I wasn't sure to post this here or in behaviour, but as she is a pup and it is not overt or conscious behaviour, I made the call for here Harley has always had very vivid dreams during the REM stage of her sleep cycle and I understand the neurobiological importance of the development that happens in her little puppy brain during this time, however, she has recently (about the last 14 days) been whimpering and crying during her dreams. The whimpering does not sound excited, she sounds afraid. If she is not on the bed and is perhaps on her floor bed we will quickly move to her to stroke her and, not wake her, but soothe her. My question is: Do other puppies do this too? We have recently moved house, could this be a psychological sequelae of that? And are we doing the correct thing by soothing and comforting her, so should be leaving her to dream the dream. She is going through a small fear stage currently too, so I am not sure if that is related to this? It would almost make sense. Thanks
Hi there..... my dog is a lot older but his dreams seemed to have remained the same ,or rather his dream noises have ...he chirrups ,squeaks ,muffley barks and whimpers..twice I've heard him do a short howl!!!!!!I've never considered the noises indicating fear...he wakes up prefectly Happy so I've never considered them anything to be concerned about.How do we know what the noises are indicating ? I don't think we can .I don't ask that to be rude,I've just never considered it until your post.We don't know what they are dreaming ....when Dexter starts his chirrups,he's usually running ( twitching ) too and we just say he's chasing rabbits!!!I don't like seeing him twitch,it makes me think of a fit but someone once told me their dog had nipped them when they woke him from a dream so we just leave Dexter to his adventures ....
Willow had a couple of what I would call "nightmares" when she was a pup. I didn't wake her, but I stroked her and it seemed to soothe her. Or it might have just been the dream passing, who knows? I instinctively want to comfort my dogs if they're upset, though, and I don't see it as a bad thing to do, even if it makes no real difference to them.
I think, if it were your house move worrying her , she would show this in her waking times ? Most pups/dogs dream , some more than others , I don't read too much into it unless of course, they wake in a very anxious state . Sam , the most placid of dogs , also non verbal , once howled like a wolf in his sleep , I just stroked him for reassurance , I wouldn't worry about it too much .
Not at all uncommon. All my dogs have twitched, grumbled, yipped etc in their sleep. I usually give a quick stroke and say OK in a level voice and never had any problems.
Does she wag her tail sometimes? I read of a study that showed when dogs are presented with their food they only wag their tails if you are there giving them the food. If it was slid through a door or something that did not involve a human presences they didn't wag. Therefore my theory on tail wagging in dreams is - not only is it a good dream, you are in it with them. Mine all seemed to have dreams now and then that distressed them. I find speaking softly, maybe lightly stroking, not waking them, seems to calm them down. I've read you should do this with people having a nightmare as they can react violently if wakened. I remember distinctly the OH wakening me from a nightmare and telling me the scary thing I saw was not really there and I remember how ANGRY I was at him because the scary thing WAS SO THERE. If I'd been a dog I would have bitten him.
Ahhh, that makes sense and I love that. Yes she does. She has been having vivid dreams since we brought her home but the crying and whimpering is fairly new, and the whimpering is loud. We do the same thing. If we are having quiet time at home she is usually on the bed with us so we stroke her and soothe her, she normally stretches but continues sleeping, just more peacefully. Thankfully she has not woken with a fright or a startle response yet. She is a pretty doted on pup so we often stroke her while she is sleeping anyway. When she is whimpering loudly we make every effort to not be too dramatic about it, so we make, what we hope, is comforting noises (see my post about singing and humming lol) and touch her.
Love this. Big Scooby was a tail-wagger in his sleep, as well as a big runner, would love to think he'd been dreaming of me. He did a ghoulish howl once. Belle was a frequent yipper and occasional runner. Coco doesn't really do much in his sleep, he twitches his feet slightly.
This evening Harley was making suckling noises and yipping sounds in her sleep. It is very sweet because our oldest cat also has vivid dreams regularly, so this evening I had the two of them on the bed twitching faces and feet actively busy in their own dream worlds.
Bailey makes all sorts of odd noises when he's asleep...from muffled barks and growls to sleep suckling (so cute I love it). If things are getting a bit vivid (to me that is) then I do gently stroke him and just tell him its all OK - don't know if it helps, but it helps me feel I've comforted him as he does settle and seem calmer. Love the idea of a wagging tail - Bails wags his a lot in his sleep
All mine have suckled in their sleep. Rory is the most vocal howls runs barks and wimpers. Moo does the eerie howls thing. It seems to depend on the nature of the dog Rory is a very talkative lab in the day and its carried over into his sleep
