I always asked myself the same thing but it depends on the dog though. My dog is a bit weird one because he absolutely never barks even though he’s a big boy (beautiful mutt between boxer and Bernese mountain dog) and only barks if he sees someone outside passing by our house especially if they are loud and taking or if someone he doesn’t know comes into driveway. So i think when he barks in his dreams like that it probably means he’s not really enjoying his dreams. Even the dog in this video got up and tried to wake him up….
I honestly don’t know, I just do it when they’re like crying/whimpering in their sleep, which doesn’t happen too often, maybe a couple times a month. They never seem to care, usually just wake up, look at you and go right back to sleep.
Very very occasionally, maybe once a year, my dog screams in her sleep and it is terrifying. I do wake her up. If she had a more aggressive personality I might not because they can get disoriented when you do it but I can’t stand listening to it doing nothing. Just whining I probably wouldn’t wake her, that could be for anything.
I think ur fine, I’d do the same thing. As a matter o’ fact..Aren’t we all watching the same video of a dog instinctively wake his friend up from some sort of dream, outta’ concern? Who better to teach us how to “dog” than another dog? Yeah..ur doing the right thing..
I’ve heard that you should hold your hand near their nose. This should give them a reassuring smell and take them out of the bad part of the dream. When I do this with my dog she usually wakes up soon after and seems happy to see me.
I’ve read that is not recomended to directly wake them up because of the shock of the nightmare and you worried next to him. I personally when my dog has one I try to make a familiar noise to him and indirectly wake him up and then pet him
I always wonder what my dog thought after waking up from a dream/nightmare, i mean they don’t know what dreams are…so do they think it was something that actually happened? I always worried that my dog would wake up stressed because he’s suddenly in a different place then he was in his dream and that would be worse.
I always heard ‘let sleeping dogs lie’. I think mainly because if you wake a dog from a dead sleep they could potentially attack you if they are still dreaming of being chased or attacked themselves. That being said I did used to put my hand on my dog when he had a nightmare and tell him things were ok. It always stopped the whimpering and he’d go back to a quiet sleep.
One of mine growls, howls and his eyes roll back in his head. The other one runs like her life depends on it while she’s asleep in her crate and kicks the sides. It sounds like a wild animal is trying to break out. Sleep howls are eerie sounding.
We adopted miniature dachshund sisters, and one of them does this, too. As soon as her sister starts making any noise at all while she’s sleeping, or moves unusually in any way, she panics and rushes to check on her. They’re both so sweet, and we love them so much!
