Fear and Anxiety in Dogs by Clark Caroline;

Author:Clark, Caroline;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crowood Press

Identifying Triggers

I first introduced triggers in Chapter 4 in relation to trigger-stacking. These are the things that prompt a behaviour. Very often the terms antecedents and triggers are used interchangeably and there is crossover but don’t worry too much about that. The main thing to remember is that analysing the setting conditions and observing things that precede and provoke the behaviour can be immensely useful.

Triggers can be absolutely anything but it’s our powers of perception that really need to be honed to recognize some of the less obvious ones. Being acquainted with canine body language and signalling holds the key because these can provide useful clues as to the presence of a trigger in the environment. Formulating a list is a worthwhile enterprise because once they have been identified they can predict what might happen next and this allows us to intervene at the appropriate time. We may also be able to remove them or manage them (Table 7.1) and, where applicable, for a long-term solution we can use them in their mildest form to carry out DS and CC techniques such as using recordings of fireworks or set up scenarios with ‘stooges’.

Table 7.1. Examples of fear-related problems, the trigger that predicts the fearful event and ways to modify the dog’s behaviour through manipulation of the physical environment.

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