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Ever since I’ve been a child, I have had very significant nightmares. I often dream about my house being on fire, or being maimed or killed in a robbery or abduction or any other type of foul play. I have died many times in my dreams – more often than I can count.
Furthermore, I experience sleep paralysis. I wake or semi-wake from nightmares, only to not be able to move from bed, and have the terrifying experience of both being conscious of the fact that I am dreaming, but unable to remove myself from the situation. Then there are the times that I have just sleep paralysis with no dreaming, which is almost as frightening as your body tricks you into believing that you are also unable to breathe.
Luckily, I know that my dreams and nightmares are merely figments of my imagination, and I can rationalise the sleep paralysis experience. I know that a masked intruder has never entered the house and killed me or my partner. I know that I have never been in a house fire. I know that I have never been involved in a robbery and witnessed the slaughter of bystanders. I know that I have never, actually, been unable to breathe.
Despite ‘knowing’ that these things are not real, they still make way to very real fears for me. I slept with a light on until I was 14 and sometimes still do if I am home alone. I always lock my car doors when I am driving. At night, I am hyper-vigilant in public spaces, and often find myself looking for weapons to use in self defence.
Me, a rationale adult human, is very affected by the nightmares I have – even though they’re not real. Like Phoebe, in Friends (watch from 3 minutes).
http://youtu.be/2EomKbf9gks?t=3m
But I often I wonder if our dogs can conceptualise their dreams as real. Is it far-fetched to think that maybe dogs are psychologically affected by their dreams?
We know dogs must dream. We can see them partake in REM sleep. What they are dreaming about, however, remains a mystery.
Dreams are something we learn about. I remember a six year old telling me over breakfast, with a bemused expression, “I think I had a dream”. This child has knowledge on the concept of ‘dreams’, but was still connecting this term with her own cognitive processes. While we can teach children on what a dream is, we do not have this luxury with dogs.
Is there much of a difference between the memory of a dream and a memory of a real experience?
I have nightmares that result in real-life fears. Despite my capacity to conceptualise and rationalise my dreams, they still translate to fears in my life.
Is it possible that dogs are having nightmares? And is it such a big stretch to suggest that these dreams may affect a dog’s behaviour?
What do you think?
Further reading:
midnight used to make whimpery noises in his sleep. not sure if translated to barking in his dream. I used to talk to him in a calm quiet voice to let him know he was safe and i was there and i would keep talking to him until he settled back down. i didnt feel comfortable waking him during one of his noisy dreams because if it was bad i didnt want him to associate me with it. talking to him and letting him know he was safe seem like the best thing to do and always seemed to work.
Thanks for commenting, Kerry. While lots of people have stories (including myself) of dogs that cry in seeming distress when they’re asleep, I wonder if their dream experiences get muddled with their living experiences.
It sounds weird but I’ve never had a truly frightening nightmare. I seem to be able to make the dreams come out the way I want them to. My dogs, however. seem to be terrified of something. I feel so bad for them and wake them and try to reassure them.
You’re lucky if you don’t seem to have scary dreams, Jan. Sorry to hear that your dogs seem to be compensating, though.
I think about this topic quite a bit. I always wonder if my pets are able to separate their dreams from reality. Do they understand the concept that this “dream world” happens when they’re asleep? Or do they get their dreams mixed up with real life? Or, do they just forget their dreams instantly? I kind of think they might just forget their dreams right away.
Thanks for weighing in, Lindsay, and yes, it’s something to think about. I can think of numerous things that I thought were real (like Phoebe in Friends) until I rationalised them out… Our dogs presumably don’t have this ability.
baby puppies, as young as 3 weeks old, show signs of dreaming. Hard to imagine what they’re dreaming about. I tend to think dreams are just something the brain does, maybe just housekeeping. Babies can whoop and yelp in their dreams and show no evidence of trauma when awake, so the experience can’t be that bad.
Puppies have twitching sequences from when they are born, and these are definitely ‘just something the brain does’ for developing neural pathways for the developing dog.
The dogs who do make noise in their sleep aren’t necessarily the ones I was referring to… Apparently, I talk in my sleep often, but it’s normally associated with mindless nothing dreams, and not with nightmare material (from the pieces I’ve put together from my partner and my recollection of dreams). I don’t think the parts of the dogs that we observe (their body and vocalisations when asleep) are necessarily indicative of the dreams (or lack there of) they’re having.
My dog has anxiety about quite a few things — large trucks, bicycles, large boxes. I think she has nightmares about these items from time to time. I watch her sleep often and sometimes her twitches/howls are just different than usual. I’ve come to the conclusion that she’s having a nightmare… but maybe I’m just an overly worried dog owner!