Trigger Stacking

It was lightly raining and the drops echoed on the mew's metal roof. Aldo had just stepped on my glove when a bevy of rumbling motorcycles started passing by the Museum. My hand swayed under Aldo's feet as I tucked his leather equipment under my thumb. Then he bated. He tried to fly away.

I thought that was rather odd. Aldo rarely tries to fly off my glove. Noise or movement doesn't usually bother him. What happened here?

Trigger stacking.

Aldo enjoyed his time outside after recovering from the many triggers that morning.

Trigger stacking occurs when several minorly stressful situations happen in close succession. Those stresses can result in an explosive reaction to something that normally wouldn't be a big deal. It's the same idea as the phrase "the straw that broke the camel's back."

The sound of the rain was one straw for Aldo. No problem by itself. But the noise and sight of motorcycles was another couple of straws. My unsteady hand was another. And finally feeling his equipment move over his ankles was just too much - it was the last straw.

I can't blame Aldo for letting these stressors pile up. It happens to me, too! A long meeting might cause me to leave work late. That means I have to rush to get to the recycling center before they close. On top of that, I didn't have much for lunch and I'm starving. Finally returning home, my husband asks a simple question like, "what do you want for dinner tonight?" and I snap rudely at him. Am I really upset at the question? Of course not. It was just the last straw after a series of stressful events.

How can we avoid the snap? First of all, it's important to recognize when the straws start piling up. Then we need to take a step back from those triggers by taking a break or waiting until some of the triggers have passed. In my after-work scenario, maybe I should have finished my podcast in the driveway to decompress before going inside. With Aldo, I should have waited until the motorcycle crew had gone through town before touching his equipment. When the triggers start stacking, a little break can keep us or our animals calm rather than snapping.