Trigger Stacking - A Case of the Mondays
We’ve all had a case of the Mondays. Our alarm doesn’t go off so we wake up late and rush around in a panic. We drip toothpaste onto our shirt and then spill coffee on ourselves. We’re inching along in traffic during our commute. We hear upsetting news on the radio during our commute. We park and take a deep breath. We can do this. But as soon as we walk into work, our cringey coworker says something flippant and we unload our wrath. Normally we might give this coworker an eye roll and walk away, but given our trigger stacking morning, we let ‘er rip. Been there?
Stress is also cumulative for our pets. Your dog’s case of the Mondays may look like this: Your dog looks through the window and barks upon seeing someone taking a morning stroll with their dog. Your dog barks when she hears the brakes of the delivery truck. Your dog barks watching the letter carrier approach your home. You step outside to take your dog for a walk, and as Murphy’s Law would have it, your dog’s nemesis walks by. Instead of looking at you when asked to do so, your dog releases the Kraken, barking and lunging as you desperately try to open your door and bring your dog back inside.
If your dog has been accumulating stress, aka trigger stacking, please keep in mind that it takes a while for all of those stress hormones to recede. When stressful events occur, like the Fourth of July (aka Boomsday), your dog is more likely to have a hair trigger when it comes to environmental changes. Your dog may also become bothered by things that normally leave him nonplussed.
When this happens, it’s best to give your dog several decompression days. Keep these decompression days lowkey. It’s OK if your dog goes on fewer neighborhood walks and sleeps more. It’s OK if your dog goes to one playgroup with her besties rather than visit the dog park several times. Play Through a Dog’s Ear music or white noise. Pull the blinds to help your dog clock out from sentry duty. Drive to remote locations for decompression walks where you allow your dog to sniff along the trail. Encourage your dog to dip his toes into the river. Fresh air therapy is good for us all!
Encouraging your dog to come back to a behavior baseline through decompression days may help prevent an avoidable overreaction towards stressors. Any plan leading up to an event should also include a plan to help your dog relax after the event.