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Go to an emergency vet now if the panting and shaking come with any of these: a swollen or tight belly and retching that brings nothing up; pale, white, grey or blue gums; collapse or inability to stand; a temperature over 104°F; vomiting or diarrhoea with blood; known or possible access to xylitol (sugar-free gum, some peanut butters), chocolate, grapes, rodent bait, antifreeze or human medication; or a dog who was in heat or a hot car in the last hour. Each of those turns "panting and shaking" from a symptom to watch into an emergency with a clock on it. ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435.
The short answer: panting and shaking together narrows the list a lot more than either one alone. Panting on its own is usually heat or exertion; shaking on its own is usually cold or excitement. The pair, in a dog who is not hot and has not been running, almost always means one of four things: pain, fear, nausea or a toxin, with fever, low blood sugar, bloat, heart or lung trouble and an Addisonian crisis behind them. The fastest way to tell which is the third sign: what else is the dog doing? A clingy dog pressing into you is in pain or afraid; a dog drooling and lip-licking is nauseous; a dog with a tight belly who cannot settle is an emergency. This page gives you the third-sign table, a sixty-second home check (gums, belly, breathing rate, temperature), what to do tonight for each cause, and the honest line on where a calming supplement does and does not belong.
Written by Marc Brannigan, Co-Founder & CEO of HempMy Pet. Last updated 16 October 2026.
The Sixty-Second Home Check
Before you search any further, do these four things. They decide whether you are calling an emergency line or watching for an hour.
Healthy gums are pink and go pale for under two seconds when you press them. White, grey, blue, brick-red or yellow gums, or a refill longer than two seconds, is an emergency: shock, internal bleeding, poor oxygen or liver trouble.
A belly that looks swollen or drum-tight, especially in a deep-chested dog who is retching without producing anything, is bloat (GDV) until proven otherwise. Do not wait. A tense, painful belly without swelling still means a vet tonight: pancreatitis, a foreign body, or a back problem.
Panting is open-mouthed and fast. What matters is whether it stops: a dog who closes their mouth and breathes under 30 breaths a minute at rest is managing. One who cannot stop, or who breathes with effort through the belly, needs to be seen.
Normal is 101 to 102.5°F. 103 to 104 is a fever and a same-day visit. Over 104 is an emergency; over 106 is heatstroke territory and organ damage starts. No thermometer: ears and belly hot to the touch plus panting is enough to act on.
Panting and Shaking: The Third Sign Tells You Why
Match what else you are seeing to the row. Urgency runs from "now" to "this week."
| Panting + shaking + … | Most likely | Urgency | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clingy, pressing into you, won't settle, hunched or guarding a spot | Pain. Back and neck pain, a joint flare, an abdominal problem, dental pain. Panting is the dog's response to pain; shaking is the muscle response to it. In an older dog, often arthritis that has crossed a line. | Today | Do not give human painkillers (why, and what vets use instead). Watch where they flinch. Vet today; same hour if they cannot walk or the belly is involved. |
| Hiding, ears back, tail tucked, a trigger you can name (storm, fireworks, visitors, vet) | Fear or anxiety. The adrenaline response: panting, trembling, drooling, pacing, sometimes toileting. | Not urgent | Remove from the trigger, small quiet room, noise masking, be boring. Should ease within an hour of the trigger ending. If it does not, re-read the pain row. See what you can give a dog for anxiety. |
| Drooling, lip-licking, swallowing, eating grass, restlessness | Nausea. Dietary indiscretion, pancreatitis, early toxin exposure, motion sickness, kidney or liver trouble in an older dog. | Today if it lasts over a few hours, now if vomiting is repeated or bloody | Withhold food for a few hours, water in small amounts. Check the bin and the garden for what they ate. Vet if it continues, or if there is any chance of a toxin. |
| Vomiting, diarrhoea, wobbliness, dilated pupils, drooling, twitching, and something is missing from the counter | Poisoning. Xylitol (low blood sugar within 30–60 min), chocolate and caffeine (tremors, racing heart), grapes, rodent bait, antifreeze, cannabis edibles, human medication, slug pellets, mouldy food. | Now | Call ASPCA Poison Control (888) 426-4435 or your emergency vet with the packaging. Do not induce vomiting unless told to. |
| Swollen or tight belly, retching with nothing coming up, pacing, sudden distress in a deep-chested dog | Bloat (GDV). The stomach fills with gas and twists. Fatal within hours. | Now | Emergency vet immediately. Nothing you do at home helps. Great Danes, Standard Poodles, Weimaraners, Setters, Shepherds and other deep-chested breeds are highest risk. |
| Hot ears and belly, lethargy, off food, maybe a cough or a swollen area | Fever. Infection, an abscess, tick-borne disease, inflammatory disease. Shaking is the shiver; panting is the body trying to lose heat. | Today | Take the temperature if you can. 103–104: vet today. Over 104: emergency. Do not give human fever medication. |
| Just exercised hard in heat, or was in a car; bright red gums, thick drool, glazed, staggering | Heatstroke. | Now | Cool water (not ice) over the body, fan, cool floor, then straight to the vet even if they seem to recover. Organ damage shows later. |
| Weakness, wobbliness, confusion, a small or young dog, a diabetic on insulin, or xylitol access | Low blood sugar. Toy-breed puppies, diabetic dogs, xylitol, insulinoma in older dogs. | Now | If conscious and able to swallow, honey or syrup on the gums, then the vet. If collapsing or seizing, vet immediately. |
| Coughing, exercise intolerance, breathing fast even asleep, blue-tinged tongue, an older small-breed dog | Heart or lung disease. Congestive heart failure, collapsing trachea, pneumonia, fluid around the lungs. | Now if gums are off-colour or breathing is laboured; otherwise today | Count the sleeping breathing rate: over 30 a minute is the threshold. Our night panting guide walks through it. |
| Vomiting, diarrhoea, weakness, collapse, in a young-to-middle-aged dog, often after a stressful event; may have had vague "off" episodes before | Addisonian crisis. Adrenal failure; low cortisol and dangerous potassium levels. Classically misread as a stomach bug. | Now | Emergency vet; it is treatable with fluids and steroids, and the bloodwork is diagnostic. Mention the previous episodes. |
| Small white dog, whole-body fine tremor that worsens with excitement, otherwise bright | Generalised tremor syndrome ("little white shaker"), or a benign tremor. | This week | Vet appointment; it responds well to treatment. Panting here is usually from the effort or from stress about the tremor. |
| A senior dog, worse in the evening, pacing, staring, nothing medical found before | Cognitive decline or anxiety of age, after pain has been ruled out. | This week | Pain is the first thing to exclude, because it looks identical. Then see old dog restless at night. |
Thresholds and cause lists drawn from the Animal Medical Center's guide to shaking in dogs and the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center. If you want each symptom on its own, we have separate pages for why is my dog shaking and why is my dog panting; this one is about what the two together mean.
Panting is how a dog says "something is wrong." Shaking is how the body says it. Together, in a dog who is not hot, assume pain or fear first, a toxin or the belly second, and let the third sign decide.
Why Is My Dog Clingy, Panting and Shaking?
The most-asked version of this question, and it has a short answer.
A dog who is panting, trembling and pressing into you, following you from room to room, or climbing into your lap when they normally would not, is doing what dogs do with pain or fear: seeking the safest thing in the room. If you can name a trigger (a storm started, fireworks, a smoke alarm went off, a stranger arrived), it is fear, and it should ease within an hour of the trigger ending. If there is no trigger, or it does not ease, it is pain until a vet says otherwise, and the common sites are the back and neck (reluctant to lower the head to eat, yelps when picked up, walks stiffly), the belly (hunched, won't lie flat, tense when touched), a joint flare in an older dog, or the mouth. Nausea produces the same clinginess with drooling and lip-licking added. The one thing clinginess almost never is, on its own, is "just being needy." Dogs do not change their behaviour for no reason.
"My Dog Is Shaking and Panting and Acting Weird All of a Sudden"
"Acting weird" is the part to pin down, because it points at the cause:
- Wobbly, drunk-looking, dilated pupils, dribbling urine, startling at nothing: a toxin, most often cannabis edibles, xylitol, chocolate or a medication. Poison Control, now.
- Staring, pacing, cannot get comfortable, keeps changing position, stretching the front legs out: abdominal pain or bloat. Check the belly. Emergency if swollen.
- Hiding in the bathroom or behind furniture, will not come out: fear, or pain that is worse when moving. Hiding plus a known noise is fear; hiding with no noise is a vet visit.
- Head low, won't look up, cries when touched on the back or neck: spinal pain, common in Dachshunds, Beagles, Frenchies and Corgis. Vet today; crate rest until then.
- Confused, bumping into things, weak back legs, glassy: low blood sugar, a neurological event or a toxin. Now.
- Restless, licking the air or the floor, gulping, eating grass: nausea. Watch for an hour; vet if it continues or anything is vomited.
We go through the full "acting weird" picture in why is my dog shaking; the short version is that sudden plus weird plus panting is a vet call tonight unless you can name a harmless cause and watch it fade.
How to Calm a Dog Who Is Panting and Shaking
Only after the sixty-second check has ruled out the emergencies. If gums, belly and temperature are normal and you can name a fear trigger, this is the plan.
- Move them, do not crowd them. Smallest quiet room, lights down, away from the window.
- Cover the noise. Fan, TV, radio. For fireworks and thunder this does more than anything you can give.
- Be boring. Sit on the floor and read. Calm, low voice, no high-pitched reassurance, which tells the dog there is something to be afraid of.
- Offer a lick mat or a frozen stuffed toy. Licking is self-soothing; a dog who will eat is not in full panic. A dog who refuses food they normally love is more frightened, or more unwell, than they look.
- Pressure, if they like it. A snug wrap or a firm hand on the chest helps some dogs and bothers others. Watch the dog.
- Cool water, access to a cool floor. Panting dogs lose fluid.
- Do not give anything from your own cupboard. No Benadryl (it is not an anti-anxiety drug and sedates unpredictably), no human painkillers (ibuprofen and acetaminophen are toxic to dogs), no human sleep aids.
- Time it. Fear panting and shaking should ease within an hour of the trigger stopping. If it has not, or there was never a trigger, stop treating it as fear.
For a dog who does this every storm or every fireworks night, the honest answer is a plan made in advance: desensitisation, something given before the trigger, and for real noise panic a conversation with the vet about Sileo, the one drug approved for exactly that. The options are graded by evidence in what can you give a dog for anxiety.
What Is the 3-3-3 Rule, and Does It Apply Here?
People searching this symptom often have a newly adopted dog, which is why the 3-3-3 rule turns up alongside it. It is a shelter rule of thumb: roughly 3 days to decompress, 3 weeks to learn the routine, 3 months to feel at home. A rescue dog who pants and trembles in the first few days in a new house, hides, will not eat much and startles at everything is usually frightened, not ill, and the rule exists to stop new owners panicking or returning the dog. Two caveats. First, the sixty-second check still applies: new dogs arrive with kennel cough, parasites, undiagnosed pain and occasionally something they ate in transit, and a fever or a tight belly does not get three days. Second, if the panting and shaking are not easing by the end of the first week, or come with vomiting, diarrhoea or refusing all food, it is a vet visit regardless of the rule.
Panting and Shaking in Senior Dogs
In an older dog the pair most often means pain, and the pain is most often joints or spine, with heart disease, Cushing's disease (panting, pot belly, drinking more, thin skin) and cognitive change behind it. Night-time is when it shows, because lying still stiffens the joints and the house goes quiet. The order of operations is: resting breathing rate while asleep (over 30 a minute is the heart-and-lung threshold); a hands-on check for where they flinch; a vet visit with bloodwork; and only then a conversation about anxiety or age. Dog panting at night covers the senior causes in detail, and arthritis in dogs, signs and stages covers what early joint pain looks like before it reaches the panting stage.
Where Hemp Fits, and Where It Doesn't
We make hemp products, so here is the honest placement.
Where it does not fit: anywhere on the emergency rows. A dog panting and shaking from a toxin, bloat, fever, heatstroke, low blood sugar, heart failure or an Addisonian crisis needs a vet, and anything given by mouth in the meantime wastes minutes and can complicate treatment. It also does not fit undiagnosed pain: masking a pain signal before a vet has found the cause is how a slipped disc becomes a paralysed dog.
Where it can fit: two places. For predictable fear, a storm forecast or a fireworks night, given 30 to 60 minutes ahead as part of the plan above; the controlled canine evidence is one 2023 study showing a single dose lowered stress measures, so we call it a piece of the plan, not the plan. And for diagnosed chronic joint discomfort in an older dog, given daily under a vet's eye, where the canine evidence is strongest and our own 90-day university trial sits. Our hemp for dog anxiety guide covers the first; hemp for senior dogs covers the second; and if your dog is on any medication, CBD and your dog's medications comes first.
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When to Call the Vet
Now: off-colour gums; swollen or tight belly with unproductive retching; temperature over 104°F; collapse or inability to stand; repeated or bloody vomiting; any possible toxin; heat exposure in the last hour; laboured breathing or a blue tongue; seizure or severe confusion.
Today: clinginess with panting and shaking and no fear trigger; a hunched posture or yelping when touched; fever of 103–104; nausea signs lasting more than a few hours; a dog who cannot settle for more than an hour with no cause you can name.
This week: episodes that come and go; a small dog with a fine whole-body tremor; a senior dog whose evenings have changed; anything that has happened more than twice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my dog clingy, panting and shaking?
Clinginess with panting and trembling is a dog seeking safety, which means pain or fear. If you can name a trigger such as a storm or fireworks and it eases within an hour of the trigger ending, it is fear. If there is no trigger or it does not ease, treat it as pain until a vet says otherwise; back, neck, belly, joints and mouth are the usual sites. Added drooling and lip-licking points to nausea instead.
How do I calm my dog down from panting and shaking?
First do the sixty-second check: gums pink, belly soft, temperature under 103, breathing settling. Then move the dog to a small quiet room, mask the noise with a fan or TV, dim the lights, sit on the floor and be boring, offer a lick mat, and give cool water. Do not give Benadryl, human painkillers or sleep aids. If it has not eased within an hour of the trigger ending, or there was never a trigger, it is a vet call.
Why is my dog shaking and panting and acting weird all of a sudden?
Pin down the weird part. Wobbly with dilated pupils is a toxin; pacing and stretching with a tight belly is abdominal pain or bloat; hiding with no noise is pain; head held low and crying when touched is spinal pain; confusion and weak back legs is low blood sugar or a neurological event; lip-licking and gulping is nausea. Sudden plus weird plus panting is a vet call tonight unless you can name a harmless cause and watch it fade.
What is the 3-3-3 rule for dogs?
A shelter rule of thumb for newly adopted dogs: about three days to decompress, three weeks to learn the routine, three months to feel at home. A new rescue dog who pants and trembles for the first few days is usually frightened rather than ill. The sixty-second check still applies, because new dogs can arrive with fever, parasites or pain, and panting and shaking that have not eased by the end of the first week need a vet regardless.
Is panting and shaking a sign of pain in dogs?
Yes, and in a dog who is not hot and not frightened it is one of the commonest. Dogs pant in response to pain and tremble from the muscle tension of it. Look for the location: a hunched back, reluctance to lower the head, stiffness on rising, a tense belly, chewing on one side. Do not give human painkillers; ibuprofen and acetaminophen are toxic to dogs. A vet visit today, and same hour if they cannot walk or the belly is swollen.
Can anxiety cause a dog to pant and shake?
Yes; it is the adrenaline response, often with drooling, pacing, hiding and occasionally toileting. The tells are a trigger you can name and improvement within an hour of the trigger ending. Anxiety panting and shaking that happen with no trigger, or that do not ease, should be re-examined as pain or illness, because the two look identical from the outside.
What temperature is a fever in a dog?
Normal is 101 to 102.5°F rectally. 103 to 104 is a fever and a same-day vet visit. Over 104 is an emergency, and over 106 is heatstroke territory where organ damage begins. Without a thermometer, hot ears and belly plus panting and shivering is enough to act on.
Could my dog have been poisoned?
If the panting and shaking come with vomiting, diarrhoea, wobbliness, dilated pupils, drooling or twitching, and anything is missing from a counter, bag or bin, treat it as poisoning. Xylitol in sugar-free gum and some peanut butters causes low blood sugar within an hour; chocolate and caffeine cause tremors and a racing heart; cannabis edibles cause wobbliness and urine dribbling. Call ASPCA Animal Poison Control on (888) 426-4435 or your emergency vet with the packaging, and do not induce vomiting unless told to.
Can I give my dog hemp or CBD when they are panting and shaking?
Not in the moment, and not for anything on the emergency list or for undiagnosed pain. Where it has a place is planned ahead: 30 to 60 minutes before a predictable fear trigger such as fireworks, as part of a plan with noise masking and a safe room, and for a senior dog's diagnosed joint discomfort given daily with the vet's knowledge. If the dog is on any medication, check the interaction data first.
The Short Version
Panting plus shaking in a dog who is not hot means pain, fear, nausea or a toxin, with fever, bloat, low blood sugar, heart trouble and Addison's behind them. Sixty seconds: gums, belly, breathing, temperature. Off-colour gums, a tight belly, over 104°F, collapse or any possible poison is an emergency now. Clingy with no trigger is pain until proven otherwise. Hiding with a storm outside is fear, and it should fade within an hour of the noise stopping.
Hemp is for the predictable-fear plan, given ahead, and for diagnosed senior joint discomfort, given daily. It is not for tonight's mystery.
Shop Calming Support → All Hemp for Dogs
Why Is My Dog Shaking · Why Is My Dog Panting · Dog Panting at Night · What Can I Give My Dog for Pain · What Can You Give a Dog for Anxiety · Serving by Weight
Marc co-founded HempMy Pet in 2016 with his business partner Natalie Mondine, the company's COO. HempMy Pet breeds its own hemp genetics, grows them on its certified-organic Colorado farm, and formulates every batch in-house under human-grade standards — seed to sale, nothing sourced overseas. Every batch is third-party tested and the certificates of analysis are published. More about us.
HempMy Pet ran its own 90-day study of 37 dogs with chronic joint discomfort. Of the 32 that completed it, 30 (93%) showed a benefit, and 94% of owners reported their dog's quality of life had improved. It was overseen by Dr. Robin Downing, DVM, MS of the Downing Center for Animal Pain Management, with Lori Kogan, Ph.D. and Peter W. Hellyer, DVM of Colorado State University's College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, and published in the Journal of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association. Read the methodology.
Why Dr. Downing: in 2005 she became only the third veterinarian in the world credentialed as a Diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management. She founded the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management, is a Diplomate of the ACVSMR, a Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner and a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner, and was the AVMA's 2020 Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year. Chronic joint pain is her life's work. Read the published paper (PDF).
This article is general information for dog owners, not veterinary advice. It is reviewed and updated as new peer-reviewed evidence is published, and where the evidence is thin or negative we say so.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This article is general information, not veterinary advice. If your dog is unwell, contact your veterinarian.
