Do dog’s have nightmares?

February 24, 2015

Do dog’s have nightmares?

Anyone who is lovingly attentive of their beautiful (or not so beautiful) canine friend has probably wondered if this friend has dreams or even nightmares just like humans.  Why would anybody wonder this? You might ask if you’re not the owner of a pooch.  Well, as the owners of dogs will tell you, dogs will sometimes twitch, whimper and even move their legs as if running in their sleep.  It’s actually super cute to watch!

While they can’t tell us if they had a bad dream or not, or whether they dream at all – we like to think it’s pretty safe to assume that they dream and even have nightmares just like humans.  Here - watch for yourself and see the cuteness :). 

How do they dream?

Okay, okay – so if they dream then how is it that they do this? You might now be asking.  Well, as many sources will tell you – dogs have long-term memories and can hold environmental occurrences in their brains, just like people do.   This is part of the reason dogs are super easy to train; because they can actually retain the command and its required behavior over a prolonged period of time.  Some dogs can learn over one thousand commands!  You know they MUST have a good memory to do this. 

Part of what is happening when humans dream and have night-mares is that elements of their environment in their awake lives find their way into the essentially unconscious thought patterns while asleep.   Particularly traumatic events for example might be relived over and over again in someone’s nightly dream or “night terrors”.

Many think that this is essentially what is happening for dogs too.   So, all of their little doggy aspirations and treasured moments might show up in their dreams, while particularly traumatic events like abuse or neglect might haunt them and cause nightmares.

What do you do if your dog is having a nightmare?

Although it can be extremely tempting to wake your pooch from their seemingly disturbing sleep – you do have to be careful.  While any creature is sleeping it is particularly vulnerable and most of its conscious faculties are limited or essentially turned off.  If you startle the dog while it’s sleeping, especially if it’s having a particularly bad dream or dreaming about hunting squirrels, then waking it might actually cause it to snap or even attack.  Of course, that is certainly something you don’t want!

If you feel like you really want to wake your pooch from what you interpret to be an especially non-peaceful sleep then try softly calling its name first and then perhaps gently petting him/her awake. 

These little doggy dreams are all the more reason to show your pooch lots of love and affection and to make its life filled with happy memories to dream about! 

Sources:

Author: Aileen Schultz 

Photo credit: Pudding sleeping via photopin (license)