclist. They notice the cyclist up ahead, but manage to stay calm. Shortly after, you encounter another dog. At this point, your dog is already on edge from the first trigger (the cyclist) and struggles to maintain their composure. Finally, someone wearing a bright high-visibility jacket passes by. Individually, your dog might be able to cope with these situations, but together, they’re too much, and your dog reacts to the final trigger.
This response isn’t limited to a single event or moment. If your dog experiences a stressful event early in a walk or during the day (such as loud building work at home), it’s more likely they’ll be reactive later on. Their stress levels build up, reducing their ability to handle subsequent triggers.
Examples of where you might see these reactions from trigger stacking:
- Perhaps you are having building work done at home, and your dog is then reacting more on walks.
- If your dog reacts early on in a walk, it’s more likely they’ll have more reactions during the walk.
- Windy or stormy days usually mean that reactive or noise-sensitive dogs are more likely to react when they encounter a trigger in their environment.
How to help your dog with Trigger Stacking
Understanding trigger stacking is essential for helping your dog feel secure and cope with their environment, especially for reactive, frustrated or overexcited dogs. Here are some practical steps to reduce its impact:
- Plan Low-Stress Walks: Choose times and locations where your dog is less likely to encounter multiple triggers in quick succession.
- Allow Recovery Time: If your dog has a stressful experience, give them some downtime to relax before exposing them to new situations and recognise that you’re on the ‘trigger stack journey’ and find ways to reduce the triggers from ‘stacking’ further.
- Recognise Early Signs of Stress: If you notice your dog reacting early in a walk, consider cutting the walk short or heading to a quieter area. Some days, it’s not worth even doing the walk if you can feel your dog is already tense and worked up (for example, if your dog is noise sensitive and it has been very windy or noisy before their walk).
