Field Guide · Glossary
Trigger stacking
Reactivity and fearThe build-up that happens when stressful events land close enough together that a dog has not recovered from one before the next arrives.
How it works
Each stressful event leaves the body primed to react faster to the next one, so the same trigger can produce a much larger response than it would have on a quiet day. The dog is not overreacting without reason: the reaction is being added to a load that is already there. Because that load is invisible, whatever happens last usually gets blamed for all of it. How long a dog takes to come back down varies by dog and by event, and no reliable figure exists for it.
What it looks like
A dog passes a barking terrier on the morning walk, hears the garbage truck at ten, and has a delivery driver ring the bell at noon. By mid afternoon, a neighbor crossing the street two houses down produces a full bark and lunge, from a dog who ignores that neighbor most days. Nothing about the neighbor changed. The three earlier events did.
Commonly confused with
- Threshold
- Threshold is the point where a dog stops being able to cope. Trigger stacking is one of the things that moves that point closer as a day goes on.
Related terms
Where this comes up