(This is a stock image, used off Wix)
Yes, you have read that title correct, we all love the stress bucket and understanding this pivotal piece of information can be an absolute game-changer in how you view your dog and their day to day well-being. Grab a cuppa with this read as I haven't heard back!
Every dog and every person has a stress/arousal bucket, and this bucket is truly magical as we can grow it, shrink it, add holes into it or block all the holes off. The size of the bucket doesn’t go on the breed and size of the dog, it goes on the individual, therefore you can have some individual dogs with massive buckets & lots of holes that never seem to fill and you can have the thimble size buckets that the dog can topple over the edge because someone has looked at them wrong!
(Graphics are copyright of AbsoluteDogs).
Now the important thing to remember here is that this bucket doesn’t just fill up over the course of the day, it can take days, weeks or even months depending on the dog, the proper terminology here if you would like it, is trigger stacking. We all know the stories or statements along the lines of:
‘My dog has bitten out of no where and with no warning’
‘They like some dogs/people/cars but not others’
‘They don’t always react to the thing, only sometimes…’
There is always a reason and there is always warning behind a reaction or behaviour change, we are just very good at not listening or paying close enough attention.
(This graphic is copyright to AbsoluteDogs)
Once your dogs bucket is full and over-flowing this is when they have hit threshold, they cannot take anymore and it is all pouring over. You have potentially had that behaviour explosion in one format or another.
Have you ever been that stressed where you just want to scream and shout?
Well your dog does this too. How I hear you say...
Well there is a few different reactions that you may see at this stage. On the negative side, your dog may have dropped into Survival mode (Fight/Flight/Freeze/Fool around) or on a positive side of over-arousal you can see selective deafness/Zoomies/Fool around/Gremlins-if you have a puppy! and then the ultimate reaction on the positive scale is Chase.
It is worth noting that chase is a completely normal behaviour to a dog, however, it is incredibly self-rewarding and as new research has shown, chase to a dog is equivalent to a cocaine addiction in a human. It's a little more complex and requires a great deal of careful tweaking to overcome.
It then takes a minimum of 72 hours of doing lots of chill time, brain games, possibly no walks (dependent on the individual) to start emptying their bucket. Major incident (bite case or a fight) you are looking at no less than 10 days for this decompression time. The stress nuts of the dog world that we are peeling off the ceiling, this process can take months.
(These are my own images being used with client permissions)
If when you are emptying this bucket and something happens, the stress level will spike from where they got to on the de-compression.
In some instances when you live with a reactive dog the best thing you can do is give them a very safe and quiet bubble, we don’t say it as a cheats way out, nor have you 'failed' your dog by doing this as this is something else I hear often. It is your reset button.
Just think of it like you needing a holiday to recharge your batteries, our dogs are the same.
Now we know what the bucket is, what goes into this bucket?
(This Image is my own and used with permission)
Positive arousal: Anything your dog loves to do. Think play, chase, agility or dogs sports, going for a walk, training.
Negative arousal: Anything your dog doesn’t enjoy. going for a walk, other dogs, people, noises, etc.
Health/hormones/pain/Itchy: This Is a huge area and one we often take for granted but rest assured it is incredibly important. all of these elements feed into the bucket but also remain in the bucket in the instance of chronic issues. It is why a behaviourist will not start a programme without a thorough vet check as this can alter an entire a programme.
Gut health: It is the second brain after all and I could use a lot of fancy words but ultimately if the gut health is off, the behaviour is negatively effected. It is also worth noting that this can work both ways-Anxiety can be held in the gut and over time knocks everything out of balance, and your sudden drop into survival mode can impact the gut. Think stress poop!
Environmental factors: Food, chemicals, treats, medications, vaccinations, household, weather (have an individual that won't walk in the rain? It can distort their hearing making some individuals uncomfortable), lunar cycle (yep maybe a bit out there, but just like it effecting humans, the lunar cycle can knock our canines off too) etc.
Predictors: Your dog is fabulous at predicting things, and everything you do or stimuli in the environment can become a predictor. The more predictors your dog has the more that is going into that bucket!
Triggers
Events: Now events can vary massively from a trip to the groomer/vets to a dog festival, some dogs can take lots, others can take none.
Conflict of emotion: A fascinating area that can work with a dog putting themselves into a situation that they are not comfortable with to miscommunications in handling or training. Imagine being uncomfortable or scared of something but that thing is holding your favourite thing in the world. Do I, Don't I.
Humans: your dog will bounce off your energy too and in some cases mirror it back to you beautifully.
Prenatal stress: I love this area and it is a bit of an odd one as it doesn't actually add into the bucket-It is already there and it can't be removed, you just have to be aware of it as it will have an impact on your decision making and programmes for your canines.
Have you got a multi dog household? Your dogs will have an individual bucket, and there will also be a group bucket to take into account and balance out.
(This image is my own, taken by Jane Jeffery)
There you have it, an overview of the stress/arousal bucket and in my opinion probably one of the most important pieces of foundation information all canine guardians should be made aware of. I have also included a free gift for you below on conquering calmness to get you and your canine started on the right track.
If you would like to work on implementing some calmness into your canine guardians then please click here for a free ebook.
Written by Lois Hetherington. BSc.
Holistic Canine Behaviour Coach
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