They may also become grabby, or mouthy, may chatter their teeth, or you may notice full-body shaking.

Other dogs may be panting, jumping up, or vocalizing incessantly. Some dogs may show just an open mouth grin with tongue hanging out, and might be unable to settle. The term arousal refers to a dog’s level of excitement and mental control.Ī highly aroused dog will be outwardly very excited. A high energy dog that receives only high-intensity exercise as an outlet for its energy is constantly in a state of arousal. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. There is a widespread myth that “crazy” dogs should be exercised more in order to keep them calm and well behaved. One of the biggest and most ignored problems is over-arousal due to exercise. However, some problems arise when a dog is not exercised properly. Exercise helps keep our dogs happy, healthy, and well behaved. Physical exercise is a necessary part of life for all breeds of dogs. But what many people don’t realize is that one of the main factors that contribute to overexcitement is too much physical exercise. This overexcitement is usually linked with other unwanted behaviours, but the connection is not often made between the two, and the solution is usually the same – more exercise. The extremely “happy” attitude we see is usually overexcitement and is more often than not a sign of a behaviorally unbalanced dog.

Often when we see a very active dog that has an open mouth “grin” on their face, tongue hanging out, running about with owners in tow, we think, “Now, there’s a happy dog!” The question is: is that dog really happy, or is it over-excited?Įxcitement does not always equal happiness.

People wplaying with dogs