One of the many joys of being a parent to a pooch are the times when said pooch is asleep. Not necessarily because it means peace and quiet (though that is sometimes the case), but because dogs can be just as amusing snoozing as when they’re at play. Legs may start kicking or the mouth may start slurping, sometimes they’ll even wake themselves up with a fart!
But what exactly is going on with those snoring theatrics, do our dogs really dream of chasing rabbits or munching on the world’s juiciest bone?
Though significantly different in size, brains of dogs and humans are, structurally speaking, remarkably alike and experience similar waves and activity. According to Dr Gary Richter, Rover’s veterinary health expert, such similarities mean our canine companions, like us, have multiple sleep stages during their snoozing cycle, including REM, “which is why we see them twitch”. REM usually begins around 20 minutes into a nap, which is when the sounds and movement – often coupled with irregular breathing – will begin.
SO, ARE DOGS DREAMING?
An MIT study monitored neurons in the hippocampus (the brain part linked to memory and learning) of rats while they ran around a track for food rewards – an activity resulting in easily identifiable activity in their brains. The creatures were then monitored as they slept, and researchers found near-identical brain patterns indicating that the rats were ‘reliving’ the activity in the form of dreams. Similar studies of mice and cats have led scientists to conclude that it’s probable that dogs (and likely all mammals and perhaps even vertebrates) experience similar dream states.
Dr Stanley Coren, canine researcher and author of the book Do Dogs Dream? Nearly Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know, writes that larger dogs have sleep cycles of up to 90 minutes (similar to humans), whereas smaller breeds have shorter cycles – as little as 10 minutes – meaning their dreams don’t last as long but occur more frequently.
Though significantly different in size, brains of dogs and humans are, structurally speaking, remarkably alike and experience similar waves and activity.
SO, WHAT DO DOGS DREAM ABOUT?
The pons is the part of the brain stem that not only helps control sleep cycles and regulate deep sleep but paralyses muscles to prevent us from literally acting out our dreams. As the pons is less developed in puppies, and less efficient in senior dogs, their dream twitches tend to be more dramatic than those in their middle years (it’s the same with humans). By temporarily deactivating the pons, researchers have been able to partly peek into pooches’ dreams and, “what we’ve basically found is that dogs dream doggy things,” says Coren.
It’s impossible to know the exact details of what goes on in our pooch’s subconscious as they snooze, but it’s probably a far more literal interpretation of their daytime activities – like those rats chasing their edible rewards – both the good and the bad. Although it’s believed that they’re probably incapable of creating complex, fantastical nightmares that we sometimes suffer, those sleep-induced snarls and whimpers may be the result of recollections of, say, the neighbour’s cat staring teasingly through the fence, or of that dreaded bath time. Dr Coren recalls an owner who told him about his dog who was terrified of baths and would run straight between his legs after each one – the only time he ever performed such behaviour. But one day the owner noticed his dog run between his legs following a bad dream implying that he’d been dreaming of being bathed. (It’s advisable to never wake a dog during such a ‘nightmare’ as the shock and redirected energy may result in an accidental bite.)
But, presuming Fido’s living his best life, he’s mostly experiencing positive dreams about tummy rubs or treats or running around that woodland or the thing that he most loves – you!
Words — Jamie Christian Desplaces
