Summer can sneak up on a dog’s nervous system. Suddenly there are longer outings, warmer days, beach trips, barbecues, visiting relatives, late nights, skipped naps, and kids home from school.
At first glance, a dog who is running, jumping, barking, spinning, and doing tiny parkour off people’s kneecaps may look like they are having the best day ever. And sometimes they are. But sometimes the fun meter is broken.
What looks like “happy and excited” can also be a dog whose nervous system has gone from “This is fun” to “I have no idea how to come back down from this.” Dogs do not always show overwhelm by hiding, tucking their tail, or sending a formal email that says, “Hello, I am currently overstimulated.”
Sometimes they speed up. They get louder, jumpier, mouthier, barkier, more impulsive, and suddenly forget every skill they have ever learned, including their own name.
🌡️🐕 Arousal Is Not the Same Thing as Happiness
High energy does not automatically mean high joy. A dog can be excited and still okay, but a dog can also be excited and completely over threshold. From the outside, those two can look annoyingly similar.
When the nervous system is activated, the body prepares for action. Heart rate can increase, muscles get ready to move, stress hormones help mobilize energy, and the brain starts scanning more intensely. That system is useful when there is actual danger. It is less useful when the “danger” is a golden retriever named Kevin entering the park with a squeaky tennis ball.
Instead of asking, “Is my dog excited?” ask: “Can my dog still respond, pause, and recover?”
🚦🕵️ How to Tell the Difference
Green light fun usually looks flexible. Your dog may be bouncy, silly, and full of opinions, but they are still reachable.
Look for:
✅ Responds to their name
✅ Takes food normally
✅ Loose, wiggly body
✅ Can pause, sniff, or check in
✅ Can disengage from exciting things
✅ Recovers after a short break
Overarousal often looks like the body is moving, but the brain has left the meeting.
Watch for:
🚩 Cannot settle, even when tired
🚩 Blows past cues they normally know
🚩 Takes treats like a tiny alligator, or cannot eat
🚩 Gets barky, jumpy, mouthy, or frantic
🚩 Reacts faster to small things
🚩 Play gets too intense or one-sided
🚩 Stays wired long after the activity ends
And then there is shutdown, which can be easy to miss because it may look like the dog is being “so good.” A dog who is very still, distant, disengaged, slow to respond, uninterested in food, tucked, lowered, or suddenly quiet may not be calm. They may be overwhelmed and trying to disappear from the situation without making a scene. Relatable, honestly. But still important.
🎾🧨 Why “Just Tire Them Out” Can Backfire
It would be extremely convenient if every behavior problem could be solved by one heroic walk, one long daycare day, or one beach trip where everyone comes home covered in sand and regret. But a tired dog is not always a regulated dog.
Sometimes more activity helps. Sometimes it just adds more glitter to the emotional blender. A dog who has been around visitors, other dogs, loud environments, lots of movement, or too many exciting choices may not need more stimulation. They may need recovery.
Recovery is not “doing nothing.” Recovery is the nervous system learning: “I can experience something exciting, and then I can come back down.” That is a big deal, especially for adolescent dogs, sensitive dogs, reactive dogs, anxious dogs, and dogs who treat every minor inconvenience like a breaking news event.
🥪🐾 Training Time! Try This: The Settle Sandwich
For dogs who regularly go from “I’m fine” to “my brain is now a popcorn machine,” practice a simple Settle Sandwich.
The idea is: tiny activity, tiny settle, tiny activity, tiny settle. You are teaching your dog that excitement does not have to launch them into outer space. It can have an off-ramp.
Try this at home first:
- Do 20 to 30 seconds of easy movement, like a few hand targets, a short toy chase, or a few steps of playful walking.
- Pause and cue an easy settle behavior, like going to a mat, lying down, or calmly eating a few treats from the floor.
- Wait for one small sign of softness, such as a slower body, a breath, a blink, a head turn, or a calmer treat-taking rhythm.
- Then release them back to a tiny bit of activity.
This is not about perfect obedience. It is about practicing the skill of coming back down before the wheels fly off the wagon. Keep it short and easy. If your dog gets barky, grabby, frantic, or cannot pause, the “activity” part was probably too exciting. Make the sandwich smaller. Nobody asked for a 14-layer emotional lasagna.
🐾📰 Training Walks: Part School, Part Sniffari
This is exactly why my training walks are designed to be more thoughtful than “march around the neighborhood until everyone is tired and emotionally sticky.”
The goal is balance: real-life leash manners, calmer responses to everyday distractions, check-ins, confidence building, and plenty of decompression. Some parts of the walk are for skills. Some parts are for sniffing on a long line, exploring, and reading the neighborhood newspaper, which is apparently written entirely on bushes.
For many dogs, that combination matters. We want walks that build useful habits without turning every outing into a formal business meeting. Your dog gets guidance, structure, and practice, but also room to use their nose, move their body, and come home with their brain a little softer.
Basically: part school, part sniffari, zero emotional blender.
If your dog’s walks could use a little more skill-building, a little more sniffing, and a lot less emotional blender, you can learn more here: kinddogtraining.com/services
🧳🐱 June Reminders for Pet People
June is National Pet Preparedness Month and National Microchipping Month, which is your friendly reminder to check the boring but important stuff: emergency supplies, vet info, medications, food, paperwork, and whether your dog’s microchip information is actually current. A microchip with old contact information is basically a tiny piece of useless confetti.
Also, Hug Your Cat Day is June 4, but many cats would like to celebrate by not being hugged. Please respect their monarchy. This is especially important because Cat World Domination Day is June 24, and we should all stay on their good side.
🌞👀 Your June Homework
This month, watch what happens after the fun, not just during it.
Ask yourself:
- How long does it take my dog to settle?
- Can they eat normally?
- Do they sleep deeply, or pace around looking for their next bad idea?
- Are they softer after the activity, or more reactive?
- Can they respond to easy cues?
- Do they recover in minutes, or are they still buzzing hours later?
That recovery window tells you a lot. A dog who can come back down is usually coping well. A dog who stays wired, frantic, avoidant, or completely wiped out may need shorter outings, more breaks, more distance, or a little less “fun” packed into one day.
Summer can be a lot, so give your dog permission to leave early, rest often, sniff more, and skip the party when needed. Because sometimes the best training choice is not doing more. Sometimes it is noticing that your dog’s fun meter is broken and helping them find the off switch.
Warmly,
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