#166 Breeding Anxiety: The Hidden Cost of High-Energy Dogs

Why can't some dogs just relax? You've taken them for a walk, done training, provided enrichment—yet they still pace, whine, or stay on high alert. It's easy to dismiss this as "high energy," but what if it's something deeper?

Chapters

• 0:00 Dogs That Can't Turn Off
• 0:37 Wild Canines vs. Pet Dogs
• 1:18 Breeding Problems and Solutions
• 2:09 Training for Natural Calm

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Let's talk about those dogs who just can't seem to turn off. And I don't mean border collies or working dogs that are meant to go all day. I'm talking about the golden retriever who paces nonstop in the living room, or the shepherd who's alert to every single sound and can't settle even after a walk and a training session. And sometimes people say, oh, she's just high energy. But what if it's more than that? What if we're literally breeding dogs who don't know how to settle? Because here's the thing wild canines, like wolves and coyotes, they don't act like that. They rest a lot, they move when they need to hunt, protect, explore, but they're not buzzing around 24-7 like a toddler after a birthday party. They've got energy, sure, but they also have natural regulation. They know how to conserve it and they know how to be still. But our pet dogs, especially certain lines, they're struggling and a lot of that comes down to us. When a breeder, intentionally or not, keeps producing dogs with non-stop energy, dogs who panic when left alone or can't relax in the house, they're reinforcing that nervous system. And you do that for a couple of litters and before you know it, the puppies are being born with a brain that runs hot all the time. That doesn't mean these dogs are bad. It just means they need so much more help learning to be calm, because their baseline is already cranked up to 10. And sometimes, even with great training, they're still just buzzing. They're not misbehaving, that's just their wiring.

Speaker 1: 2:09

Now could we train that dog to settle better?

Speaker 1: 2:10

Absolutely, but if calm isn't even in their genetic blueprint, it's going to take a lot more time, more structure and a lot of proactive reinforcement for behaviors that we often overlook, like doing nothing.

Speaker 1: 2:27

And if that same high arousal dog is bred again and again, we're not just producing busy dogs, we're producing dogs who are trapped in their own energy and that's not fair to the dog or the families who bring them home thinking they're getting a chill family companion. So if you're looking for a puppy, don't just ask about health testing, ask about temperament, ask if the parents can settle in the house, if they live with kids, if they've been through storms and doorbells and downtime, because what you reinforced in one generation becomes the baseline for the next. And if you've already got a dog who struggles to turn off, just know you may not be doing anything wrong. Some dogs really are born busy, but that just means your training has to be about more than sit or stay or come. It has to include calm, stillness and rewarding the quiet moments just as much as we do the flashy ones.