Sunday, October 26, 2014

I have a dream

             Ever since I've started observing my dogs I've noticed that when they sleep, they twitch. So I asked myself, do dogs dream? If so, then what do they dream about? Humans dream about life events. I felt that dogs didn't dream at all. Dreaming. I can feel my dog dreaming. His legs are twitching and he's growling, as if he's playing with another dog, or perhaps he's running away from something. But what exactly is he dreaming about? (Field notes 10/25)
              An article I found online, Psychology Today, is titled "Do Dogs Dream?" and as I read it, the more I was amazed by what I read. Stanley Coren, the writer of this article, wrote, "At the structural level, the brains of dogs are similar to those of humans. Also, during sleep the brain wave patterns of dogs are similar that of people, and go through the same stages of electrical activity observed in humans, all of which is consistent with the idea that dogs are dreaming." It amazes me that dogs do dream and that they dream exactly how humans dream. Coren also writes that you should know when your dogs are dreaming because the dog starts doing what humans do when they're sleeping. Like for example, twitching, breathing louder (or snoring) and moving their eyes inside their eyelids. My dog, Max always moves around during his sleep, it doesn't even look like he's sleeping half of the time.

             My dogs may not dream about what Martin Luther King Jr. dreamt about, but they dream just like humans do. I think this is just amazing because it shows how alike animals and humans are. Humans are higher on the chain then animals. Even though a dog is a man's best friend, humans still treat dogs less than they really are. I feel as a dog owner, that even my dogs are smarter than me sometimes. So why? Why do humans still treat animals like their so dumb? One day dogs will take over our world and get revenge on us. (Just kidding)

Works Cited
Coren, Stanley. Do Dogs Dream?. Psychology Today. N.p. 28 Oct. 2010. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. 
   

4 comments:

  1. I always wondered the same thing about dogs having the capacity to dream. Now that I got the answer to my question it explains so much but I still wonder if puppies dream more because I used to notice these symptoms while my dogs were puppies more than I do now that they've grown. At times I would actually see my puppy react as if he was having a nightmare he would whine and flinch in a repeatedly motion. I never tried to wake him up because although I wasn't certain he was dreaming I didn't want to risk waking him up from his dream since I thought that he would have a rapid heart rate the same way humans do when they're terrified and this would only make things worse.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the line about MLK. Great blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have also wondered if Tyara dreamt too because I have seen her twitch also. The part of MLK made it really interesting because you compared a small four legged animal to such a great human being.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This reminded me of video I once watched where there's a dog dreaming and starts to move his legs as if he was running. As soon as the dog woke up, he kept running and ran towards the wall and hit himself. I thought that was very funny. Has your dog ever done anything like that? I think it's amazing that animals can dream just like humans.

    ReplyDelete