Restless Dog Syndrome

Restless Dog Syndrome—that is what I have come to call my clients’ dogs who seemingly have high levels of energy & a whole lot of impulse control issues, and this despite being walked several times a day, chased countless thrown tennis balls, gone swimming (in season), and participated in mental activities like scent work and puzzle boards on a regular basis.

As I actually owned a sweet redheaded Golden Retriever who had similar issues, I sought out a number of trainers (readily at my disposal as a trainer myself) who all had their thoughts for curbing impulse control and methods of training for dogs who, despite being offered mental and physical activities, were still restless.

Ages & Stages is a familiar phrase I use—a lot—with my clients, especially with puppy owners. There is no denying that there ARE stages and phases that puppies go through as their brains and bodies are going through such rapid transitions during their first year. There is no denying the hormone dump that comes along around the 9 month mark and the undeniable changes we see in our young dogs who seemingly go deaf and have found a new sun (not their owners anymore) to revolve around.

I followed suggestion after suggestion with sweet Leo trying to curb his whirly-topped energy (especially when he saw people), but nothing seemed to work. Was it his age? Perhaps a stage? Did age & stage just seesaw him back and forth his first four years of this Restless dog syndrome?

Tough questions and while there are no doubts that ages and stages did factor in, I believe there was more going on behind the scenes.
Environment can sometimes be acknowledged when it’s obvious to the human, but how much of the environment is going unnoticed by the human? The influences and stressors that we fail to see or if we do see them, fail to perceive the weight of their influence on the dog?

There are so many good books out that you can read that address how the canine mind works at different ages and stages (see, I DO use this phrase a lot!)  and in this circumstance or that environment---but do we, as dog owners and even those of us who are dog trainers, actually know what the environment really looks like to the dog? I was lucky enough to get hours in with a great trainer when I was going to school. He worked with dogs that were at-risk or were deemed to have issues that went way beyond what we humans have labeled normal. Through his eyes and comments, I was taught to read the body language of dogs—even the faintest- smallest of eye movements that would help me try and figure out what was influencing the dog’s behavior. And yet while being better than most at reading a dog’s body language, translating that to the environment (when it wasn’t obvious) seemed more like a game of an educated guess. This line of work is NOT in my wheelhouse and so while grateful for the education and knowledge, I stay in my lane of dog training with specialties of Puppy & Service Dog work.

As previously mentioned, my clients whose dogs are high energy and have impulse issues are actually great dogs. They are biddable—just high energy. They are lovable—just sometimes spinning tops. They are trainable—with emphasis on impulse control drills. But as each client and dog I have worked with have come and gone, I kept asking myself what were the common denominators? I learned something with each of these high energy, seemingly restless dogs…and one observation I have finally landed on is, perhaps these dogs needed more rest and calm in their days vs another walk or puzzle box/mat to defeat. Could these dogs be over-stimulated both physically and mentally in our efforts to ‘drain’ them? Would a quiet room or kennel with soft music and pulled shades twice a day help these dogs get more physical rest and more time for their busy brains to slow down so that it can process the walks and scents and interactions thus far in the day?

My sweet Leo passed shortly after turning 5 and so while he had finally had begun to settle down around age four, I wish that I had discovered that perhaps it was more rest and quiet time that he needed vs me signing him up for Rally, Agility and walking and stimulating him every time he got restless.

Rest in peace my sweet Leonardo---there are no restless dogs in Heaven.