{"id":2525,"date":"2013-08-18T18:10:36","date_gmt":"2013-08-18T07:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/?p=2525"},"modified":"2021-08-02T17:45:18","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T07:15:18","slug":"do-dog-dreams-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/dog-behaviour\/do-dog-dreams-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Do dog dreams matter?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-3410\" alt=\"Border terrier puppy sleeping on a couch with question above 'Do dog dreams matter?'.\" src=\"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/staddodogdreamsmatter.jpg\" width=\"664\" height=\"407\" srcset=\"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/staddodogdreamsmatter.jpg 3072w, http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/staddodogdreamsmatter-300x183.jpg 300w, http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/staddodogdreamsmatter-1024x628.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 664px) 100vw, 664px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><audio id=\"audioplayer-5575c92519cf8fec8987f4b1c207a91f\" controls preload><source src=\"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/dreams.mp3\" \/><embed type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" flashvars=\"audioUrl=http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/dreams.mp3\" src=\"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/pb-oembed-html5-audio-with-cache-support\/3523697345-audio-player.swf\" width=\"400\" height=\"27\" quality=\"best\"><\/embed><\/audio><br \/>\n\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\t\t<!--\n\t\t\tagent = navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();\n\t\t\tname_ff = \"firefox\";\n\t\t\tname_op = \"opera\";\n\t\t\tif (agent.indexOf(name_ff.toLowerCase())>-1 || agent.indexOf(name_op.toLowerCase())>-1) {\n\t\t\t\tjQuery('#audioplayer-5575c92519cf8fec8987f4b1c207a91f').hide();\n\t\t\t\tjQuery('#audioplayer-5575c92519cf8fec8987f4b1c207a91f').after('<embed type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" flashvars=\"audioUrl=http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/dreams.mp3\" src=\"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/pb-oembed-html5-audio-with-cache-support\/3523697345-audio-player.swf\" width=\"400\" height=\"27\" quality=\"best\"><\/embed>');\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/\/-->\n\t\t\t<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Listen by clicking play above, or read on&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ever since I&#8217;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 &#8211; more often than I can count.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, I experience <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sleep_paralysis\">sleep paralysis<\/a>. \u00a0I 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. \u00a0Then 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.<\/p>\n<p>Luckily, I know that my dreams and nightmares are merely figments of my imagination, and I can rationalise the sleep paralysis experience. \u00a0I know that a masked intruder has never entered the house and killed me or my partner. \u00a0I know that I have never been in a house fire. \u00a0I 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.<\/p>\n<p>Despite &#8216;knowing&#8217; 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.<\/p>\n<p>Me, a rationale adult human, is very affected by the nightmares I have &#8211; even though they&#8217;re not real. Like Phoebe, in <em>Friends<\/em> (watch from 3 minutes).<\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/youtu.be\/2EomKbf9gks?t=3m<\/p>\n<p>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?<\/p>\n<p>We know dogs must dream. We can see them partake in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.popsci.com.au\/science\/fyi-do-animals-dream\">REM sleep<\/a>. What they are dreaming about, however, remains a mystery.<\/p>\n<p>Dreams are something we learn about. \u00a0I remember a six year old telling me over breakfast, with a bemused expression, &#8220;I think I had a dream&#8221;. \u00a0This child has knowledge on the concept of &#8216;dreams&#8217;, but was still connecting this term with her own cognitive processes. \u00a0While we can teach children on what a dream is, we do not have this luxury with dogs.<\/p>\n<p>Is there much of a difference between the memory of a dream and a memory of a real experience?<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Is it possible that dogs are having nightmares? And is it such a big stretch to suggest that these dreams may affect a dog&#8217;s behaviour?<\/p>\n<p>What do you think?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Further reading:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dolforums.com.au\/topic\/249888-nightmares\/page__pid__6228511#entry6228511\">A post on DOL forums on dogs and nightmares<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XB7HqZc2p2Y\">The Science of Dreaming<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As humans, we are able to lay down the concept of a &#8216;dream&#8217; and rationalise dreams as fiction. Are dogs capable of this? Is there much of a difference between the memory of a dream and a memory of a real experience? And, if dogs do dream, is it possible that their dreams then affect their behaviour?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[586,130,12,81,781,11,778,780,413,782,779],"class_list":["post-2525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dog-behaviour","tag-behavior","tag-behaviour","tag-dog","tag-dog-behaviour-2","tag-dog-behaviours","tag-dogs","tag-dreaming","tag-dreams","tag-fear","tag-fearful-behaviours","tag-nightmares"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2525"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5055,"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525\/revisions\/5055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}