How Stress Affects Reactivity
In human relationships we are pretty good at understanding that our reactions to things are sometimes a result of totally unrelated stress. You were swamped at work, spilled coffee on yourself, got yelled at by your boss, got stuck in traffic on the way home, and by the time you get home something simple like your spouse not doing the dishes can set you off. But is it the dishes that caused your reaction or the sequence of events that led up to it?
This concept is the same with our dogs. Imagine a dog has 5 layers of stress before they just lose it.
Layer 1: Let's say they don’t have a biologically appropriate diet so they aren’t getting proper nutrients
Layer 2: And now they have a stomach ache.
Layer 3: They live in an apartment building so they can hear/smell strange people and dogs near them all the time. It's hard to rest and overstimulating.
Layer 4: When they go outside they are bombarded with city smells, noises, sights. It’s hard to find a quiet place to use the bathroom.
Layer 5: All of the exercise consists of walking in this overstimulating and unpleasant environment. They are never able to unwind through play at a quiet park or a nature walk.
The dog may be stressed about their triggers to begin with, but they now they are absolutely freaking out because they were already in a stressed state.
It is impossible to eliminate all stress and a little stress can be healthy, but when stress is ignored it piles up until it explodes. When I work with dogs who have huge emotional reactions we never start off addressing the trigger or looking for huge reactions. We avoid the triggers and big reactions while we address the following things.
-Is the dog eating a biologically appropriate diet in a biologically fulfilling way?
-Does the dog have any health issues?
-Does the dog have a clear system of communication with their human?
-Is their structure & consistency in the dog’s life?
-Is there genetic predispositions that the dog has that we can use to motivate the dog or that we need to be aware of to reduce stress?
-Is the dog participating in enough biologically fulfilling play/exercise?
Once the above is addressed the dog’s behavior is WAY easier to modify when we start exposing them to their triggers. Much less conflict, more confidence/motivation, better problem solving skills and an overall healthier dog.