Azawakh - African Sighthound

Dogs have dreams. It is documented by the following video spot:

 http://www.super.cz/vtipky/14640-psi-sny.html

What is a dream? According to Wikipedia, a dream is “a succession of images, sounds or emotions that the mind experiences during sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, though they have been a topic of speculation and interest throughout recorded history.….“

There is an article in English about dog’s sleep e.g. in: http://www.petplace.com/dogs/do-dogs-dream/page1.aspx

The introduction to another web page says:

 … There is an often-asked question: Do animals dream? Those who have dogs of breeds in which hunting instincts have been preserved in spite of the human “breeding effort“ know that their dogs “hunt“ in their sleep: their dogs sniff, moving their legs, making all sorts of sounds. It looks like human sleep (paradoxical: the REM phase). It may be said about mammals in general that they have dreams (all the mammals, including humans, have the same complex six-layer cerebral cortex).

However, no animal has spoken, turned to us saying: “I had a dream last night… “

I dare to disagree at this point. My little Azawakh girl turns to me and speaks. The fact that I am able to comprehend the sense of her “narration“ just very little is my fault, not hers.

All my dogs dreamed exactly as the above-mentioned articles describe. However, I have never observed any impact of their dreams after they woke up, just like it happens with people who are able to narrate the content of their dreams. I could never observe any traits of “feelings“ caused by the dream in any dog when it arose from sleep. Yes, I am talking about objectively measurable characteristics, such as accelerated heart rate, accelerated breathing, hair on dog’s neck and back remains bristled long after waking…

Akhami is a creature with a very sensitive, maybe hypersensitive soul. Everything she does, she does it with all her might and heart, “full steam ahead“; my little girl is unable to do anything  just so-so. She is my little psychic. She is able to warn a person that an attack of migraine is coming… that cold sore will appear on somebody’s lips… that Daddy Tari will have a problem with his paw… I observed her exploring a part of a person’s body where that person has a malignant tumour… She really is psychic. If she were less shy with people and if I were more consistent with her education, her abilities could surely be used. There is no doubt that such an extreme sensitivity is very interesting, however it has certain advantages and disadvantages. Any negative experience, even a minor one, affects Akhami more than any other dog I know. Her perception of world is quite emotional, and Akhami´s  deep emotions are also reflected in her dreams.

Akhami´s dreams seem to be very… picturesque… full of action… sometimes these seem not to be dreams but nightmares. Her bed is near ours and I have a real “dog’s sleep“, so I wake up when my little Akhami starts dreaming out loud. Her legs move, she barks softly, growls, and howls… It lasts for a while before she jumps out of her bed; I can hear the echo of her steps on the wooden floor; then, her little head peeps from around the corner. She looks at me, as if calling me, and hurries back to her bed, where, curled up but with her head high, she is waiting for me to come. I sit by her side, I embrace her, caress her. Akha, with her hair bristled, is shivering, her breathing is accelerated, and sometimes she begins to “tell“ me her dream in a very soft voice. So we talk, I whisper her, until she starts calming down. Her pulse and heart rate get back to normal rhythm, her hair is not bristled any more. And after a while, she relaxes and falls asleep again.

I tried to find out whether such dreams are connected in a way to what she has been through during the day, if her dreams reflect her experiences. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Sometimes it seems to me such dreams appear just “out of the blue“. But that’s my point of view, a human one.

So, what happens when we, people and dogs, dream? What is a dream? Who knows.

Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life is a Dream, translation by Arthur Symons, 1920