As a pet owner, you might have noticed that sometimes your dog cries, barks, and whimpers during sleep. Since dog’s sleep cycles are similar to humans they can dream as well. During the REM sleep stage, they experience some bad dreams that result in crying, barking, whining and even sleepwalking can also happen just like us.
However, It is natural to have good or bad dreams. Also, they may express their feelings through some movements of their body or make some noises. Your dog may have had a good exercise day or some separation anxiety got them stuck in their sleep.
In this blog. We will learn about the reason behind dogs crying during sleep in depth.
Can Dogs Have Nightmares?
Without having another thought, we can say that dogs can experience nightmares along with dreams. Some veterans claim that dogs’ slumber is likely similar to human’s sleep cycle. Since they sleep like us, they also experience nightmares.
Dogs go through several different sleep stages, the two main stages being REM and SWS, or slow-wave sleep. The SWS stage of sleep is when a dog’s mental processes and brain activity are reduced, but the muscles and reactions are still the same as if they were awake. From there, they will enter the stage of REM sleep, where their body can relax, and their mind works at full ability; thoughts in the mind will still work fast and vividly.
REM is the stage of the sleep system of dogs where dogs experience their nightmares. The nightmares feel very real and luminous. That is the reason we often see dogs twitch their paws, growl, snarl, and even sometimes sleepwalk you also may witness. Research says that dogs enter REM situations when they fall asleep, lasting ten to fifteen minutes.
What Dogs Dream About: Understanding The Behavior
Sometimes, a dog’s dream depends on their daily activities. It has been proven that dogs sleep just like us. It can happen when your dog is active while awake and doing a lot of activities. So, if you happen to see your dog barking, it might have barked at other dogs or cats. They live in their sleep and experience some emotional phase while sleeping.
After a long day when they sleep, sometimes they twitch and kick. It happens when your dog is super active and chases and plays with other animals. There is one thing that is common in humans and dogs in sleep. Muscle jerks occur in humans and dogs. It is called myoclonus which happens in sleep.
When a dog’s limbs and paws tremble or move constantly during sleep. It probably happens due to REM sleep. The flickering eyes may also happen with REM. Most dogs sleep with their eyes slightly open during REM sleep. REM sleep may take place in twitching, barking, and even eye movements.
Reasons Dogs Cry During Dreams
It gives you a headache when you see your dog cry during sleep. You may want to help them in every possible way. But, in reality, since their sleep cycle is likely to us, they may experience some good or bad dreams. Sometimes, they may have some childhood trauma or anxiety that gets them to be scared. That also explains why they may experience some bad dreams. While they are experiencing some bad dreams, they may make some noises or movements of their body.
However, understanding these reasons will help you to get through your dog’s crying habits during sleep or dream.
1. Emotional Processing
Since dogs are similar to humans, their sleeping style is similar to ours. They express their happiness, sadness, anxiety, or fear through sleep or dreams.
When we are in our sleeping mode, we sometimes tend to express our emotional feelings through sleep or dreams. For example, we sometimes cry, laugh, scream, or sleepwalk. The same thing happens in dogs. They whine, bark, growl, snarl, and sleepwalk while sleeping.
2. Nightmares
Nightmares are one kind of dream that can leave an individual with unsettling feelings. Dogs often experience nightmares while sleeping. You may have noticed your dog sometimes cries out or whimpers in sleep; that may have happened because they are having some nightmares. Sometimes dog’s nightmares occur due to past traumas or stressful experiences. That results in whimpering, twitching, and barking.
3. Excitement or Stress in Dreams
If your dog is cheerful and active and loves to play around or is a little bit sad or distressed, then your dog may cry in its sleep.
When dogs dream about enjoyable moments such as chasing a ball, playing with other dogs, chasing other animals, persuading the owner, or going for a run they might experience the same thing in their dream. In a way to express their feelings sometimes they do some movements or make any sound that may seem like crying or whining in their sleep.
The same thing occurs if your dog happens to experience some bad dreams or stressful events in their sleep that also cause them to cry or bark.
4. Physical Responses
Dogs may show versatile responses during their sleep time. During sleep, they may experience happiness or sadness that may lead to them crying, whimpering, or even twitching.
Dogs may dream about experiences, interactions, or even chasing after things that also cause them to make some sound. Similar to humans, dogs may dream about stressful or exciting events that also take place in making some yelping sounds.
5. Reliving Physical Sensations
When dogs sleep they may experience some dreams so vivid that they turn out to make some noises. Including some physical movements whimpering, barking, or even crying which can explain why they’re experiencing some intense situation or feeling stressed or anxious in their sleep.
6. Instinctive Reactions
Dogs may appear to cry in their sleep due to instinctive reactions that involve emotional connections. Sometimes they experience some past trauma or separation anxiety that makes them yelp and cry in sleep. Sometimes memory can be joyous and stressful which leads them to cry or whine during sleep. Sometimes, if they’re scared or in pain, that can also lead to crying during sleep.
7. Sleep Disorders
In dogs sleep can be disturbed for many reasons with narcolepsy, REM sleep behavior disorder, and sleep breathing disorder can be the reason for sleep disorder in dogs.
Sleep disorders leave your dog to suffer in their sleep. During their sleep time, they face some issues such as running, twitching, or paddling their legs as if they’re chasing something in their dreams. In such situations, your dog may cry or whimper in their sleep. Lack of enough sleep makes them cry in their sleep.
How to Calm Dogs after Dream Distress?
If your dog is facing some trouble with sleeping you may want to resolve this situation so bad. Watching them suffer is the most horrendous thing to witness. In their sleep sometimes nightmares occur, in this condition following some tips can help your dog during sleep.
1. Exercise Your Dog: If your dog is experiencing some stress then you better start to exercise. Anxiety can suck up their energy, leaving them fully powerless to move or stand. To prevent their nightmare habitation and maintain their sleep cycle properly get them exercised such as taking out your dog to play or on a walk in the daytime.
Providing plenty of physical contact and talking to them could be helpful and reduce their dream distress. Also, exercise can help relieve stress by conducting favorable endorphins.
2. Physical Contact: It is important to get your dog familiar with your touch. When they suffer in their dream your touch won’t make them startle. Learn their anxiety and tweak them in the bud as soon as possible by waking them up or cuddling on the couch.
3. Massage: What could be the best remedy to relax the body and mind than massage? Even the human body can relax through massage. Dogs also relax and wear off their anxiety problems by doing massages. Suffering from anxiety can mess with the sleep system.
Start the neckline and work downward with long strokes. Keep your one hand on the dog, while the other works to massage.
FAQs
Do Dogs Dream Like Humans?
Yes, dogs do dream, and their sleeping style is similar to humans. Dogs twitch, move their paws, or make noises while sleeping, which can be symptoms that they are dreaming. They may dream about their daily experiences, such as playing, chasing, or interacting with their owners.
Why Do Dogs Whimper or Cry in Their Sleep?
Dogs may whimper or cry in their sleep for many reasons. The most common reason is that they are exploring exciting and joyous moments in dreams or they might be experiencing some upsetting events or getting anxious during sleep. However, whimpering is the reason for experiencing pain or discomfort.
How Should I React If My Dog is Having a Nightmare?
If you witness your dog having some major issues while sleeping you may try to calm your dog down, slowly call their names, and pet their back because sudden touch on their skin can scare them. Try to relax their body by massaging their back.
Can Dogs Remember Their Dreams?
There is no science or proof that dogs can remember their dreams. However, Scientific American claims that dogs have episodic memory. In this dream, whatever they dream about they may remember some staff from their dream.
Conclusion
The mere view of watching your dog suffer in their sleep or dream mentally gets you terrible. However, this is only a sleeping phase just like us. We sometimes experience good or bad dreams and show our emotions by making some noises such as crying, screaming, or laughing, or sometimes we just do little movements of our body; such as kicking. So as simple as that, dogs can also express their feelings if they see something good or bad in their sleep.
