Why Is My Dog Panting So Much?

Panting is how dogs cool down, so most panting is normal — after exercise, in warm rooms, or when excited. Panting at rest, at night, or with a change in gum colour is the panting that needs attention.

The Short Answer

Dogs cannot cool themselves by sweating the way people do, so panting is their main temperature control. Normal panting follows exercise, warmth, excitement or mild stress and settles within minutes of rest. Abnormal panting happens at rest or at night, does not settle, or comes with other signs — and its causes include pain, heart or respiratory disease, Cushing's disease, toxins, laryngeal paralysis and heat stroke. Flat-faced breeds are at higher risk in the heat because their airway anatomy compromises panting itself. The number to know is the resting breathing rate: 20–35 breaths per minute is normal, and 40 or more is the point to act.

Why It Happens

• Normal: thermoregulation. VCA and AKC both explain that dogs have few sweat glands — mostly in the footpads — so heat is carried away by moisture evaporating from the tongue and airways. Panting is literally the cooling system running.
• Normal: exercise and excitement. Play raises the breathing rate and panting declines with rest; excitement panting is common and harmless.
• Normal: stress. Vet visits, thunderstorms and fireworks can all produce emotional panting, which is one reason to note the context before worrying.
• Abnormal: pain. AKC notes arthritic dogs often pant, and that back or abdominal pain frequently presents as panting alongside anxiety. Other pain signs: vocalising, trembling, limping, restlessness, rapid breathing and licking the painful site.
• Abnormal: heart and respiratory disease. Congestive heart failure can put fluid in the lungs and cause panting or rapid breathing at rest; asthma, bronchitis and choking are on the same AKC list.
• Abnormal: Cushing's disease. In middle-aged and senior dogs, excess cortisol weakens muscles including the diaphragm, so even routine effort increases panting; a pot-bellied appearance is a common early sign.
• Abnormal: toxins and heat stroke. Toxins such as rat bait can raise body temperature and cause panting with drooling, vomiting and lethargy. VCA defines body temperature above 103°F as abnormal, and heat stroke as an immediate medical emergency.
• Higher risk: flat-faced breeds. VCA's brachycephalic airway syndrome page explains how shortened skulls alter the airway — stenotic nares, elongated soft palate, laryngeal collapse — so their ability to pant and cool is compromised, with collapse or fainting after exercise worse in hot and humid weather.

What the Sources Actually Say

This article paraphrases four verified sources. VCA Animal Hospitals' DVM-authored pages cover heat stroke in dogs, brachycephalic airway syndrome and laryngeal paralysis — the last of which names excessive panting as a hallmark early sign, typical in Labradors, golden retrievers and St. Bernards, with bluish gums and collapse as its severe signs. The American Kennel Club's article interviews Dr. Danasia Perry-Kaliati, DVM, and is where the resting breathing-rate thresholds and the normal-versus-abnormal cause split come from. We present those breathing-rate figures as a veterinarian's published guidance rather than a universal standard, because that is how AKC reports them.

What You Can Do

1. Time the panting against restNormal panting should settle within a few minutes of rest. If it does not — or it happens at rest or at night — treat it as a symptom rather than a behaviour.
2. Count the resting breathing rateAt rest, a dog should breathe 20–35 times a minute; 40–60 or more is very concerning and needs immediate attention, per the veterinarian AKC interviews.
3. Check the gumsGums should be pale pink. Dark red, blue or purple gums or tongue mean the dog is not getting enough oxygen — immediate treatment, not a wait-and-see.
4. Manage flat-faced breeds in heatFor brachycephalic dogs, avoid heat and over-exertion, and treat collapse or exercise intolerance as a warning sign rather than a personality quirk.
5. Cool on the way to the vetFor suspected heat stroke, use cool water and a fan — not ice, not alcohol — and head to a clinic while you do it.

When It's an Emergency

Related Reading

• Why is my dog shaking? — shaking and panting share several urgent causes, including pain and heat stroke
• Why do dogs eat grass? — another normal behaviour with specific warning signs
• Best pet cameras — for monitoring breathing and restlessness when you are out of the room