Panting

[Ludvig2021]

Hi again!

For the past 1-2 months our pup has been panting a lot, especially in the evening. He isn’t hot nor is there anything medically wrong with him.

We have tried buying him Adaptil in case it was anxiety, but it had no effect at all.

Do some dogs just pant a lot, or is there anything in particular we should be worried about? Could it be severe anxiety/stress?

We can’t find a reason why he would be stressed/anxious. He has the same routines almost every day: 3x 20 min walk, food at the same time (which he often doesn’t eat), a little bit of playing/searching for treats and that’s basically it.

[zeta1454]

Sorry to read about Ludvig’s panting. As you say the most common reasons for panting in dogs is either when they are very hot or feeling stressed. If it is not the heat, then it does sound as though he may be anxious. As regards Adaptil, this does not always work for all dogs /puppies. Dogs may become anxious by things which people would not find stressful and this can make it harder to work out what exactly causes the problem!

There is also the possibility that this is related to one of the fear periods that young dogs can experience. The first is usually at 8-11 weeks of age and the second starting between 6 months to 14 months. This commonly relates to dogs suddenly becoming fearful of strangers, forgetting training, anxiety over things that never bothered them previously such as certain objects or going a different route on a walk…anything really.

The fact that he is also not eating his food does suggest something is bothering him. Has anything happened at night - a strange noise in the home - fireworks - another dog howling in the neighbourhood …anything that may have happened even just once recently but which disturbed him enough that he becomes anxious as night approaches that it will occur again?

If it is due to a fear period, the likelihood is that Ludvig will outgrow this anxiety and the panting will stop. If he has been vet checked and there is no obvious sign that there is a health issue, maybe just try to not to worry about it and maybe see if you can distract him in the evening with a puzzle game, a toy or a bone to chew.

There is a link here with some more information too

https://sitstay.com/blogs/good-dog-blog ... g-at-night

[Ludvig2021]

Sorry to read about Ludvig’s panting. As you say the most common reasons for panting in dogs is either when they are very hot or feeling stressed. If it is not the heat, then it does sound as though he may be anxious. As regards Adaptil, this does not always work for all dogs /puppies. Dogs may become anxious by things which people would not find stressful and this can make it harder to work out what exactly causes the problem!

There is also the possibility that this is related to one of the fear periods that young dogs can experience. The first is usually at 8-11 weeks of age and the second starting between 6 months to 14 months. This commonly relates to dogs suddenly becoming fearful of strangers, forgetting training, anxiety over things that never bothered them previously such as certain objects or going a different route on a walk…anything really.

The fact that he is also not eating his food does suggest something is bothering him. Has anything happened at night - a strange noise in the home - fireworks - another dog howling in the neighbourhood …anything that may have happened even just once recently but which disturbed him enough that he becomes anxious as night approaches that it will occur again?

If it is due to a fear period, the likelihood is that Ludvig will outgrow this anxiety and the panting will stop. If he has been vet checked and there is no obvious sign that there is a health issue, maybe just try to not to worry about it and maybe see if you can distract him in the evening with a puzzle game, a toy or a bone to chew.

There is a link here with some more information too

https://sitstay.com/blogs/good-dog-blog ... g-at-night

I can’t think of anything that would make Ludvig anxious in the evening, or anything that has happened. He doesn’t care about fireworks or any “loud” noises, but he does bark at dogs walking by our home and is very fixated on our windows... He sleeps through the night, and sleeps a lot in the morning without getting up and moving around a lot (I read the link). Also he never really cared about eating all of his food, atm he only eats once a day in the evening though we offer it 3 times. He started his panting before turning 6 months old. I am very worried that his anxiety won’t go away.. I have been thinking about buying him Kalm, as I’ve heard this works very well on some dogs.


Is there anything else we can do to lower his anxiety? We are a very calm household with no kids and rarely any guests..

[Schnauzerluv]

He can't see out the windows at night? (When it's dark)? Maybe that?

[Ludvig2021]

He can't see out the windows at night? (When it's dark)? Maybe that?

He is able to look out of our windows in the evenings. We live in a very well lit area and he just walks around our blinds, cause our windows are from the floor to the ceiling. I was thinking if it is a possibility that looking out the windows too much, can cause stress in dogs?