Can Dogs Dream?
Ever wondered when watching your dog sleep if they dream? Maybe you have seen them twitching a little or make a noise. Were they dreaming or was it just a random unconnected action? People have always wondered whether dogs dream and if so what do they dream about?
Unfortunately dogs can’t get up and let us know if they had a dream or not. So can we really know if they do dream?
It appears there is evidence to suggest that they do in fact dream.
There were tests done on rats with showed electrical brain activity during their sleep similar to humans while dreaming. Now rat brains are very different to ours compared to dogs, so the likelihood is that they do dream. We have similar brains and the electronic signals seem to match. Coupled with the fact we have similar brains humans and dogs also sleep in a similar way. Their breathing and eye movement correlates to ours when they enter deep sleep where we dream. This all points to the likelihood that we both dream.
What about differences between breeds?
It is now believed based on the brain activity that smaller dogs such Chihuahuas have short and frequent dreams. Maybe dreams every 10 or so minutes at a time. While bigger dogs like a Labrador will have less frequent but much longer dreams a bit like us.
What do they dream about?
Well, we don’t really know!
There is no way of knowing for sure as they cannot actually tell us. Who knows we might figure out a way in the future.
However it is likely they dream just like us, with events linked to our daily activities. Though some experts now believe they are most likely to dream about you. As they are attached to their owners and spend a lot of time together. Chances are if they dream about their daily activities you will feature highly. So that is a good thought to have about them dreaming of you!
