How to Manage A Trigger-Happy Dog
If you’re a follower of @greywolf.blackfox on social media, you probably already know that Barak has many triggers that push him from anxious but sweet into a reactive psycho (for those of you who are new around here… that’s Barak!) Many of his triggers occur on his walks and other outings. We’ve spent a lot of time learning to recognize and deal with these triggers in an effort to make sure Barak can live a happy, safe, and full life.
Disclaimer
We are not professional trainers and by no means have we figured out a perfect, one-size fits all solution for managing a trigger-happy dog. Please keep your own pup’s needs in mind when working on trigger management.
Identifying Triggers
We’ve fully embraced Professor Moody’s mantra (no spoilers here!) in our approach to identifying Barak’s triggers - “CONSTANT VIGILANCE”!
While we have a good handle on most of Barak’s triggers, identifying triggers is an on-going process. Some of Barak’s triggers have only presented themselves over time (e.g. cars driving through puddles), while others have waned as he’s gotten older (e.g. skateboards - he still doesn’t like them, but he is no longer triggered by their mere existence in his line of sight).
The biggest advantage we have in managing his reaction around triggers is to catch them coming as early as possible - the longer we have before the trigger reaches, the more time we have to consider our behavior management options, assess our surroundings for places to turn or ways to block Barak’s view of the trigger, keep our movements calm and confident, and, if possible, maintain distance between the trigger and Barak.
Avoidance
Unless we want to work on Barak’s reactions to a specific trigger (e.g. strangers coming up to him - we’ve worked on this for safety reasons), our preference is to practice avoidance whenever possible. Avoiding triggers lets us spare Barak some amount of emotional angst and physical exertion - this is particularly valuable nowadays given his recent health problems - and gives us more control over when and where we work with him on trigger responses.
A walk where Barak encounters multiple unfixed males, a couple of skateboarders, a person who barks at him, and a family of erratic children is going to be taxing no matter what, but if we can avoid Barak responding to one or two of those triggers and manage the remaining ones through distraction or intentional, controlled exposure, it is a win.
Distract & Focus
If avoidance isn’t an option or if we want to work on Barak’s reaction to triggers, we work to distract him from the trigger, focus him on us, and hold his focus on us as the trigger moves past. This technique is particularly great on walks when we see a skateboarder coming towards us or there is a dog walking nearby. We use treats to help us get and hold Barak’s attention, which has made getting him to focus a bit easier. Quick, easy access to treats is important as situations can quickly devolve if we don’t get Barak’s focus quickly enough - it’s one of the reasons we created TreatTeek, which makes it easy and quick to reward your pups while on walks. If your pup is toy motivated, you can try bringing a toy on your walks instead!
If your dog isn’t familiar with “focus” yet, you can practice getting them to focus on you while inside without any distractions. Then add indoor distractions, like someone walking past or a vacuum running. Slowly transition training outside, where there are more distractions. Ideally, with a solid foundation, you’ll be able to get your pup to focus on you even when there are triggers nearby.
Exposure & Extraction
While some triggers evoke serious reactions and need to be avoided at all costs, we try to slowly and intentionally expose Barak to others so that he can feel more comfortable and less reactive around them. Female pups are a good example of this; unlike male pups, Barak can be comfortable and playful around female pups if he meets them in a controlled setting.
In order to ensure a successful introduction, we slowly lead Barak over to meet female pups and work to keep his attention mainly on us, decreasing the excitement of the initial greeting and allowing Barak to act more like his normal self. Short periods of play interspersed with luring Barak away for breaks keeps him from getting over-excited. We monitor these interactions very closely. If Barak exhibits signs of over-excitement or stress, we can try to salvage the interaction by distracting him with a treat and giving him time to calm down. With enough positive interactions over time, Barak can build enough familiarity with specific dogs and they cease to be a trigger for him. And, longer term, these positive interactions build his confidence and make him more comfortable with female dogs overall.
Conclusion
Identifying and learning to manage triggers is key to helping your pup lead a happier, healthier life. Managing triggers is a process and you may not be able to overcome all triggers, but by identifying, managing, and working on triggers, you’ll be able to help your pup build confidence and avoid unnecessary stress.