Tag: dog

What is trigger stacking?

knowyourdogdevon

What is trigger stacking?

Let’s say your dog struggles with other dogs in their environment. You’ve been making progress, your dog is doing well, and on Wednesday you see a black Labrador over the road on your walk. Your dog doesn’t react. Awesome! But on Friday, you see the same black Labrador, and your dog reacts. Why, when they didn’t on Wednesday?

Sometimes in these situations, trigger stacking has occurred (your dog has had things to process and recover from before they’ve even seen the Labrador). Every dog has an amount that they can cope with before something will push them beyond what they can cope with – or rather, they’ve had too much to cope with. The thing that does this could cause the dog to react seemingly disproportionately.

An easy to understand, human example:

Scenario A – I go shopping for the day and have a great time. I head home to my husband who has cooked dinner for me, but burnt the lot and it was the last of our food before the shopping arrives. No problem, we will get a takeaway.

Scenario B – I go shopping but can’t find any of the stuff I need and the shops were VERY busy so it took me twice as long and got me stressed out. I decide to leave the shops and go home, but the roads are full of traffic. I take a short cut but hit a huge pot hole which could cause issues with my car. When I finally get home, my husband says that he tried to cook us dinner but burnt it and we have no more food. Cue me reacting pretty badly to my husband’s cooking efforts because I have already had so much happen to me that day.

The final triggers were the same in each scenario, but in scenario B, I’d already had so much on my plate with all these triggers stacking up. The final trigger pushed me to a point that was more than I could cope with, so I reacted to it.

So when our dogs seem to react ‘disproportionately’ to things that they are usually ok with, have a think. Could they be trigger stacked? There may be other reasons at play (new behaviours from our dog always warrant a health check. We should also be aware of signs that our dog could be in pain) but it should always be considered. We could also be habituated to things that our dogs find triggering so may not even notice them ourselves, such as loud car engines or helicopter sounds. If we can be more in tune to whatever our dog could be triggered by, then we can help them and be great advocates for them.

It is important to note that the nervous system does not differentiate between stress, excitement, and high arousal states – stress and excitement will both add to your dogs becoming trigger stacked in the same way.

If we notice trigger stacking occurring, we should try to prevent our dog being exposed to more and more triggers (as best we can), and give them plenty of time to decompress through enrichment, sniffing, licking, and even some rest time at home. Skipping walks for a day if you think your dog would benefit from it emotionally is absolutely fine, and they may prefer a quiet walk after.

Note for my husband: he hasn’t burnt a meal in the 11 years I have been with him, and the poor chap is always used in my trigger stacking examples! Thank-you for always making good dinners (but sometimes I’d prefer the takeaway).

Sally Lewis 2022

Is it safe for your dog to be out of sight?

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Letting your dog disappear out of sight, and staying out of sight 🤔is it safe?

First up, I will start by noting that accidents happen and sometimes we can sometimes be caught off guard. But here’s something to think about. Is knowingly letting your dog disappear out of sight a safe thing? (I’m not talking about disappearing behind a bush for a few seconds or popping up in between trees as they dash through the woods..I mean you can’t see them, and have no accurate idea where they are, or what they’re doing).

Today, during an appointment, an off-lead dog approached us and stayed with us for a while. It didn’t look like it had anyone with it. I caught up with it whilst it ambled off, put a lead on it, and we gave the number on the collar a ring. No answer. A short while later we found the human it was with, who was quite a distance away.

I was able to approach that dog, attach a lead, and walk with it. It would have been very easy for a dog thief to do the same thing 😢and the dog was so far away from it’s person that they wouldn’t have seen what was going on or been able to prevent it. My intentions were good in that I was worried about the dog, but we see all too often on social media that not everyone is that way inclined.

Off lead dogs will go behind trees to have a sniff and reappear a moment later, but if your dog is running off and going out of sight to the point where you don’t really know what they are doing, then they could:

⚠️Eat something that makes them severely ill

⚠️Get hurt by something on the floor, like sharp glass

⚠️Approach a reactive or nervous dog (these dogs have just as much of a right to an enjoyable walk as any other dog), or a dog that is on a lead for another reason (such as recovering from an injury or having joint pain)

⚠️Approach a person or child who is afraid of dogs, or doesn’t want an unknown dog near them

⚠️Walk in to a road

⚠️Be stolen

⚠️Be livestock worrying or chasing livestock (it only takes a dog moving near sheep in at a moderate speed to cause changes in their behaviour which could effect the health of a pregnant ewe, and the unborn lamb)

These are all reasons I keep my dog in view when we are on walks. As dog guardians, we do have to comply with the law around keeping them ‘under control’, and you have to be able to see them to do this. It is how we keep both our dog, other dogs, and other people safe from any physical or emotional harm.

If your dog doesn’t recall reliably, they might not be ready to be off lead in the environment they are in. Use long training lines attached to a body harness (not attached to a collar), practice practice practice, and slowly increase how distracting the area is for them. Secure paddocks can be a great way to start practicing off lead time.

Sally Lewis 2021

Why does my dog stop on walks?

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There are several reasons dogs will stop on a walk, some of the common reasons I will summarise below. I’m not talking about stopping to sniff (normal, let them do it) or stopping because they want to play with the dog over the road. I mean showing reluctance to walk. The key thing is that they are NOT doing it to “give you a hard time” or to “get on your nerves”. Dogs can’t speak English, it is our job to learn to listen to what they try to tell us through the only means that they can. This means learning to ‘speak dog’.

Emotional struggles such as worry or fear: dogs will sometimes freeze on walks for this reason. Note the times that they seem to freeze/stop. Can you spot patterns emerging? E.g. after seeing traffic, after a bus lets off it’s air brakes, after a dog has barked at them, if they are uncomfortable with traffic and are now showing reluctance to walk on pavements…don’t forget to think about what has happened to them earlier in the day and how this could impact their emotions at the time, too (have they had a trip to the vets or groomers that they found tough?).

Overwhelm: sometimes dogs can get overwhelmed on walks and want to stop walking. Again, observe patterns and triggers. If your dog is becoming worried/overwhelmed on a walk it’s really important you offer them choice to go to somewhere where they feel safe.

Physical discomfort: has your dog been over exercised and might they be aching? Are they a senior dog that might be experiencing joint pain? Do they seem to be reluctant to walk on certain surfaces, for example, tarmac, gravel, or do they want to avoid declines (typically declines can put more weight on certain joints such as elbows and shoulders)? Don’t forget that growing dogs experience growing pains just like us humans, too, so this applies to young dogs just as much as senior ones. There are other health reasons that could cause a dog to stop on walks but these are some common ones relating to joints.

A common misconception is that puppies/adolescents need to be walked to ‘tire them out’, but actually, one of the best things you can do for a young dog is let them take it slow, have the time and flexibility (in a safe and appropriate way) to make choices that enable them to feel safe, and engage with stimulus in a way that builds confidence rather than them being hurried on or forced. This will set you up for avoiding things like overwhelm or emotional struggles. For puppies, a walk is not about actually walking.

Sally Lewis 2021

Creating emotional change: the weighing scales analogy

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‘The Weighing Scales Analogy’. I’m full of visual analogies! This is one I use with a good chunk of my clients when discussing how we achieve emotional change, so I thought I’d post about it.

I’m going to use a dog that barks and lunges at other dogs due to being anxious around them, as an example.

This dog has a set of weighing scales relating to this issue. One side represents being worried by other dogs and feeling the need to react to them in certain circumstances. The other side represents feeling safe and being able to think about the dog and make new choices, in certain circumstances.

Many things can affect the reason that the scales weigh the way they do – experiences & learning, genetics, physical health (physical health issues should always be treated before behavioural coaching), to name just a few. When coaching dogs to feel differently emotionally, we work to gradually tip the scales. This is not a process that happens quickly due to the way the brain and body work.

The ‘safety’ side is affected by good management (working at the dog’s pace and avoiding stressful exposures), helping the dog to have lots of positive experiences, and helping them to think differently in the situation. This is done at the dog’s individual pace. Imagine placing lots of little pebbles on to that side of the scales, when there is a big rock on the ‘negative’ side. We want to slowly help those scales to tip.

With careful management and effective coaching, the scales will gradually tip. If we have set backs or if management is poor, the scales will tip back the wrong way (just how much depends on the dog’s resilience and ability to recover from events). We must account for this in the case of set backs.

For a dog that is worried by other dogs, this means lots of positive exposure (at a distance your dog is comfortable with), avoidance of being pushed beyond what they might be able to cope with, helping them to build positive associations, think & process, engaging other areas of the brain and calming the nervous system.

Set backs might include management failing (dogs running up to you off lead or popping up where you wouldn’t expect them), trigger stacking, accidentally going beyond the threshold of what your dog can cope with, ill health (to name a few).

Tipping the scales takes patience and understanding. You need to be meeting your dog’s other needs (including health needs) to be successful in tipping the scales. Pain and ill health really effect this process. Once the scales are looking a certain way, they aren’t fixed in place forever, they are fluid so we need to be mindful of our dog’s experience of the world around them.

Sally Lewis 2022

Proximity doesn’t always mean your dog wants to be stroked

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There is a common misunderstanding that if a dog comes and sits or lies near you, they want you to stroke them. Lots of dogs enjoy closeness and even contact without actually being stroked.

Misreading this is a common reason that dogs will start to give off stress signals, which if ignored, may escalate to a growl to ask you to stop. Unwanted contact may be even more difficult for dogs who are in pain, have touch sensitivities, or dislike certain areas being touched.

How do I know if my dog actually wants me to stroke them, or if they just want to be close?

Your dog may indicate that they want that sort of contact by nudging you, pressing their head in to you, or pawing at you.

How do I know if they want me to stop?

Look out for body language such as excessive blinking, showing the whites of eyes, leaning away, turning their head away, licking their lips, yawning, panting (when they aren’t hot), narrowing eyes, lowering their head. If this sort of thing is ignored then they might escalate to growling.

Why don’t they just walk away?

Not all dogs feel comfortable doing this or they may be conflicted if they want the proximity to you, just not the stroking.

Consent testing

I always recommend consent testing to give your dog a choice. Allow them to indicate that they actually want you to stroke them. If they do, go ahead, and stop after a few seconds. They may ask you to carry on, if they do, stop again after a few seconds. This regular stopping gives them the opportunity to move away if they’ve had enough.

In this photo example, is me and my boy. He loves proximity to us and will even lean against us like he is here. This doesn’t necessarily mean he wants us to fuss him every time he does it. He isn’t the sort to move away on his own because he wants the closeness.

In short…closeness does not always equal consent, and we should ensure physical contact like stroking is choice-based, as an important part of safety around dogs (as part of bite prevention) and to prevent stress to the dog.

To learn more about consent, choice-based methods, and dog body language, pick up your copy of Empowering Your Dog Through Choice on Amazon.

Sally Lewis 2023

“Help! My dog growls at me if I try to get them off the sofa when they’re asleep”

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Have you heard the phrase – let sleeping dogs lie? That does have some relevance.

I have never been physically removed from a sofa or bed when I am asleep or tired (and I hope you haven’t either!) but I know that if somebody did this to me, I would be unhappy, and it would probably startle me as well. If this happened to somebody, they may snap “leave me alone” at the person moving them in their sleepy state. The same goes for our dogs.

If your dog is asleep/tired on the sofa or bed and you need them to move, don’t reach down when they are asleep and do this physically. This may result in you being on the receiving end of a growl, or snap. It is important to note that a growl is a healthy communication for SPACE, and not to be punished (or they’ll stop growling and step up the ladder – do you want a dog to bite instead of growl?).

First, rouse your dog using your voice to alert them to the fact you are there and bring about their attention. Try to avoid startling them when you do this. Then, use an ‘off’ cue (this is something you will need to teach in advance). With your dog on the bed/sofa, encourage them on to the floor by throwing a reward down there, and as they get down, capture this with the word ‘off’. After lots of repetition, this can become a cue you use to ask your dog to get down, and you might include a hand signal of waving a hand towards the floor.

If you are thinking “but at 10pm I just want to get in the bed without having to do this”, prior to your bed time, you may need to manage the situation by preventing access to the bed, or encouraging your dog off of it ahead of time and shutting the bedroom door.

It is important to note that dogs that are experiencing pain or illness may be increasingly sensitive to being asked to move off of comfy areas or dislike being roused when they are tired. Other health conditions, or loss in hearing/vision, may result in dogs being startled more easily. If you notice a change in behaviour from your dog, or behaviour that is new or worsening, you should go for a check with your vet, referencing the behaviour you have seen. Dogs that have guarding tendencies (some consider this possessiveness) may also not like you asking them to move off of/away from areas that they value, so if this is the case, guarding should be explored with a qualified and experienced behaviourist for a tailored management and coaching plan.

Sally Lewis 2022

What happens when we let our dogs watch

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There’s a lot to be said for letting dogs watch and take things in.

We humans are very quick and very busy. We don’t make a lot of time for taking in things (big or small) and don’t always consider that our dogs need to do this. This can mean we hurry our dogs on in certain situations and interrupt important environmental processing.

I’m not just talking about sniffing, but looking at things and watching, at a distance that your dog feels comfortable and calm at. A lot of learning goes on during this time.

An example could be watching dogs from a distance. If you have a dog that is worried by other dogs, ensure they are far enough away that they feel safe. If your dog can get excited by other dogs, ensure they’re a distance away that helps them to be calm.

Your dog may also stop to watch people, leaves blowing, birds, cars – anything really. Dogs may even choose to sit down, stand, or lie down independently during this time.

My dog used to see a seagull on our walks that he found very interesting because it was in a place that a seagull didn’t really ‘make sense’. Same one every time, because of a marking on its wing and an unusual walk. If I tried to redirect him on every time, that could be really frustrating for him and result in difficulties walking calmly afterwards. Instead, I gave him the chance to watch the seagull for a few minutes when he wanted to. Now he pays little attention to it.

If we start seeing our dog becoming worried, fixated, or over aroused then of course we can get their attention and move them on. Often if they’re in a calm and relaxed state, after a period of looking, they’ll move on when they’re ready anyway.

Next time your dog stops to watch something or suss it out, if they’re calm and relaxed, why not let them do this and give them to opportunity to move on when they’re done, rather than hurry them on because we want to? Make some time for it on your walks.

This additional choice, agency, and ability to suss things out without micromanagement can have a positive impact on behaviour and wellbeing.

Sally Lewis 2023

Why is being able to examine each part of your dog’s body so important?

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Recently, my dog was making efforts to keep one of his paws off of the ground on-and-off.

I carefully examined his paw but couldn’t see anything obvious. I looked between each of his toes, and also checked his nails for any cracks or potential painful niggles. Still couldn’t see anything.

I raised his toes slightly to look around his metacarpal pad (this is the biggest pad on your dog’s paw) and could see a small cut in between the metacarpal pad and his toes. I’m canine first aid trained which is really helpful for preventing vets visits for things like this, so was able to clean the area for him and will continue to do this over the next few days. This is an area that gets infected easily due to dirt on the floor and moisture, so it’s important to keep an eye on it and ring the vet if needed.

This process probably took me 5 – 10 minutes to do, during which he received lots of reassurance, praise and some treats.

I’m sure you can imagine, this would be impossible if he was not comfortable with me handling his paws to such an extent. For dogs that do not let people handle their paws, this sort of thing would be very difficult to do without causing distress. Some dogs may even require sedatives to minimise trauma and also so that the area could be examined and treated properly.

So, why can dogs develop sensitivity to areas being touched?

🐾Past trauma e.g. injury or illness. If a dog has required treatment for this that they have struggled with then this could feed in to negative associations (see below).

🐾Negative associations that have been built e.g. if a dog has had an unpleasant experience involving their ears, they might not tolerate ears being handled. For example, ear drops being put in. We know that this is for the benefit of the dog but if they have not liked it, they may dislike their ears being touched over time.

🐾Ongoing pain or illness (may be undiagnosed)

🐾Other things that can feed in to this include distrust of the person doing the handling, or stress relating to the wider environment.

Being aware of sensitivities, reasons that your dog has become sensitive to areas being handled, and ensuring that we are taking the right steps to help our dogs be comfortable with this (in whatever form that takes) is really important so that we can provide ongoing care.

It is important to get dogs used to having parts of their body handled from puppyhood, although that isn’t to say that they may not develop sensitivity to part of their body being handled later on. Even if you do not have to do things like daily grooming, you may have to tend to an area due to a minor injury like I did today. Being comfortable being handled and examined is very important for veterinary care and grooming needs.

Sally Lewis 2024

Dogs are still dogs.

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Dog ownership has exploded in recent years. Recent studies suggest that at least 36% of homes in the UK have one or more dogs. That’s over a third! This means that we are seeing more and more dogs out and about.

What I am also seeing, is more people not understanding that their dog is a dog. Not a cat, not a rabbit, not a robot.

𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨𝐲𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐨 – 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐋 𝐝𝐨𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐫. Yes, there are times when some of these behaviours can become excessive and then we have to look at what might be causing that, but to a point, all of this is normal.

I was recently on a walk and saw a beautiful sighthound walking along. Sighthounds have very developed eyesight, and were bred for detecting the movement of prey, chasing, and catching the prey. They are very speedy, and agile dogs.

This particular sighthound was being walked directly towards a duck that was sat on the grass. We were in a huge area where the duck could have been given a wider berth. The sighthound lunged at the duck, about 2 metres away. No physical harm to the duck, who waddled away and got in to the water. The sighthound however, was told off, shouted at, their collar was grabbed and they were called “naughty”.

Is this naughty? Or did a hound, bred for hunting, seemingly no other training around wildlife, get walked straight towards a duck while their human made no efforts to engage them in anything else? Is the dog at fault, or is this a case of ‘user-error’?

Don’t get me wrong. My dog used to be quite interested in wildlife! So, we did lots of training, teaching him alternative behaviours on sight of birds and waterfowl. He has safe outlets for prey drive that don’t involve the real deal.

Society’s expectations of dogs has shifted recently. Dogs behaving like dogs can be seen as a problem. People aren’t using good judgment. People choose breeds that were bred for specific purposes, such as alarm barking, guarding, following scents, hunting, herding, and then get cross when they display any of these behaviours. People don’t want to engage with their dogs. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 “𝐝𝐨”, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠.

It is on us to offer safe outlets for natural behaviour, to offer training, and manage situations to set our dog’s up for success.

They aren’t born in to the world knowing that our expectation of them is quite different to behaviour that is normal for their species (which I am sure you’d agree, is unfair). They don’t have an off-switch that we can just press for being a dog.

A quick tip for walks, is to engage with your dog. A lot of people take their dogs on walks with them but don’t interact with them a lot. A first step if you want to make changes to your dog’s behaviour is to engage with them when out and about.

Please don’t tell your dog off for being a dog.

www.knowyourdogdevon.com

Sally Lewis 2025