Yes, dogs dream.
Dogs go through the same neurophysiological states that we do.
Therefore they go through the same dream states that we do.
And hence the statement that they dream.
If you want to learn about this process, stay and watch the video.
Everything about your pet
DOGS Sleep and dream
Before explaining the sleep process,
we are going to explain to you how many hours adult dogs can sleep.
Adult dogs can sleep between 12 and 14 hours a day.
They spend more or less 75 of their time sleeping.
In the case of puppies, like these two that I have here,
as you can see one is asleep and the other has just woken up,
they can sleep even 18 hours.
Let's talk a little about sleeping, how it develops and how it begins.
Experts say that after 20 minutes of being asleep a dog can start dreaming.
So what happens? When they are dreaming, they dream about activities: playing, running...
Brain sends electrical impulses to the body to perform this action.
But these impulses are ignored.
In puppies this process has not yet finished developing.
Because they are still growing.
Then when they are running in their dream,
sometimes we see those spasms, they suddenly move their leg
or even you may have seen that they do the movement of running.
They are dreaming about running.
While they grow, you will see that these impulses start to disappear.
They will be less frequent, because the brain is learning as the dog grows.
It's very important that if you see that the dog is moving during sleeping to not touch it.
You will see that in a short time they will stop and it's better to let them dream peacefully.
What are dreams for?
Well, you may wonder what dreams are for?
Not the act of sleeping, but dreams. Why don't they just dream peacefully.
Well dreams are restorative for them.
First they are very important for learning.
I'm going to give you a very clear example,
that surely has happened to you if you have children or if you are young,
surely a teacher at some point have said that to remember the lesson you have to sleep.
That is to studying whole night before the exam, is useless
because you won't memorize the information.
It's necessary to sleep to process and memorize that information.
It's exactly what dogs do.
Especially puppies, play, learn, investigate...
and all that they did that day, they dream about is, process it and learn from it.
That is why it is so important that they sleep peacefully.
Additionally when they are sleeping, their growth hormones are secreted.
Therefore for their optimal growth they have to rest well.
That is why it is very important to make sure that their sleep is as pleasant as possible
that they are comfortable that there is nothing that can disturb them in their sleep
so that they can grow and rest.
How sleeping process looks like in dogs?
Hhow is the sleep process how it develops?
Well this is very curious because dogs sleep in parts
I've told you that they can sleep between 14 hours, puppies even 18 hours
but they do not sleep in all those hours in a row.
Why? Because they have inherited the genes of the wolf.
The constant vigilance. So what do they do?
They sleep 15-20 minutes and wake up.
And after waking up they are awake for about five minutes and then go back to sleep.
I'm going to tell you what happened to me recently.
I got up at night and I saw my dog, a border collie, standing up, watching,
I got scared thinking that something was happening.
Dogs have such developed senses that any sign, any noise or smell
from outside make them vigilant. And they get up.
It's very common and normal.
It's inherited from the wolves and it's not a problem, nor alteration. It's super common.
But it's curious that they are constantly vigilant.
Now let's talk about the sleeping postures,
because they are also connected with their sleeping.
Right now, as you see this little boxer is totally relaxed
she has this circular position, fetal position and therefore we can tell that she is totally relaxed.
Have you noticed that sometimes they are lying down but with all four legs well supported on the ground
and the head is just tilted to the side.
It means that dog is alert, in case that something happens it could get up quickly
and run or go where it has to go.
According to the dog's posture we can know if it is completely relaxed
or is vigilant as we said before.
In which periods do they dream? Dogs like us have different periods during sleeping.
First there is the non-REM sleep, which is when the dog is totally relaxed, is asleep and is secreting growth hormone.
But it's not dreaming at that moment.
Then there is the REM sleep when they are dreaming, their pulse is higher,
they breathe more quickly and we can even see the spasms that we've talked about.
This it the REM sleep, when as we said, you shouldn't touch them.
It happend to me, especially when Nala was little, she started to breath quickly
and you worry what is happening, is she having problems breathing?
But it's only the REM sleep so we must leave them, because it is completely normal.
They like to sleep close together.
Dogs are social sleepers. It's a weird terminology, isn't it?
Well, social sleepers means that even when they sleep, they are social, as the name indicates.
It means that they like to sleep in society, in community
So if you sleep at home with your dogs, it is very beneficial for them.
It's important to know, especially when you've just brought a puppy.
It's very important that they don't sleep alone, that they are accompanied by other dogs or by you.
Why is that?
When they sleep in group, they also protect each other so they are relaxed, they are members of a herd.
If they don't have a herd to sleep with, when they will be alone they will be tense
because all the time they will think that they can be attacked.
It's wolf's characteristic to always be alert.
This activates their mind and that means that our dog will not sleep comfortably throughout the night
or through these phases that I've mentioned before.
So it's very important that they not only have a comfortable place to sleep
but also some companion, either a dog or a person.
What do they dream?
Are you still curious what do they dream about?
We can't be sure and no one can be, of what exactly do they dream.
Thanks to our experience we can more or less guess.
We dream about our every day life, we dream of what we saw in a movie or a book that we read
about our experiences, our fantasies.
They dream exactly the same as we do.
They dream about what they learned during the day, about things that amuse them,
things that are most important to them.
In the end their dreams are just like ours, they dream of real and tangible things
that help them to learn and understand their environment.
Cuniadvice
Cuniadvice for today is from my own experience
and it has to do with sleep periods.
I noticed at one point that my dogs were very nervous that they did not sleep well
they got up all the time, not only during the periods, that I have told you,
but continuously and they didn't rest correctly.
After watching them closely I discovered what the problem was.
It can also happen to you and you can solve many problems just as I solved it.
They did not like the bed where they were sleeping.
They had a bed that wasn't uncomfortable but it was not the right one for them.
As you seen Nala is sleeping in this bed that is very comfortable
but my dogs prefer to sleep on a mattress, mattress for humans.
You will think: "Now I have to buy a mattress for my dog?" No.
I just want you to remember that sometimes they don't sleep well
because they sleep in the place not adequate for them.
So watch out and make sure that they have a place that is safe and comfortable for them
and thanks to this they will sleep better and be healthy.