Rocky having bad dreams

[Corn Niblet]

Hi everyone,

                   Has any one else had experience with their Cairn having a nightmare?  Rocky will be sleeping in his favorite chair in the living room and I will be in another room of the house when I hear him yelp out. He comes running to the room I am in barking and sometimes growling at me not seeming to be quite awake. Then our other cairn Gus comes to see what is wrong and Rocky proceeds to bark and growl at Gus. (Gus  does not know what to make of it either) I try to tell him every thing is ok but it takes him a few minutes to snap out of it. This happened one time when he was sleeping on my lap. Whatever happens in the dream he seems to want to take out on who ever is nearest to him. He will be 4 years old this November and has had recent blood work all came back normal.  Any insight or suggestions?  Thanks, Rocky's mom, Lisa

[sanford]

I can only report that from time to time my cairns, while sound asleep - in the middle of the night - or during the day, have what seem to be vivid dreams, (nightmares?)... Barking, whimpering, thrashing around with their legs as if they were running, but not waking up. Others here have reported the same thing with their cairns, although Rocky's displays seem to be more dramatic. When you describe Rocky running into the room and not seeming quite awake, it makes me wonder if it might be the doggie version of us uprights walking in our sleep?

    Putting the best spin on it, perhaps Rocky is only doing what many other dogs do, but more so... Hopefully, just a variation of the norm.

Edited October 22, 2019 by sanford

[Corn Niblet]

Thanks Sanford,  hopefully sleepwalking although a little scary for me when he is in my lap.

[pkcrossley]

i suppose it might not be uncommon for dogs to awaken suddenly from naps and be disoriented. i certainly have always been a bit disoriented after napping during the day. since cairn dreams seem to be mostly about chasing prey, i suppose a dog all keyed up by a prey dream could experience some agression after awakening suddenly. i guess he doesn't do this when awakening in the morning?

is this something new? how long have you had Rocky?