Do Our Four Legged Friends Dream? – Pooch Threads

Posted on by John Bertoli


How frequently has it happened that you are just sitting beside your pet sleeping in his cute dog pajamas, and noticed some strange behavior? This strange behavior could be a leg twitch, or growling, a sudden woof, or sometimes even snapping at an imaginary threat.

These signs are actually an indication that your pet dog is dreaming. To test the claim of dreaming dogs, researchers used electroencephalogram to detect brain activity during their sleep. And the results were surprisingly similar to that of a human brain. Hence it was proved that our four-legged friends do dream.

Small Dogs Are Likely To Dream More Than Large Dogs

While all dogs dream, it was observed that smaller dogs dream more frequently. A teacup puppy, a toy poodle, and a Chihuahua would dream once after every ten minutes. On the other hand, a large dog would dream once every ninety minutes or sometimes more. Puppies are also likely to dream more frequently than dogs. Again, their sleeping patterns are very similar to that of humans. Dogs even have rapid eye movements and irregular breaths when deep into sleep.

Dreaming is actually a sign of intelligence, and not only dogs but various other animals dream as well. Rats are one of the animals that dream and their brain activity confirms it.

 What Do Dogs Dream About?

You must have wondered various times what could your pet dog be dreaming about while adorably growling wrapped in their cute little dog sweaters.

Since we have yet to find a way to communicate with our dogs, we can only guess what they dream about.

Before dogs, it was actually rats that helped researchers discover that mammals do dream. Upon conducting various tests, the researchers found out that rats dream the same way, humans do. They dream about the things they have done throughout the day, but in a different and faster pattern.

Similarly, our pet dogs dream of doggy things. They might be dreaming about chasing squirrels, running after a ball and other typical dog things.

New dog owners might get worried when they see their dogs acting strangely in their sleep. As alarming as it may look, it’s better to let them sleep. Resist the temptation to wake them up.  

Do Dogs Have Nightmares?

Since dogs have the same sleeping patterns as humans, their dreaming patterns are the same as well. Like humans, your dog might also have bad dreams. If they are terrified of something, it will most likely come to haunt them in their sleep.

Waking up your dog at such a moment could be dangerous. If you ever had a bad dream, you can recall that confused feeling of not knowing where you are when you wake up from it. Similarly, your dog might suddenly lash out or snap at someone if they are woken up from a bad dream.

It’s best to let the sleeping dogs lie, and comfort them when they wake up on their own.