doggie dreams

[traviata]

DDog is woofing in his sleep. He hardly ever barks when awake, only when the DC are playing exciting games of chase with him (or if the doorbell rings and startles him). Sometimes he barks at horses.

Does this mean he is having fun dreams about playing games, or is he having alarming dreams about scary things? I hope it's the former.

And if dogs can dream, does that mean they can imagine things when they are awake - ie are they not limited to experiencing the world as it happens?

We used to have a dog who would twitch his legs like he was running and yip in his sleep. We alays assumed he was chasing squirrels in his sleep.

Ours sometimes has what we call 'yippy dreams' - goodness knows whats going on in his little head, but he looks happy enough. (He never yips when he's awake, he has a big bark.)

www.google.co.uk/amp/www.independent.co.uk/news/science/dog-dreaming-about-you-owners-psychologist-harvard-a7373571.html%3Famp?client=safari

Oops, posted too soon - meant to say, Harvard have done some research on it.... it seems your dog will mostly be dreaming of you.

All of mine dream sometimes but DWippet3 occasionally starts growling in his sleep which gradually ramps up into a proper howl at which point he wakes himself up and looks slightly confused about the noise He never seems bothered so I don't think he's having bad dreams.

I'm pretty sure DDog1 (who came from a very shitty "rescue" kennels) had nightmares when he first arrived. He'd do the normal gruffing and yipping but with a horrible frantic edge to them. He'd be very obviously distressed when he woke as well, clearly needing some time to get his bearings before he'd calm down. Thankfully they petered out as he settled in and after a while he never seemed to have one again.

Our dog lies between us on the sofa in the evenings and always dreams.

His legs paddle on for ages and he makes the odd muffled yip through his jowly bits. It's adorable. We like to think he's dreaming of his favourite walks.

Our dog has regular, very exciting dreams - we've always assumed he's dreaming about fabulous walks. He's only once had what appeared to be a nightmare where he was growing at something in his dream (he never normally growls so it was really noticeable) and seemed to be quite distressed. He woke up very suddenly from that and needed some reassurance but other than that one occasion, dreaming always seems to be pleasurable for him

thanks for the research link Fenella - interesting.