Do Dogs Dream?

Do dogs dream of chasing sheep? It certainly seems that way, with just how they react in their sleep. A quick observation at your nearest dog (or dog video) will see them twitching in their sleep, with the occasional muffled bark!

What’s Happening?

Thanks to the use of EEG machines, scientists can now measure a dog’s brain activity while sleeping to give us our answer. As it turns out, just like humans, dogs undergo sleep cycles as well – including the crucial REM stage, where dreams are made.

However, their REM stage is much shorter and more erratic than ours. A smaller dog may enter REM sleep once every ten minutes compared to a bigger dog’s experience of REM sleep once every 90 minutes. Puppies top the list by dreaming the most, likely as a by-product of processing lots of new information.

Is It Sheep They’re Dreaming Of?

Until the day scientists invent an accurate dog translator, there’s no real way of knowing just what a dog sees when they dream. The best guess researchers have is that their dreams mainly consist of replaying day-to-day activities, similar to the way humans dream.

At the end of the day, we ought to just let sleeping dogs lie!

Feature Image Source: Pixabay