Have you ever witnessed a stressed-out dog frantically running to and fro in a house full of visitors, unable to settle down or fully connect with any one person for more than a brief moment?

How about dogs who charge up to the fence around their yard as you walk past, sounding as if they wish to tear you limb from limb, but are all wagging tails and full body wiggles when you come through the gate?

Perhaps you've known dogs who get so excited to see people or other dogs that their eyes glaze over, it appears that "no one is home," and you wonder if such a dog is truly happy in such moments or merely being compelled to act by overwhelming forces beyond their control.

Due to the combination of a dog's predator brain -- wired by evolution to dash TOWARD or AWAY from most stimuli without the survival handicap of hesitating to think -- and the lack of complex canine cognitive processes to slow down their intense emotional impulses, dogs are the masters of acting without thinking.

That is, unless dogs have been taught to "stop" themselves from acting without thinking, calm themselves down (self-soothe) and mindfully consider their available options. When situations feel so intense that their current ability to emotionally regulate is overwhelmed, dogs can learn to ask their human for help the way a child would ask a parent, teacher, or other trusted adult for extra support during an emotionally challenging situation.

Acting immediately and intensely in response to a strong emotion such as fear or excitement releases a flood of adrenaline, dopamine, and many other powerful chemicals inside your dog's brain and body. The neurotransmitter rush they experience from moving quickly without thinking is intoxicating and enables them to ignore or override all of the uncomfortable feelings they are forced to experience when they choose to practice self-restraint -- frustration, anxiety, excitement, stress, unsatisfied curiosity, hunger, pain, etc.

Over time, this combination of powerful, endogenous chemical rewards and ingrained habits and behaviors gains a lot of momentum. The chemical rush dogs get from engaging in extreme, thoughtless behaviors is similar to the rush we humans get from deep drags on a vape pen. Under the influence of powerful, immediate chemical rewards and deeply ingrained habitual patterns, if you now ask your dog to try a different strategy (for example, sitting quietly at your side instead of charging the fence while a dog walks by) the withdrawal symptoms your dog may experience from acting in opposition to their immediate impulses can be quite intense.

Such dogs may shake, quiver and whine, hyperventilate, pant and salivate. For some dogs, fully experiencing their strong emotions that were previously masked by impulsive, thoughtless, adrenaline-fueled action may feel overwhelming at first.

What is fascinating is that, if you follow a simple, step-by-step process that strengthens the emotional regulation and interpersonal communication skills your dog requires to appropriately process their strong feelings, then you break down each potential trigger into manageable steps, and finally you consistently coach your dog to slowly change their habits and build new coping skills over time, they will begin to actually crave and seek the state of peace and confidence that comes with being able to manage their difficult feelings in a more appropriate way.

Within a couple of months, you will notice that your dogs relies less and less on you to carefully coach them through this process. You will see them become startled by a stimuli or trigger that used to send them into a frenzy of excitement, anxiety or aggression, and instead of responding according to their old, knee-jerk pattern, your dog will give a big yawn, stretch their body or shake off the tension, lick their lips, look away, sniff the air, sit or lay down and look up at you as if to say, "Am I being a good dog? Am I doing the right things?" or, "I feel overwhelmed, what would be the best way to handle this situation? Can you please help me?"

A few more months down the road and you will notice that your dog rarely requires your assistance at all. More and more, you will see them processing and releasing a wide variety of intense feelings -- both positive and negative -- then simply glance up at you once they finish, as if to say, "Did you see how well I handled that? Aren't you proud of me??"

At that point, you will be certain to tell your beloved pup exactly how proud you are of them, and what a good dog they are, as you revel in your newfound ability to, "Go Anywhere and Do Anything with the Dog of Your Dreams!"