Ever wonder what dogs dream?
I know there are groups of people who don’t even remotely consider it.
But I know for a fact, dogs do…
As a child, I remember going into panics when I’d see or hear my dog make weird noises while twitching in their sleep. Even my parents couldn’t come up with a good enough explanation (probably why it added to my growing concerns).
But after observing so many dogs sleep and enter REM (rapid eye movement) over the years, I can definitely say that dogs do dream, a lot! There is no debating that.
Like humans, dogs tend to dream of things going on in the present and past.
Take for instance, Leila, our Standard Poodle, who suckled and pawed in her sleep as a pup. She continued to do so until 5-6 months of age. An obvious guess would be her remembrance and cherished times as a suckling puppy. It was a state of total comfort and relaxation (like her life is any different now 
).
Or Frisco, our Pit Bull/Boxer mix who sometimes barks and howls in his sleep. He does this without even opening his mouth. (His lips just flap around, it’s pretty funny.) You can see his ribs expand, but the output of the barks and howls are very low and squeal’ish. He barks at a number things like rabbit and deer or when he’s simply horsing around with other dogs. But one can only wonder what he’s barking at. Sometimes, he’ll wake up and immediately look around in prey drive mode, I’m guessing something he was chasing? Sometimes he’ll wake up and intensely start to wag his tail, look for his buddies, then lay back down in dead hopes – playing?
Though dogs rarely have nightmares, because I mean, c’mon, their lives are great! They do on occasion cry and whine in their sleep.
One can only guess what’s going on, and try and link it to whats made the dog sad recently, but it’s merely a guess.
And just like people who sleep walk, there are dogs who swing their legs in full running-stride without waking up. Some sniff and dig in their dreams, intensely, as if they’re on to something. Some even snarl and become aggressive in their sleep. Crazy, right?
But things like this are what makes dogs so unique to us. You can look into a dog’s eyes and see that there is someone there behind those big round eyes. The mystery of not knowing makes dogs that much more amazing and the reason why, dogs rule!
The next time your dog wakes up from an intense dream, laugh it off with them. I do it with my dogs, because I know deep down, they’re laughing it off too.
Tell us your stories, because I know I can’t stop hearing about them. Did your dog’s dream freak you out, did you laugh? 
This post was written by...
Samuel Nieves – who has written 23 posts on Dog Learning Center.
Dogs rule everything around me! That pretty much sums up my life. Yep.
{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi. Thanks for your posting. My dogs definitely dream. Sometimes it’s hilarious watching them! Somtimes you can tell the whole story of what they’re visualising, like chasing after something, pausing for a sniff, running again, then tail wagging happiness. One of my greedy dogs dreams about eating! She starts chomping her lips and swallowing like she’s eating something really yummy. Occasionally they do seem to have bad dreams and can cry and whimper – when they wake up I tell them it was just a dream and give them a cuddle. Sometimes they have a proper good bark at something, but only through their lips, though it can still be pretty loud!
YES DOGS RULE!!
OMG Joy! The part where you said “one of your greedy dogs dreaming about eating” nearly knocked me off my chair! TOO FUNNY!
I too laugh when I watch my dog dream. It’s funny sitting there watching her tail wag vigorously while she’s in a dead sleep. She also yips, yaps & growls in her dreams. I like to think that she finally catches the squirrels she loves to chase.
I think every dog achieves a little bit of everything in their dream – bad and good.
ok i have an english bull dog and i dont know why but she has siverly bad dreams some times she barks threw her mouth like you said an some times she chew with i know understand becouse of you thank you i think thats so adorible in i just i wish there was some thing any thing i could do i dont leave my aparment much but she has bad dreams more then 7 times a day she sleeps most the time or plays shes pritty lazy though but when she dreams she wimpers in makes barks in it worries me beacuse how offten the bad dreams or dream happens i would love an answer my dog is the biggest babe and the biggest part of my life… please give me some sort of in site thank you, charlie dodge
Hello Charlie,
I understand your concerns with your dog and heavy dreams. Dogs sleep a lot, sometimes 14-18 hrs a day (throughout the day). They take “long” naps where they easily enter REM (rapid eye movement) and start to dream. Humans only enter this state of sleep once a day, if at all (when we’re dead asleep). Dogs on the other hand can enter this stage of sleep the amount of times they nap a day. I would not be worried one bit if your dog enters these stages of sleep every time she lays down for a nap.
okay thank you
yea thats true cause my little puppy was crying in his dream
:p but for me its like making fun of them </3 i love my puppy
my dog had a bad life before saved him he had sad dream like was scared i often woke him up just to reassure him it was ok.
It’s 5am. I’ve been in and out sleep for a couple hours now. My 70lb shepherd husky mix curled at the foot of bed has been in and out of sleep as well. I notice he cries and will whimper a lot when he sleeps. I wonder if its my fault he doesn’t sleep soundly due to my sleep patterns. I try not to wake him while he dreams but I get sad thinking he is having a nightmare and I just want to reassure him he is home, safe, and loved. Any advice.
Crying and whimpering isn’t always as bad as we think. Take for example, my Standard Poodle Leila who cries when she can’t catch up to faster dogs while playing. She will also whine when a dog is playing keep away and she can’t seem to take the toy away. I would like to think a dog is always having good dreams.
I wouldn’t wake them from a dream. But if you happen to catch them waking up from one, stroke them and tell them it’s OK. Again, whining and crying doesn’t always relate to a stressful situation. But reassurance with petting and talking to them after a dream (whether good or bad) is good measure. They’ll wag their tail and go back to sleep.
My dog often sleeps in my bed with me he’s a pretty big standard poodle so I can’t miss his dreams, I usually throw the ball everyday and in his dreams his paws are going like he’s running and his howling faintly to tell my other dog to give the ball back. My other dog is just bugging him , because she is fat and hates running but it’s so funny to watch him sleep and he wakes up all excited then dozes off again
That’s funny! Thank you for sharing
Found your blog when I googled, do dogs dream. I have a 10 year old mutt I have never seen dream. Recently we adopted a 1 year old mutt and we can tell when she is dreaming. Tonight she got in trouble and an hour or so later was growling in her sleep. Retry sure she was telling me off for getting mad at her earlier. Gotta love my pit bull Dalmatian mix with a personality the size of Ru Paul.
This is a common occurrence. There are dogs that start dreaming minutes after laying down and those that never really do. The beauty of not being able to talk to dogs leaves us all with the thought of – who, what, why, and where? Thank you for sharing!
I have a german shephard, he is 9 yrs old.. The time he ws sleepin i noticed he ws peeing.. It happened fr the first time. He dont have any bladder problem nor health issues.. What may be the reason behind it??
When dogs are excited or scared to the point they literally pee, that’s just a normal occurrence in a dream. Dogs with very little control of their urine bladders when excited or scared can and will pee on occasion in their dreams. Dogs are very much like humans, kids especially are well known for wetting the bed during a dream.
BUT, since your dog has never displayed these issues, it is very possible that this can be associated toward his old age. Dogs loosing control of their bowels when older is also a common occurrence. As long as it doesn’t become a natural routine I wouldn’t worry too much about it. If he continues to do this, OR even when awake, I would take him to the vet so it can be corrected with oral medication.
My pup and I were laying in bed, he’s already long asleep and I’m getting there. All of the sudden his entire body starts twitching and he begins whimpering then crying. Then he lets out in his sleep this long remorseful howl. He doesn’t even howl when awake! I had to wake him so he wouldn’t wake my family, but he woke with such a fright, his tail tucked, and burrowed underneath me. He fell back asleep but not until he pressed himself against my back. Poor guy I can’t even imagine what awful dream he had.
Wow, I too wonder what the poor fella was dreaming. I honestly believe dogs have the ability to dream of things that are mpossible of happening. Similar to dreams humans have – running from zombies, flying like superman… or is that just me?
My labradoodle Molly had a weird dream last night and she started to run and whimper then she woke up I just gave her a pat and told her it was ok. One night she was liying on the bed and then she almost did a roley poley of the bed!
Oh wow! My 10 year old Pitbull/Boxer mix has very heavy dreams where it’s caused him to fall off the bed. He is no longer allowed on the bed due to his old age.
hi .. ma puppy named echo also dreams and makes wierd and funny sounds and howls while sleeping soo i guess he dreams a lot
Our 5 months old German shepherd is dreaming a lot, often quickly after falling asleep. Sometimes good, sometimes apparently bad dreams.
Best not to wake a sleeping dog, also they could by accident bite you. What I do is to gently call his name and asked him to come to me. I hope that he hears me (his big protector) in his dream.
I agree with you 100%. I too wouldn’t wake a dog up from a heavy dream. They usually work their way out of it. Calmly calling their name as you do is another good method.
I’ve got a two and a half year old Boston Terrier who seems to dream pretty regularly…I often hear him “barking” in his sleep or get kicked when his paws start twitch as he “runs”. One night he barked so loud he woke himself up then was looking around trying to figure out where it came from.
My Lilly is a Papitzu and my 5 year old boy wondered what Lilly was doing when she was dreaming. Of course I have no idea but I took a guess and said “maybe Lilly is chasing red squirrels”. So that’s what my son and I think when Lilly is dreaming, that she is chasing squirrels.
My dog, Seamus, dreams all the time. He’s a lurcher (greyhound-sheltie mix) and they’re big time runners, so he always runs in his sleep (whilst laying down on his side, he doesn’t sleep walk). He barks a lot in his sleep too. He does the thing you described that your dog does, where his lips kind of puff and rumble. Lol. It’s pretty ridiculous. He whines sometimes too. He gets into the deepest sleep sometimes, it hard to wake him up. I can tell if he’s distressed in a dream and I’ll have to shake him pretty hard to get him to snap out of it. It’s so cute though. Dogs are such wonderful creatures. He’s my best friend and practically my conjoined twin, he’s constantly at my side. I guess that’s the whole point though, right? They’re our companions. Their DNA has even changed in the process of becoming our best friends, over the course of tens of thousands of years of companionship. Nothing can replace dogs. They have a special place with humanity. There’s a really good PBS special about dogs and their relationships with humans and in it they claimed that dogs and humans release oxytocin, the “love chemical”, when they’re together. It’s the same chemical that is released when a mother and baby are together. There’s an actual chemical reaction between dogs and their human companions that triggers a feeling of love, happiness, and contentment. Really neat stuff. Anyways, cute article. Thanks for writing it.
Thank you so much for sharing! I am going to search around for that PBS special!
I recently rescued my dog Chris he dreams everynite starts panting then he kicks me i dont mind I just hope there not nitemares I love him soo much
My 10 month old lab mix dreams constantly, everytime she sleeps. My husband and I think it is adorable. She is also an extremely quiet dog. Infact I have only heard her bark a few times since I have had her. Just today, I was in the house alone with her, studying for finals. She was dead asleep for awhile. I heard her huge paws scratching the floor, like they always do when she is dreaming. All of a sudden I hear this huge bark coming from her. I was so startled that I almot dropped my laptop, because it had been completely silent. She had even woken herself up from hr nap! She even scared herself so much that she kept growling and hiding under me for a while…I had to calm the poor beast down! It was probably one of the funniest things I had witnessed from her yet!
My girl Jasmine always freaks me out when she barks because she is soooo quite! We adopted her a little over 4 years ago and I’ve probably only heard her bark 4 times or so. I could be wide awake and my body quickly rushes with blood in panic because I don’t recognize the bark inside my home! lol
My 2 yr old pitbull dreams everyday and I love it. You can see the paws twitch, he never barks awake but does so in his dreams alot. I love it when he barks wij a closed mouth the just watch his jowls shake. He has woken himself up from dreams looking around wagging his tail. Just about the favorite part of my day is his head on my lap napping and dreaming so I can get a good laugh from him not just when be is awake.
Definitely my favorite part of the day too when I’m around my dogs. I always get a kick out of it and I’ve owned dogs for over 20 years.
i bet puppies dream of their real mom.and brothers and sisters
I have a feeling puppies do indeed dream of litter mates and mother. We recently adopted another puppy and this one also suckles in her dream and paws as if getting milk.