This is really important to understanding our dogs’ behaviour and where it comes from. A trigger can be anything that interests/excites or stimulates our dogs, and it doesn’t necessarily need to be something bad or scary.
Imagine you start your day by playing a fun and energetic game of tug with your dog. They’re excited and stimulated, and then you head out for a walk. Perhaps in their slightly heightened state, they see another dog they’re not too keen on, which barks at them. Then a runner comes around the corner and startles you both - your dog reacts by barking and you decide to head back to the house.
When you get home, you realise you’ve got some cleaning to do, so out comes the vacuum cleaner. Usually your dog doesn’t mind this too much, but today it sends them into a total meltdown! But he never usually does that, why does he suddenly hate the vacuum today?
The answer is that your dog was simply overloaded and overwhelmed. Once we start to look at the precursors to our dogs’ behaviour, it can be so much easier to understand 🐾
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