Dogs do dream. But what do dogs dream about? Most experts agree that dogs dream about playing with other dogs, chasing cats and other animals.
How can you tell if your dog is dreaming?
During a dog’s dream phase they can be often heard yipping and yelping in their sleep. Sometimes they even wake themselves up. Once in a great while you’ll even see your dog running or kicking their legs as they rest.
Stanley Coren, Ph D. from Psychology Today says they do. “During sleep the brain wave patterns of dogs are similar that of people, and go through the same stages of electrical activity observed in humans, all of which is consistent with the idea that dogs are dreaming,” says Coren.
He also says that, like us, dogs are probably dreaming about their day, or typical activities that happen during a common day.
Joseph Baker tells his own story:
“Goober is a basenji, and like many basenjis he hates water and being bathed. As soon as my wife finishes bathing him he bolts out of the bathroom door, finds me, and tries to hide behind me or under me. So one day Goober was forced to be cleaned and underwent his ritual of hiding behind me. Later that night he was sleep running. He awoke with a start, and then bolted to my location to hide under my legs. This was very awkward as I was sitting on the toilet at the time. I believe that he was dreaming, and I believe that he was dreaming about having a bath. I believe this because he only engages in this behavior when a bath is involved.”
Keeping a Doggy Dream Log
One of my hobbies is tracking all kinds of metrics. Whether it’s how many hours I’ve slept or what food I’ve eaten. I like to track these things in notebooks. You can track you dogs sleeping habits and when they dream. Here are a list basic metrics to track.
- What did your dog eat and how much.
- What kind of exercise did your dog have and for how long.
- What time did you dog go to sleep and when did they wake up.
- Did you notice or hear them yip or yelp in their sleep.
Once you start keeping a Doggy Dream Log you’ll start to see the patterns of when your dog dreams the most.
Do you know what dogs dream about? Let me know by leaving a comment.
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I noticed something I had never seen my little piebald dachsund, Belle do before. She was in her
little bed fast asleep and her tale was wagging
really fast. I don’t know what she was dreaming about but it must have been a very happy dream.
In a few minutes she rolled over, changed her sleeping position and her little tale went back inside her bed.
Sometimes my dog cries really loudly in her sleep and tucks her tail. My dog is fearless when shes awake; what do you think she could be dreaming about when she cries like that?
my chow is and still doing ths and it is so funny
My dog definitely dreams! Every night around midnight or so, she’ll go off howling and yelping. And her face twitches like crazy. It’s always so funny to watch. I wish I knew what she was thinking.
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