Do They Have Nightmares?

[AEB]

I am not sure if this belongs here or in H&M. Last night Gamo woke us up screaming. He never makes noise (except barking). He also never shows he is in pain. We turned on the light and he was screaming with his mouth wide open looking terrified for a few seconds and then he stood up and kept screaming and laid back down and eventually quieted in a few more seconds. We don't know if this was physical pain or if he was having a nightmare and took time to come out of it. He seems fine today though. It did not seem like a seizure to me but that would be my other guess. Has anyone experienced this before? He probably had some experiences in Spain to have nightmares about.

[Riverhound]

Cramp?

 

Joe freaks out sometimes while he sleeping, for no reason I can see. We know they dream, so nightmares aren't out of the question.

[KickReturn]

We started with nightmares (crying, growling) the first few months which gradually disipated and were replaced by happy dreams with tail wagging, licking, chewing, and of course running.

 

The scream sounds like some pain though.

[Guest grey_dreams]

Nightmare. You have no idea what Gamo has seen and lived through, and Galgos do see and experience quite a few horrors. When they have a nightmare, I let them go through it as long as it is not too severe (like the nightmare Gamo had). If they appear distressed (like Gamo was), I just call their name very softly and gently. They may not respond immediately, but just keep saying their name very softly. They usually respond after 1-3 times. Then make sure that he is really wide awake. I always comfort them afterward (although there will be some who say that could reinforce a fear response, but we've never had that problem). Zuki used to have a lot of nightmares, especially when he first came home, then less and less.

 

Edited to add: Could have also been a muscle cramp, but they do have nightmares.

Edited November 17, 2013 by grey_dreams

[AEB]

Nightmare. You have no idea what Gamo has seen and lived through, and Galgos do see and experience quite a few horrors. When they have a nightmare, I let them go through it as long as it is not too severe (like the nightmare Gamo had). If they appear distressed (like Gamo was), I just call their name very softly and gently. They may not respond immediately, but just keep saying their name very softly. They usually respond after 1-3 times. Then make sure that he is really wide awake. I always comfort them afterward (although there will be some who say that could reinforce a fear response, but we've never had that problem). Zuki used to have a lot of nightmares, especially when he first came home, then less and less.

 

Edited to add: Could have also been a muscle cramp, but they do have nightmares.

 

Several people have said cramp. And I remember my stoic Sadie would cry when she got cramps in her front legs. She would cut herself and not cry but charlie horses made her cry. So that's certainly possible. But this was more of a scream- a death scream. It reminded me of an incident Sadie had a few months before we lost her. She screamed like that and could not get up. It could have been a really bad cramp but I thought she was dying in front of me. DH rushed home from work and by then (20 minutes maybe) she had quieted. We never determined what happened. Stroke, seizure, possibly just a cramp. But this reminded me of that. It's the most heart-wrenching sound and I hope I never experience it again.

 

We did comfort him. And we can't be sure he was sleeping. His eyes were open by the time we got the light on. I hope it was a nightmare or a cramp. I have just never heard him cry like that. Even when he was attacked by a buck several months ago. And he couldn't move for minutes. We thought his back was broken. He didn't cry. That's why I think maybe it was a night terror. Because he is quiet when in pain. Here he was absolutely screaming and looked terrified. It's comforting to know that your pups have gone through that. Thank you.

[GreytNut]

Argus used to get charley horses. They would wake him up in the night and he would scream bloody murder. Scared the heck out of us. He would get up and start limping. We would rub his leg for a few minutes to relax the charley horse and then he would go back to sleep.

 

He did have nightmares after he was attacked by a loose dog. He would growl, whimper, cry and shiver in his sleep. But he only screamed when he got charley horses.

[GeorgeofNE]

Let's not pretend anyone can answer that question with any degree of accuracy!

 

Growling in their sleep doesn't mean they're having a nightmare. For all we know, they're dreaming they caught something tasty and are eating it.

 

Screaming, however, that sounds like pain, not a dream. George woke up screaming bloody murder on Sunday morning and would not put one leg on the ground--so I know it was pain. Very scary for me, but he seemed to get over it pretty quickly.

[Guest k9soul]

I believe they can have nightmares, but it's not always easy to determine if they are actually having one. I think if a being can dream, they can have good or bad dreams.