Nightmares?

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

Can dogs have nightmares?

I was woken up in the middle of the night by grunts and growls from Drake. He was laying right next to me and kept pressing his body against me. I knew he was alseep. I tried pet his back hoping it would wake him up. I didn't want to startle him awake so he wouldn't unconsciously snap or something. Then he let out a yelp and started whimpering. Finally, I said, Drake! Come on boy! And got up from bed. He woke up and followed me out to the kitchen. He drank water and I had some juice and then we went to bed. Drake cuddled with me all night and was very restless.

I found his behaviour after I woke him up very odd. Drake is not as needy as his mommy is. But it was like he needed to sleep next to me last night. He laid with his head on my stomach and I petted it. If I stopped, he would lift his head and look at me. He would only rest it back if I started petting again.

Wonder what that was all about.

[anna_66]

Well, isn't that strange:confused:

I know Angus has had dreams before, he's cried, whimpered & even sometimes howl. But he either doesn't wake up, or if he does, it's no big deal & he goes back to sleep.

Hope he was feeling better this morning, poor boy:(

[Kfamr]

Simba has little dreams/ nightmares every now and again.
Sometimes he even moves his legs around like he's chaseing something! I always gently wake him up though.

[C.C.'s Mom]

Poor Drake!

Cookie is dreaming very loud and wild every night. I often wake up because she's whimpering or crying, barking, growling or 'running'. When she has a very bad dream, she wakes up and starts to walk around the bedroom, sniffing around, seeing if we're fine. After that she goes back to sleep.
I often wonder what goes on in that puppy mind!

[Cookiebaker]

Malone dreams alot, too. The funniest to watch are when he is "eating" and you can watch him chew & swallow a mile a minute. Then he barks in his sleep, and walks & runs in his sleep. But we haven't seen anything like a nightmare. Poor Drake!! I bet he was glad that his Mom was there to give him comfort, though!!

[manda99]

Hope Drake is feeling better now. Poor guy probably just had a bad dream. :(

Smokey gets funny face twitches in his sleep & the wimpers and grunts and kicks and stuff.

[ramanth]

Poor Drake!

To answer your question.. yes, I think dogs can have nightmares and dream.

In fact, Kia woke me up last night too!! Around 4 a.m., I woke up to whimpering and found Kia laying on the floor by the bed with her legs twitching. I woke her and she jumped up on the bed and curled up at my feet.

I must of had a bad dream myself because I woke up to find myself sleeping next to Kia's toy hedgehog and her still at my feet.

I guess the hedgehog will protect us. :rolleyes: ;)

[Andie]

Poor Drake! Hope he feels better!

Katie dreams almost every nght I think. She's always "running" and sometimes she whimpers. I just put my hand on her and say her name and she stops and starts snoring again. Bull has only "ran" once or twice but he whimpers every so often. There was one night that I woke up to him crying out like he was being hurt but when I looked he was sound asleep. I had to softly say his name over and over til he woke up.

[zookeeper]

Chester dreams all the time, he'll whimper, growl, run, eat, drink, and yes he has nightmares. I always call his name out quietly and he'll look up at me, and I'll say its okay than he will put his head back down and go back to sleep.

Bobbie only dreams occasionally, I think that when she has nightmares it is about us leavign her. She has separation anxiety, so it makes her really agitated when we leave to go to work or school.