[DaySleepers]

It sounds like he might not know how to settle and chill out on his own, and - depending on his age - might also be overtired because of it. My youngest is like this, and was from the day he came home at eight weeks. He required regular enforced naptimes where he'd go in his pen with calm activities (safe chew toys or a stuffed Kong), and stay there until he fell asleep and then woke up on his own. As he got older we'd also occasionally tether him to us if we knew he was exhausted but he was just amped up and obnoxious and not settling.

We supplemented this with impulse control and relaxation training, using parts of Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol, the Sit on the Dog method, and Deb Jones' Zen Focus (this one is a for-pay online workshop while the others are free, but I thought I'd include it since I found it quite useful).

However, all the training in the world wasn't going to help him if he was overtired, unfocused, and making poor decisions, so enforcing naptime was really key. He still needs to be tethered occasionally now, at two, because he gets so overstimulated by something that he needs a little extra help. But it's like you put the collar on and a switch goes off, and he lies right down and passes out. Obviously none of this is a replacement for exercise and mental stimulation, and works much better with a dog who's having their physical and mental needs met, but it's not a bad thing at all to enforce a routine of rest and relaxation if you have a dog who can't do it for themselves.

If he's showing signs of anxiety, however, you may want to consider addressing that as its own issue, as that can be another cause of restlessness. But from your description it just sounds like he doesn't have a natural off switch and needs some help learning one.

 

[DaySleepers]

I'll also say that with my 'no natural off switch' boy, he's inclined towards worse behavior after a highly stimulating event, like a long hike or a training class. I've had to learn the difference between him acting antsy and rude because he needs exercise/stimulation and him acting antsy and rude because he needs enforced downtime. As I said, he's much better now, but at a year he was deep into adolescence and definitely needed enforced calm periods after exciting events so he didn't keep working himself up and getting more and more unfocused, impulsive, and generally rude and obnoxious.

Stuffed food toys were a HUGE help for us, too. During the worst of his adolescence, we'd split his daily meals and pack them into 3-4 Kong Classics, then freeze them down. Licking and chewing are naturally calming behaviors for dogs, so being able to put him in a pen or on a leash and give him a calming activity really helped make those enforced rest periods/naptimes successful, and it's something that should be pretty easy for most families to implement if they're willing and able to devote a bit of freezer space to dog food toys, haha.

I can't speak as much towards motivating him to work with you/his owners, because both my dogs are naturally inclined to want to engage and train with people, but you've gotten some good advice. My approach would probably be to focus on a lot of fun training that's easy for him to 'win' at, like silly tricks as Lillith said, to build up his confidence and enjoyment of the process. Some dogs really get stressed or bored with drilled behaviors or lots of pressure with training, so video taping sessions could be a good tool to see if you're observing any body language that suggests he's struggling with anything in particular. Subtle signs can be difficult to pick up on in the moment, even for really experienced trainers and handlers, and especially when it's not your dog and you're still figuring each other out.

Sounds like you've got a good start, and I'm wishing you luck! Let us know how things are improving.