Can my dog have nightmares?

There are many dog breeds, each with their special traits, but they all share a love for quality sleep.

Even the most active dogs enjoy some snooze time.

Like cats, rabbits, and other pets, dogs dream when they sleep.

However, this also means that dogs can have nightmares.

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Dogs indeed have dreams, with puppies sleeping up to 18-20 hours a day.

Unlike humans, they enter the deep dreaming phase quickly, in about ten minutes

Yet, dogs typically spend no more than 10% of their nap time in the REM (rapid eye movement) phase, where dreams occur.

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Their long hours of rest mainly involve the light/slow-wave phase

Dogs, like many mammals, have irregular sleep patterns. They can wake up and fall back asleep several times throughout the day.

While humans have 4-5 sleep cycles per day, each lasting around 1.5 hours, dogs have up to 20 cycles, but they’re much shorter, lasting 15-20 minutes.

Should I wake my dog up?

If you believe your furry friend is having a nightmare, your first instinct might be to wake them up, which is a natural response.

We want to comfort and help our pets.

However, it’s not advisable to wake them up abruptly, like shaking them. This can startle the dog and make things worse.

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The problem is, the dog may still think it’s asleep and react defensively.

To be safe, it’s best to let the dog work through the nightmare on its own. While this may seem tough, most nightmares only last for 2-3 minutes and won’t harm the dog’s mental or physical well-being.

After the frightening dream passes, the dog will return to peaceful slumber.

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This article was compiled with the help of Artificial Intelligence