Do dogs dream? if you have a dog Surely you have ever wondered what dreams when he is asleep and starts moving his legs or starts making sounds with his mouth.
Today we are going to discover what they dream and what their dream is like. But we are also going to see the relationship between quality of sleep and quality of life of our dog companion, as well as some tips to improve its quality.
Do dogs dream?
According to studies conducted on sleeping dogs, brain activity is found in encephalograms while they sleep. Brain waves found to have a human-like pattern. In the same way, it was discovered not only that they do dream, but that they go through different phases during sleep.
Now, we know that dogs dream, they have brain activity while they sleep and it is even possible that we ourselves see how a sleeping dog begins to move its legs... clearly in a dream. But..
What do dogs dream about?
Taking into account the waves, and the similarity with the sleep phases with respect to humans, it is most likely that they dream with lived situations. They may dream of their day-to-day activities, such as running, chasing a ball or an animal, eating, being with other family members, etc.
A specific study wanted to determine if among all these named possibilities, it could be ensured that dogs dreamed of their human families. and came to the conclusion that They not only dream of us, but it is also a resource they use to achieve better sleep and feel protected. that way they get to rest much better. In that sense, they could dream of a walk together, games or quiet moments of caressing at home. Of these options, the last one is one of the ones that transmits the most calm to our dogs.
And.. What about nightmares? Have?
If dogs have dreams, of course they also have nightmares.Dreams are a way for our brain to assimilate things from our daily lives, even to consolidate or "store" them. But when we have a problem or a bad experience, that dream turns into a nightmare. It's still a dream, but not a good one.
A dog's nightmares can range from some fear, a fight with another dog, abandonment or some bad experience that they have passed
cycles in canine sleep
We mentioned that studies affirm that Dogs' brains remain active during sleep and make the brain waves reflect that there is a human-like activity.
The first waves that were captured were very light "slow wave" that coincides with a moment of light sleep and that would cover the first 20 minutes canine sleep approx. After that the sleep deepens and enter a phase of REM sleep, where brain activity increases. This is when dreams begin to occur. Furthermore, dogs' sleep is related to their intelligence, as you can read in the article about dogs. smarter dogs.
In the dream phase, heThe eyes move under the eyelids, they move their legs and they can also make moans or very soft howls.
The frequency with which dogs dream depends on many factors: how well the animal rests, its age, and the size of the dog. Studies have shown that Larger dogs dream less than smaller ones. size. In the same way, puppies dream much more than adults. The latter may be related to the learning of puppies and the large number of stimuli they have to face in the process. All what they do or experience when they are awake, they remember during sleep. You can also read more about sleep in dogs in the article about why cats sleep so much.
How do I know if my dog is dreaming?
It is very easy to know when a dog dreams, we just have to let ourselves be carried away by our intuition and read the dog's body messages. we will begin to see involuntary movements of one or more legs, even all at once as if he were walking or running but lying down. They may also have some spasm or tremor
The sounds are usually habitual and it is something by which we can intuit if our dog has a dream or if it is more of a nightmare. When he growls, it is likely that he is facing a not entirely good dream in which he has to face something. Although they can also whine or cry or sometimes half howl depending on breed of dog.
All These signs tell us that they are in REM sleep and have begun to dream. We can also watch for when our dog falls asleep and wait 20 minutes to see if we see any signs, because sometimes, even if they're dreaming, they don't necessarily have to be very noticeable movements.
Is it bad to wake up a dog in the middle of a dream or nightmare?
It is common to realize that our dog is not having a pleasant dream but rather a nightmare, and, just as would happen with a person, we want to take away that moment of bad sleep and wake you up. It would be best to let him sleep.
However, we must weigh several things, the first thing is that sleep is not going to hurt you no matter how bad it is, The second is that he is already reliving something from the past and it may be good for him to face that in his dream and the third is that our dog will still be asleep and can inadvertently do us some harm thinking that it is in that nightmare and not with us.
So the best option is to let him dream, have nightmares and then wake up realizing that everything is actually okay and you're home safe.
Sleep and health in dogs
Dogs they need uninterrupted sleep to get a good rest and, therefore, reach the REM phase and have dreams. This is intrinsically related to having good physical and mental health. If a dog does not get enough rest, it will not have the energy it needs to face the day.
slightly irritable behaviors of dogs can be improved by increasing rest hours of the animal to prevent nervousness. After all, it's not good for humans to sleep too little, right? Well, the same goes for them. This can be related to another important aspect of dogs. As you can read in our article about dogs, their learning capacity and intelligence also play a role in the quality of their sleep.
However… How much should a dog sleep? the average in an adult dog is around 14 hours a day, which are usually distributed between 6-8 in a row during the night and the rest in naps distributed during the rest of the day. In the case of puppies the hours are much higher, since they should be able to sleep for about 20 hours daily
The hours that a dog sleeps not only affects the age factor, but also It also influences the physical activity you do, the type of life and character of each one. If we have a lazy dog, it is most likely that we will see him lying down dozing all day, while if we have an active dog... we will have to help him burn energy so that he sleeps properly.
Improve the quality of sleep of our dogs
That our dogs have quality rest and sleep can be improved with some advice that we are going to give you:
The place
- An comfortable bed, adequate size for the dog or that he chooses (surely those of you who have more than one dog will see how the small one ends up in the big one's bed and vice versa... the best, a bed where both fit without problem) A good idea, It is to observe where our dog sleeps and take it as a reference to put a bed there, since they choose the place where they feel most comfortable and also where they are warmest in winter and coolest in summer.
- If our dog is sleeping… let him sleep, let family members leave him alone at that time and if we have visitors the same. Another good option is to put a bed in a place where he can be more secluded if he wants to sleep peacefully away from the noise that may be in our home.
Food, exercise and routines
- An balanced diet it is a factor that influences all aspects of our dog's life, including sleep. Depending on our dog, the foods for relaxation, very chewy that they last a while or some refillable toy where you can lick for a while.
- If you realize that at some point you cannot sleep well, well be a moment of stress or changes... the ideal is to burn energy: walks, games of smell... There are many options, but the important thing to remember is one thing: a dog can tire more from a good sniff than from a long walk. Ideally, though, you should combine both.
- If even with all of the above your dog does not sleep, try to create a routine for him, both walks and meals as well as moments of rest at home with him (which if we accompany it with being by his side will surely relax him) and little by little he will create his moments of relaxation and rest.