Can dogs dream?

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Almost all people who have lived with dogs have been able to see their dog dreaming, they realize by his involuntary movements such as barking, crying, moving his limbs while they sleep.  In fact, dogs, like many other animals, dream, this happens because, like humans, when sleeping, the brain enters maintenance phases. This means that in dreams the brain settles our memories and learning and everything we have experienced is located in brain areas, in this process the neural connections are strengthened to achieve it (Romero 2022).

Dreams occur in a stage of sleep called REM (rapid eye movement), this stage is where involuntary movements appear, dogs do not dream as much as humans, since their sleep cycle is different, dogs normally sleep 13 hours, but they are not usually followed, this means that dogs wake up every hour or half hour, this occurs due to a state of sleep called wakefulness, since dogs instinctively have to be attentive to sounds and smells around them to be able to act quickly towards any danger, only a few hours the dog reaches the deep sleep that is where he dreams.

It is not known with certainty what dogs dream about, but it is believed that they dream of events of their day to day or with the face of their owner and favorite smells, puppies tend to have more dreams since they tend to sleep more and also reach depths by sleeping faster, apart from that they are in the learning phase, therefore the brain remains in constant activity.

For this reason it is very important that when your dog reaches deep sleep you do not wake him up or disturb him, since it is his true rest and, like humans, it is very important for his well-being.

 Dogs that are in street condition normally do not reach the state of REM sleep and this is because they almost never feel safe and in addition to this they almost always have ailments or hunger, which is why they cannot reach a full rest.

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References

  •  Romero J.E.  2022. Is it possible to know what dogs dream about?.infobae.

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