Best Life Dog Training Blog

I almost passed out.  It was a good thing I was already sitting down, otherwise I would have been on the floor.  My vision went, my heart was racing, and I started sweating. I knew I needed to get OUT of that room. 

What on Earth triggered such a reaction in me?

A simple blood draw earlier this week. 

Stay with me, I promise I’m going to make this about dogs.

If you’ve been here a while, you’ve heard me talk about how squeamish I am with medical stuff.  I really put my mom through it when I had to go to the doctor.  It wasn’t until my mid-20s that I got somewhat of a handle on it:  I would actually make the appointment and go.  I didn’t love it, but I had strategies in place that helped me cope with it.

I hadn’t gotten light-headed in YEARS.  I tolerated blood draws and injections like a champ (well, relative to 5-23 year old Andrea).

I told my husband, Matt, how embarrassed I was.  I mean, they had to get me water and cold paper towels.  “I really thought I had passed this point.”   He said, in a loving way as a man who knows me well, “You didn’t sleep well last night. You’re never good after a night of not enough sleep.  And you are fasting.”  

Basically, I am like a child when I haven’t slept or eaten.

I relayed this experience to my friend, as if trying to offload some of my embarrassment.  She said,  “You’re not operating on an A+ system.  Stacked deck. Perfect storm.”  

Thinking back, the phlebotomist called me back into the room and I had to wait several minutes before it began.  I even had to pay while I was sitting in the chair next to all the supplies (that I try so hard to avoid looking at). Being in that little room is the peak of stress for me, the less time in there the better. 

Once my breathing and heart rate stopped, I reflected.  And it got me thinking about dogs.  (I told you I was going to tie this together).

3 things come to mind here:

1. Realistic expectations
2. Trigger stacking
3. Regressions

Let’s dive in!

#1  – Realistic expectations

When I first started working with reactive dogs, I think I subconsciously had this mindset of helping the dog go from negative feelings to positive ones.  I mean, that’s why counterconditioning exists. 

But is this realistic?  

I am never, ever going to be the person who is easy-breezy about going to the doctor.  It will always make me a little uneasy, I will never look forward to it.  However, I can do things that help me get through it without scaring the bejesus out of the medical stuff.  

My dog, Rosie, is part herding dog.  Her genetics make it her instinct to charge up and try to herd something that suddenly appears in her environment.  She’s never going to be the type of dog that loves strangers.  She’s not going to be crazy about other people in her house.  But we do have strategies that make it less stressful for her.   

#2 – Trigger stacking

For me, it was the lack of sleep and food.  And then I had to wait in the little room longer.  And the second before she started, she told me she was taking FOUR vials instead of just one.  That was the straw.  My sympathetic nervous system was already heightened.  And the strategies I had in place to cope weren’t enough by the time I got to a certain threshold. 

Sound familiar? 

A pattern I’ve noticed for Northern Hemisphere dogs is that this time of year as the weather gets nicer, regressions can happen.  My hypothesis is that more people are out and about causing more stress for reactive dogs.  Changes in weather conditions can also be stressful for some dogs.  Rosie is not a fan of windy days.  

Note that the triggers might not always be obvious to you.  For example, in our neighborhood there are several short-term vacation rentals.  In the spring and summer, they are booked up more consistently which means there are more cars parked on the street.   It took me several walks with Rosie for me to figure out what was stressing her out.  The people/dogs didn’t even have to be out – the extra cars on the street were triggering enough to have her more on edge.

If you feel your dog is being trigger stacked, read until the end for what to do about it.

#3 – Regressions

If you have a reactive dog, the first 2 points are really important.  Realistic expectations are important and you will likely always need to be aware of your dog getting trigger-stacked.  

I’ve always considered reactive behavior to be like anxiety in humans.  It’s not something that completely goes away.  Certain circumstances or life events can cause regressions.

When your dog has a setback or regression happens, it can feel awful.  Your dog was doing so good!  Are you all the way back to the starting line?  Is it hopeless?  Are walks always going to be stressful?

Before you feel all doom and gloom, know that regressions are normal.  You likely are not back at square one.  And you need to have a plan when a regression happens.  

For my blood draw experience, my previous strategies of breathing exercises and visualization didn’t work.  So next time, I plan to bring earbuds so I can listen to music.  If there is a longer wait, it might be better for me to wait outside and walk rather than sit in the waiting room. 

For your dogs, working through a regression might mean going back to strategies you used early on in your journey.  If they worked before, they can work again. Things like management (both passive and active strategies) and counterconditioning specific stressors can help.  

It’s also a good idea to give your dog more decompression opportunities as well.  More sniffing time, long-lasting chews, lick mats, cardboard for ripping and shredding, massage, soft music…there’s lots of options for decompression at home when you are avoiding triggers.

Have you experienced a regression with your dog?  How did you handle it?  Share your experience and how you managed it in the comments below to help other guardians struggling!

Until next time,

Andrea