Table Scraps: Doggo Dreams

During a telemedicine visit this week, my provider asked, “What’s that noise?” I moved my computer camera to face Kitty, who was snoozing on the bed. “That’s my dog; she’s dreaming!” Kitty makes yip-yips and moves her paws as though she’s running while she sleeps, so the teeny barks were audible on our video call. My doc was elated -- I guess not every day you have a client show you their dreaming puppers. 

Little Coconut has just started to dream. About a week ago, I noticed her paws were moving in her sleep and her mouth was twitching. We’ve had her about seven months now, so I’m so happy she’s finally comfortable and loved enough that she can dream. 

So what’s it all mean, anyway? I’ve read that dogs typically dream about their humans, but that doesn’t seem to be the case when I watch Kitty. I swear she’s hunting squirrels. The AKC says, “small dogs have more frequent dreams than large dogs, but those small dog dreams are shorter in duration. Large dogs, on the other hand, have fewer, but longer dreams.” Additionally, whatever your dog is into during the day, such as chasing tennis balls or *ahem* barking at squirrels, is typically what they’re dreaming about.

The AKC also mentions that dogs have nightmares, so if you think yours is having a bad dream, don’t wake them up (i.e. let sleeping dogs lie) because they might not realize the fantasy/reality of the moment. Pretty sure Kitty and Little Coconut wouldn’t attack me if they were having a nightmare, but I’m guessing it’s good advice.

Have you caught your dogs dreaming? How about your cats?

PS. I used “doggo” because I heard GenZ hates it. I’m not a millennial, but I standby the term doggo.

MPCC xx