Dog having nightmares

[ineedamoreadultieradult]

I have a 9 year old Bichon Frise rescued from a backyard breeder situation when she was 8. She has settled in well, very tolerant of family life etc considering where she has come from. She seems to have started having nightmares she does the normal doggy dreaming twitches etc but sometimes quite ferociously and accompanied by either growling or whimpering and when she wakes up she either stands there head and tail down looking scared or she slinks around the room keeping right to the edge of the room again head and tail down and tries to get behind the sofa, she never goes behind there normally. Should I take her to the vet? I'm concerned if her dreams are scaring her she might snap at the kids if they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

If you're worried a trip to the vet can't do any harm.

Poor little thing. It's awful to thing she's reliving frightening experiences now she's getting older. Perhaps one of the calming treatments might help - in the form of a diffuser - can't for the life of me remember the name but it's often mentioned on here and vet can help with that.

As far as your DCs are concerned, I would just keep reminding them to leave her alone when she's asleep and not wake her suddenly, which is sensible anyway as some dogs can be a bit funny if they're woken suddenly.

I think dogs often have strange dreams. My dog will wake sometimes and sit there looking a bit bemused as if she isn't where she was expecting to be, but if it's happening frequently I'd definitely try to find some way of helping her through it.

Have you had her long? Is this something new she has started doing?

You could try an anxiety vest. She can wear it for a few hours when falling to sleep and sleeping and you may be able to calm her enough to break the cycle.

My dog has dementia and has a really bad startle thing where he jumps out of his bed suddenly from sleep and crashes around in a total torment. This helped him www.dfordog.co.uk/dog-anxiety-vest-wrap.html