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Heatstroke is the emergency on this list, and it moves fast — heat-related illness can kill a dog in as little as 15 minutes. If your dog is panting frantically after heat or exercise and is drooling heavily, unsteady, vomiting, or their gums look pale, blue or brick red — cool them with water, move them out of the heat, and call a vet or emergency service now. Do not wait to see if it settles.
The short answer: panting is how dogs shed heat — they barely sweat, so they evaporate water off the tongue and airway instead. That means panting after a walk, on a warm day, or when excited is completely normal. It becomes a question when it does not match the situation: panting in a cool room, at rest, at night, or with no exercise behind it. The fastest way to tell the difference is not a feeling — it is a number, and you can get it in sixty seconds.
Written by Marc Brannigan, Co-Founder & CEO of HempMy Pet. Last updated 20 September 2026.
The Sixty-Second Breathing Test
Most articles tell you to watch for "excessive" panting without ever saying what excessive means. Here is the number.
Not after a walk, not after a meal, not while you are fussing them. A dog asleep or lying quietly in a cool room is the only useful baseline.
One rise and fall is one breath. Count for 30 seconds and double it, or count the full minute if you can. Do it two or three times to be sure.
15 to 35 breaths per minute at rest is normal. Above 35 is worth a call to your vet. Over 40 at rest is considered abnormal and should be investigated.
Do this once while you are not worried, and write the number down. Knowing your own dog's normal resting rate is worth more than any article, because the thing that matters is a change from their baseline.
The Nine Causes, Side by Side
The middle column is what you see. The right column is the tell — the thing that points at this cause rather than the others.
| Cause | What it looks like | The tell |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Heat | Open-mouthed panting on a warm day or after sun exposure, seeking shade and water, wide tongue. | It settles within minutes of cooling down. Panting that keeps escalating in the heat is heatstroke, not cooling — see above. |
| 2. Exercise | Heavy panting after a walk, run or play, easing steadily as they recover. | It is proportionate and it winds down. Recovery should take minutes, not an hour. |
| 3. Excitement | Panting with a loose wagging body — the lead coming out, visitors, food being prepared. | The whole dog is happy. It stops the moment the exciting thing resolves. |
| 4. Stress or anxiety | Panting with a tucked tail, flattened ears, pacing, drooling, clinginess, inability to settle. Fireworks, thunder, car rides, the vet. | There is a trigger, and the panting tracks it. Often paired with yawning, lip-licking or shaking. |
| 5. Pain | Panting at rest with no heat or exertion behind it, often with restlessness, a hunched posture, or reluctance to lie down. | Dogs pant from pain long before they limp or whine. Panting at rest in a cool room is one of the earliest pain signals owners miss. |
| 6. Medication | New or increased panting that started within days or weeks of a prescription change. | It has a timeline. Steroids such as prednisone are a well-known cause. This is a conversation about the dose, not a reason to stop anything. |
| 7. Heart or respiratory disease | Panting with coughing, tiring quickly on walks, laboured breathing, or breathing that uses the belly muscles. | Exercise tolerance has dropped. They stop on walks they used to finish. More common in older dogs and it develops gradually. |
| 8. Cushing's and hormonal conditions | Panting at rest and especially at night, plus drinking more, urinating more, eating more, a pot-bellied look and thinning coat. | The other four signs travel together. If you are refilling the water bowl more often, mention it — that combination is the clue. |
| 9. Airway shape and laryngeal paralysis | Noisy, raspy or snorting panting. Flat-faced breeds pant harder at baseline; older Labradors and Golden Retrievers can develop a harsh abrasive sound. | The sound changed. A new noise in the panting matters more than the amount of it. |
Two can be true at once — an overweight older dog on steroids will pant for several of these reasons together.
Normal or Not? Three Questions
Panting should be proportionate to the temperature and the activity. A dog panting hard in a cool, quiet room having done nothing is the single most useful red flag on this page.
Normal panting winds down within a reasonable period once the dog is cool and still. Panting that will not settle, or that lasts beyond about ten minutes of rest, is a different thing.
Raspy, harsher, wheezy or louder than their usual panting is worth a vet's ear — changes in the sound point at the airway, and they are easy to dismiss because the dog seems otherwise fine.
Panting at Rest, and Panting at Night
This is the version of the question most owners are actually asking, and it deserves its own answer.
Healthy dogs do not generally need to pant when they are not hot and have not been exercising. So panting in a cool room, on the sofa, or at two in the morning is the pattern worth paying attention to — not because it is always serious, but because it is the pattern that is never just cooling.
The usual causes, roughly in order of how often they turn out to be the answer: pain, anxiety, Cushing's disease, cognitive change in older dogs, and heart or respiratory conditions. That is also, almost exactly, the list behind night-time restlessness in general — we set out the eight causes of an older dog being restless at night and how to tell them apart, which is the companion piece to this one.
If the panting comes with trembling too, the causes overlap but are not identical — why is my dog shaking runs the same triage for that symptom.
Heatstroke: The One That Cannot Wait
Worth knowing properly, because it is the cause on this list that kills and the one where minutes matter.
Heatstroke happens when a dog's body temperature climbs past what panting can bring down. Faster, heavier panting is one of the earliest signs. It escalates to heavy drooling, unsteadiness, disorientation, vomiting, gums that look pale, blue or brick red, and collapse.
What to do, quickly but without panic: move them out of the heat and into shade or air conditioning, wet them down with cool — not ice-cold — water, offer water to drink, and call your vet or an emergency service while you do it. Run the air conditioning in the car if you are driving them in.
Flat-faced breeds and dogs carrying extra weight overheat far more easily, because panting works less efficiently for them. The American Veterinary Medical Association's warm weather guidance lists the heat-stress signs worth memorising, and never leaving a dog in a parked car is the one rule with no exceptions.
Stress Panting — Where Hemp Actually Fits
Of the nine causes above, this is the one where a calming supplement has any legitimate role. Hemp does nothing for heatstroke, Cushing's, heart disease or an airway problem, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise.
Stress panting comes with a recognisable picture: a tucked tail, flattened ears, pacing, drooling, yawning, an inability to settle — and a trigger you can usually name. Fireworks, thunder, the car, the vacuum, visitors, being left alone, the vet's waiting room. Separation anxiety causes it too, sometimes in a dog who otherwise looks calm.
Most of what helps is not a product: a small enclosed space the dog chooses, background noise, a calm handler, and never punishing the fear. Where hemp comes in is as one part of that. The honest state of the evidence is that the controlled canine research on CBD is strongest for joint comfort and thinner for stress and anxiety than the industry generally implies — we go through exactly what exists in hemp and CBD for dog anxiety.
Timing matters more than amount. An oil given by mouth takes roughly 30 to 60 minutes to reach its peak, so for a trigger you can see coming — a firework night, a car journey, a vet appointment — it goes in beforehand, not once the dog is already panting. Our serving guide works from body weight.
If it turns out to be stress, this is where owners start
Small Dog Hemp Treats
2mg each · pre-measured
$25
250mg Hemp Seed Oil
Up to about 40 lbs
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1,000mg Hemp Seed Oil
40 lbs and up
$99
Grown on our own Colorado farm, third-party tested every batch, and the same full-spectrum extract used in our 90-day university trial. Serving by weight →
If your dog takes any prescription medication — and a panting dog on steroids very likely does — talk to your vet before adding hemp. It can change how quickly the body clears other drugs. We cover that and the published safety findings in hemp and CBD side effects in dogs.
If It Is Pain: The Other Honest Answer
Panting at rest is one of the earliest pain signals in dogs, and it usually shows up long before a limp.
In an older dog, the most common source is joint discomfort. The tell is the same one that separates it from muscle weakness and from cognitive change: it is worst in the first thirty seconds of standing and eases as they move. Watch what your dog has quietly stopped doing — the stairs, the sofa, the last ten minutes of a walk.
This is also the one use where HempMy Pet's evidence actually sits. All five published canine CBD trials that met inclusion criteria for the 2023 Frontiers in Veterinary Science systematic review were osteoarthritis trials, and four of the five reported a benefit. One of them was ours — a 90-day trial overseen by veterinary pain specialist Dr. Robin Downing with researchers from Colorado State University. Details, including the trial that found nothing, are on our joint and mobility page.
Pain that has a cause worth finding needs a vet, not a supplement. Get the diagnosis first.
Hemp for Hip & Joint Mobility →
How to Calm a Panting Dog
Assuming heatstroke is ruled out, these are the things worth doing — roughly in order.
- Cool the room and offer water. The cheapest intervention, and it rules out the most common cause in one step.
- Count the breaths. Sixty seconds gives you a number to tell your vet instead of an adjective.
- Let them pick their spot. Anxious dogs settle in small enclosed places — a crate with a blanket over it, under a bed. Do not drag them out to reassure them.
- Be calm and boring. High-pitched reassurance confirms there is something to worry about.
- Cover the noise. Background sound blunts thunder and fireworks more than most owners expect.
- Check the medication timeline. If this began after a prescription change, note the dates and the dose times before you call.
- Write it down. When it happens, for how long, what was going on, what stopped it. Three entries turn a vague worry into something a vet can use.
When to Call the Vet
Call an emergency service now if:
- The panting is frantic and followed heat or exercise, especially with drooling, unsteadiness or vomiting
- The gums or tongue look pale, blue, white or brick red
- Breathing is laboured, or they are using their belly muscles to breathe
- They collapse, or cannot settle at all
- The abdomen looks distended, or they are retching without bringing anything up
- You suspect they ate something toxic — cannabis, xylitol, chocolate, raisins, antifreeze, slug pellets
Book an appointment this week if:
- Your dog regularly pants at rest or at night in a cool room
- The resting breathing rate is consistently over 35 to 40 breaths per minute
- Panting arrived with drinking more, urinating more and eating more
- The sound of the panting has changed — raspier, harsher, noisier
- Exercise tolerance has dropped, or there is a new cough
- It started after a new or changed medication
For a veterinary-school overview of canine health topics, the Cornell Riney Canine Health Center is a reliable starting point.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I be worried about dog panting?
When it does not match the situation. Panting after a walk or on a warm day is normal; panting hard in a cool, quiet room having done nothing is not. Count the breaths at rest — 15 to 35 per minute is normal, above 35 is worth a call, and over 40 at rest is considered abnormal. Panting with pale, blue or brick-red gums, laboured breathing, collapse or a distended abdomen is an emergency.
Why is my dog panting after doing nothing?
Healthy dogs do not usually need to pant without heat or exertion, so this is the pattern worth investigating. The usual causes are pain, anxiety, Cushing's disease, medication side effects — steroids in particular — and heart or respiratory conditions. Pain is the one most often missed, because dogs pant from discomfort long before they limp or whine.
Why is my dog panting while resting or in a cool room?
Panting at rest in a cool environment is never just cooling, so it is always worth a closer look. In older dogs the most common explanations are joint discomfort, Cushing's disease and cardiac or respiratory conditions; in any age, anxiety and pain. Count the resting breathing rate over a full minute and take that number to your vet.
How do I calm down a panting dog?
If heat is the cause, move them somewhere cool and offer water. If stress is the cause, let them choose a small enclosed space, keep background noise on, stay calm yourself and avoid high-pitched reassurance. If the panting is happening at rest in a cool room with no trigger, calming it is not the goal — finding out why is.
Why is my dog panting at night?
Night panting stands out because nothing else explains it — the house is cool and quiet and the dog has not exercised. The common causes are pain, anxiety, Cushing's disease, cognitive change in older dogs, and heart or respiratory conditions. If your dog is also pacing or unable to settle, the wider picture is covered in our guide to night-time restlessness in senior dogs.
Do dogs pant when they are in pain?
Yes, and it is one of the earliest signs. Dogs in pain often pant well before they show anything more obvious like limping or whining, which is why panting at rest deserves attention rather than reassurance. Look for what your dog has stopped doing — stairs, jumping onto furniture, the end of a walk.
Can CBD or hemp stop my dog panting?
Only if the cause is stress, and even then it is one part of a wider approach rather than a fix. Hemp does nothing for heatstroke, Cushing's disease, heart or airway conditions, or pain of unknown origin — those need a veterinarian. Work out which of the nine causes you are dealing with first; if it is anxiety with a trigger you can name, a calming supplement given ahead of that trigger is a reasonable conversation to have with your vet.
Is panting a sign of heatstroke?
Faster, heavier panting is one of the earliest signs, which is why it matters so much whether it settles when the dog cools down. Heatstroke escalates to heavy drooling, unsteadiness, disorientation, vomiting, abnormal gum colour and collapse, and heat-related illness can kill a dog in as little as 15 minutes. Cool them with water, get them out of the heat and call a vet immediately rather than waiting to see.
The Short Version
Panting is how dogs cool down, so the question is never really "is my dog panting" — it is "does this panting match the situation." A dog panting hard in a cool room having done nothing is telling you something, and the number that settles it is the resting breathing rate: 15 to 35 is normal, over 40 is not.
If the cause turns out to be stress with a trigger you can name, that is the one place a calming supplement belongs — given ahead of the trigger, not during it.
Shop Calming Support → All Hemp for Dogs
Why Is My Dog Shaking? · Night-Time Restlessness · Hemp for Dog Anxiety · Serving by Weight · Side Effects
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.
