Consult your physician before taking any supplements, beginning any diet or fitness plan, or adopting any treatment for a health problem. It does not store any personal data.*This article is for general information only and is not intended to be medical advice. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Performance'. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Necessary'. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Functional'. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Analytics'. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Do you know why dogs suck on blankets? Find out here! And if it doesn’t, it’s better if your dog wakes up slowly rather than abruptly. Sometimes, your voice will be enough to break through the nightmare and calm your dog’s mind without waking them up. Instead of poking, prodding, or petting, use only your voice. Touching them when they’re already on edge due to a bad dream could make the situation worse. You don’t know how your dog will react when they wake up, so it’s best to keep your distance. If you’re convinced that your dog is having a terrible nightmare and want to wake them up, make sure you do it in a safe and respectful way. A wagging tail obviously means something fun is going on.īut if your dog looks tense, afraid, or cries out in distress, they might be having a bad dream. Paddling their legs could mean they’re running in their dream, and little yips could be happy barks. You can’t tell what your dog is dreaming about by looking at them, but pay attention to their body language. So if your dog has a fairly cushy life with a family that loves him, most of his dreams are bound to be pleasant. Dogs dream about things that are either related to their current life or something that happened in the past. I imagine he’s chasing squirrels, digging holes, and probably eating really good food. Most of the time, he seems to dream about happy things. Since that night with Copper, I’ve made it a rule to let sleeping dogs lie. What if you absolutely need to wake up your dog? He could have thought I was a menacing figure from his dream and bitten me. He recovered himself quickly and laid back down like nothing happened, but it was still a startling experience for both of us. I woke him up, and he shot up onto his feet and let out the nastiest snarl I’ve ever heard from him. He woke me up, and in my sleepiness, I nudged him trying to get him to stop kicking me.

He sleeps in bed with me, and one night, he started kicking and whimpering in his sleep. I learned this lesson from an experience with my dog Copper. It could take several seconds for your dog to realize they’re suddenly awake, and it’s impossible to predict how they’ll react.Įven the friendliest, most well-behaved dog can have a violent reaction after being woken up from a particularly vivid dream.

Abruptly being pulled from a dream state back into reality can cause serious disorientation.

It’s also dangerous…īesides disrupting your dog’s REM sleep, waking them up also poses a safety risk. Think about it: aren’t you cranky when you are woken up during a deep sleep? And isn’t it sometimes hard to fall back asleep? Continually waking up your dog every time they have a dream isn’t a good idea. It disrupts their overall sleep cycle, and that could have consequences regarding the dog’s health and well-being. Waking up your dog during a dream rips them out of that important REM sleep. It also happens to be when most of your dog’s dreaming happens. This kind of sleep happens in intervals, and it’s characterized as being a deep sleep involving rapid eye movement and brain activity. That means they get the most rest during their REM sleep cycle. The general consensus is that it’s NOT a good idea to wake up a dreaming dog–even if that dream is a nightmare.ĭogs have similar sleep patterns as humans.

If i sleep now when should i wake up