Do dogs dream?

[AliciaD]

Is there any proof that they dream? Like have scientists measured brain activity while dogs are sleeping to see if they are dreaming?

My dog Cameron hardly ever acts like she's dreaming, but Duncan does it all the time. He'll make little noises in his sleep and twitch his paws, sometimes full on thrash about until he wakes himself up. It's the cutest thing. I always go "Are there rabbits in your dream Duncan? Those pesky rabbits!"

But every once in a while I get the feeling it's a bad dream (for whatever reason ) and I wake him up. "Aw, Duncan are you okay? Was it a bad dream? Mommy loves you!" And basically making a fool out of myself by talking to him, and cuddle-wuddling.

Do you think your dogs dream? Do you think they dream about us? That would make me really happy, if Cameron and Duncan had dreams about going to the park with me, XD

 

[Renee750il]

I'm sure they do! All that snuffling, woofling, whimpering sometimes , running, growling, howling, etc. in their sleep can't possibly be random.

 

[monkeys23]

Lily usually has happy dreams, but often after she was attacked Jan 2010 she had a recurring nightmares. Sometimes something will trigger them still, but they are lot less often now and she mostly is back to happy dreams.

 

[Renee750il]

Kharma and Bimmer seem to have hunting dreams . . . . those can get *interesting*

 

[Shakou]

I'm really not sure what Charlotte dreams about, but she definitely does. She growls, woofs, whimpers and twitches a lot when sleeping.

 

[Kalyxa]

Chewy always dreams. Sometimes I just watch her, but occasionally I'll get the feeling that it's a bad dream as well, so I'll wake her up and pretty much do the exact same thing as you, haha. Once while she was dreaming she was acting like she was nursing. That's obviously not a typical behavior for an adult dog, so she had to be dreaming about some old memories.

 

[skittledoo]

As far as actual scientific studies... well, I haven't done my research on it.

But I'd like to think that dogs definitely do dream. Both of my dogs move around a bit and twitch and woof in their sleep. Cricket will growl as well or bark in her sleep. There have been times where one of the dogs have woken up completely freaked out about something... I'm sure it has to do with something they might have been dreaming.

 

[Blue_Dog]

Sam dreams sometimes. I think he dreams of playing with other dogs just by the sound he makes. Sometimes he makes sucking motions and whiny sounds that he hasn't made since he was little and I think he's dreaming of before he was with me with his birth family.

If he seems to be having a nightmare he usually wake sup pretty quickly, before I can decide if I should wake him myself or not.

I don't know of any actual studies but based on my own experience I would be lying if I said that dogs couldn't dream.

 

[Samsonyte!]

Sam growls and twitches woofs in his sleep sometimes, so I think he definitely dreams. Sometimes he kicks my legs in his sleep too..

 

[Kalyxa]

Here are some articles on it:
Do dogs and cats really dream? - USATODAY.com
Do Dogs Dream? - Page 1
Sleeping Dogs

I think the first one is the most technical and professional sounding.

 

[Saeleofu]

I'm sure they do! All that snuffling, woofling, whimpering sometimes , running, growling, howling, etc. in their sleep can't possibly be random.

The best are enthusiastic tail-wags when they're sleeping

 

[Sweet72947]

Daisy barks in her sleep, and wags in her sleep. I'm sure she's dreaming about something!

 

[AussieAshley]

No help on the scientific front but sfter living with Sadie I have no doubt they do she full out 'runs' in her sleep not just the slight twitch and woofing that my others do.

 

[pitbullfriends]

Yes dogs dream and yes scientist have measured the rem sleep patterns of dogs, in fact most advanced life dreams but the funniest part of it is when my dogs dream sometimes they will start a weird mimicked run in their dream or a weird muffled bark like their talking in their sleep, I find it very amusing.

 

[Taqroy]

Murphy has nightmares. Full fledged ones that freak both of us out. He yips and barks and twitches and then when I wake him up he tries to crawl into my lap.

 

[JustaLilBitaLuck]

Jack will twitch and do quiet woof-woofs in his sleep.

Missy will full out howl. Scares the crap out of everyone.

 

[Katkoota]

both my malts whimper when sleeping sometimes lol

 

[SarahHound]

I'm convinced they dream, no matter what anyone says. Freuchie dreams like he's acting out his dreams, running, twitching, barking etc. Maddy twitches and flickers her eyes and lips. Todd makes lots of noise but less movement during his dreams.