26/03/2026
TRIGGER STACKING
We’ve all had those days when nothing seems to go right—one frustration after another builds up, leaving us feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and on edge.
Our patience runs out and it might take a relatively small thing to push us over the edge and snap.
To others, this probably looks like a complete over reaction, out of character behaviour or that there’s something wrong with us, but the reality is very different.
That reaction isn’t really about a single moment—it’s the result of everything that came before it. It’s the accumulation of stress, pressure, and small challenges that have been quietly building up beneath the surface. On another day, under different circumstances, we might have responded calmly and without issue at all.
This is an important perspective shift, because it reminds us that behaviour doesn’t happen in isolation. What we see in that one moment is often just the visible outcome of a much longer, largely unseen process.
Dogs are no different and a behaviour that seems completely out of character or happens “out of the blue” is often caused by “trigger stacking”.
A trigger may be anything that increases a dog’s stress levels and has a negative impact on their emotional, mental or physical state.
These may be small things that we may not even notice or seem insignificant to us, but they are all adding to an increasing “stack” of events that may culminate in out of character behaviour.
Things like less rest or sleep, over stimulation, excitement, loud noises, weather changes, thunder, other dogs, changes in routine, vet visits, grooming, nail trims, visitors, strangers, pain or discomfort etc, may all be fine if spaced apart or isolated, but not enough time in between these events can quickly cause a stack of triggers.
When stress levels reach a certain point, the next stressful event, however small, may cause a reaction that is completely unexpected.
Instead of just focusing on a particular behaviour and seeing it as a problem that needs to be fixed, take a step back, look at the bigger picture, look at events, circumstances or environmental factors that may have played a role in causing it.
Being aware of potential stressors and allowing dogs enough time to decompress, relax and unwind for a few days, often makes all the difference between “normal behaviour” and a behaviour that seems completely out of character.
