Trigger

How it works

Triggers are specific rather than general, and identifying them precisely is what makes a plan possible. A dog is rarely reactive to dogs: they may be reactive to dogs approaching head-on, or to black dogs, or to dogs that stare, and comfortable with everything else. The same is true of distance, angle and movement. Writing down what actually preceded each reaction over two weeks usually reveals a much narrower pattern than the owner expected.

What it looks like

An owner reports their dog reacts to all men. A written record shows every incident involved a man carrying something bulky, and men walking empty-handed produced nothing at all.

Commonly confused with

Antecedent

An antecedent is anything that comes immediately before a behavior, and most are unremarkable. A trigger is the subset that produces a strong emotional reaction.

Related terms

Where this comes up