Do Dogs Have Nightmares? Signs, Causes, and How to Help
Do dogs have nightmares? Yes. A veterinarian explains what the science says about dog dreams, how to tell a nightmare from a seizure, and when twitching in sleep needs a vet.
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This pet health content was written by veterinarian Dr. Debora Lichtenberg, VMD. This article was originally published in 2013 and is regularly updated. It was last reviewed for accuracy and updated October 14, 2026.
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- Yes, almost certainly. Dogs go through REM sleep, the stage where people dream, so twitching, paddling, and soft whimpering are normal. In rare cases a dog acts a dream out so violently that vets call it REM sleep behavior disorder.
Do dogs have nightmares? Yes: dogs go through the same REM sleep stage in which people dream, and the whimpering, paddling, and twitching you see are the outward signs of a busy sleeping brain. A 2001 MIT study found that rats replay what they did while awake during REM sleep, and veterinary neurologists have documented dogs who act dreams out so violently that the problem is classified as a REM sleep behavior disorder.
When I was just starting out as a veterinarian, a friend told me her dog was having nightmares. The dog was twitching violently, vocalizing, and thrashing during sleep, and I had almost no clinical framework for it. What I now recognize as a REM sleep disorder was, back then, a medical mystery.
- 1For a loud or violent episode, call your dog's name from a few feet away. Do not touch or shake a sleeping dog, which can cause a startled bite.
- 2A dream ends when the dog wakes and acts normal. A seizure does not, so record any episode you cannot tell apart and call your vet.
- 3Nightly episodes, injuries, and a sudden change in an adult dog all call for a vet visit. Severe REM sleep behavior disorder is treated with prescription medication.
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What to Do When Your Dog Is Having a Nightmare, and How to Tell It From a Seizure
For ordinary twitching and soft whimpers, let your dog sleep. For loud or violent episodes, wake him with your voice from a few feet away, because a dog startled out of a dream can bite before he is fully awake.
- Stay a few feet back and say your dog's name in a calm voice.
- Do not touch, shake, or lean over a sleeping dog during an intense episode.
- If he only cries out briefly, wait: short whimpers usually pass.
Think about where your dog sleeps. A consistent, secure spot can reduce the intensity of episodes and make them easier to monitor, and a bolster bed such as the FurHaven Calming Cuddler gives a dog a defined place to settle. If your dog has been sleeping in bed with you, it may be worth reconsidering that arrangement until the episodes are better understood. Our guides to getting your dog to sleep in his own bed and why your dog shouldn't sleep with you can help.
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Is it okay to wake a dreaming dog?
Usually there is no need. Twitching, paddling, and soft whimpers are normal dreaming, and a dog who sleeps through them is getting the rest he needs. Wake him only if he seems truly distressed, such as screaming or thrashing, and use your voice rather than your hands.
Taking a video of an episode is the most useful thing you can do for your vet. A phone propped nearby works, and so does a Wi-Fi pet camera such as the INSTACHEW Purrsight 360 that records overnight. Once you have gathered a few episodes, make an appointment to show the videos. This helps rule out medical causes, and in some cases your vet may recommend a veterinary neurologist or behaviorist.
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Nightmare or seizure: what to compare
Nightmares and seizures can look alike, and the difference matters. If episodes occur only during sleep, you can usually wake the dog with strong voice commands, and the dog is neurologically normal while awake, it is not a seizure disorder. Veterinarians classify these episodes as REM sleep disorders, not as nightmares or seizures. Crying out in sleep is common and is not a seizure on its own, so look at the whole picture.
| What you notice | Dream or REM sleep disorder | Seizure |
|---|---|---|
| When it happens | Only during sleep | Can happen asleep or awake |
| Waking the dog | Usually wakes to a strong voice, then may be groggy or startled | Dog does not respond to your voice or touch |
| Body signs | Twitching, paddling, crying out, sometimes thrashing | Stiffening, rhythmic jerking, and drooling can occur, and the dog may lose bladder or bowel control |
| Afterward | Back to normal soon after waking | May be dazed, wobbly, or confused for a while |
| What to do | Record a video, mention it at the next visit, call sooner if episodes are frequent or violent | Call your vet or an emergency clinic. A seizure that does not stop quickly or that repeats is an emergency |
If you cannot tell which you are seeing, record it and call your vet. Our guides explain what to do if your dog has a seizure and how epileptic seizures in dogs are managed, and WebVet explains when barking in sleep is a dream and when it is a reason to call the vet.
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Do Dogs Have Nightmares? What the Science Shows
Dogs dream. Their sleep brain waves go through the same stages of electrical activity as ours, and for an average-sized dog the first dream starts about 20 minutes after falling asleep, according to psychologist Stanley Coren, PhD, writing in Psychology Today. The eye movement under closed lids that gives REM sleep its name is most characteristic of dreaming sleep.
The best evidence about what a sleeping animal dreams comes from rats, not dogs. In the 2001 MIT study led by Matthew Wilson, researchers recorded hippocampal neurons while rats ran a circular track and again while they slept. About half of the more than 40 REM episodes repeated the brain-activity signature of the run, at about the same speed. That suggests mammalian brains replay waking experience during REM sleep, though it does not prove the rats were dreaming, and no one has run the experiment in dogs.
Normal dreaming in a dog usually looks like this:
- Twitching of the legs, paws, or face
- Paddling or running motions with the legs
- Soft whimpers, muffled barks, or small "woofs"
- Eyes moving under closed lids
Do dogs have dreams and nightmares, or just dreams?
Dogs have both dreams and nightmares in the sense owners mean, but no test can tell a dog's pleasant dream from an unpleasant one. What we can observe is behavior. Whimpering and paddling are usually an ordinary dream, such as chasing something. Screaming, thrashing, or sudden aggression during sleep is what most owners call a nightmare, and it is what veterinarians evaluate as a possible sleep disorder.
How often do dogs have nightmares?
No study counts nightmares in pet dogs, so there is no honest number to give. Dogs enter REM sleep repeatedly every night (see how long dogs sleep), so brief twitching and whimpering are routine. How often do dogs have nightmares serious enough to worry about? Rarely. Episodes that happen every night, several times a night, or that are getting more intense are the ones to bring to a vet.
What Do Dogs Have Nightmares About?
No one knows for certain, but the MIT rat research suggests that what dogs have nightmares about is mostly their own day: chasing, sniffing, playing, a startling noise, or a stressful vet visit replayed during REM sleep. The type of nightmare a dog acts out is shaped by what that individual dog has lived through.
What do dogs dream about when they whimper?
Whimpers, soft cries, and muffled barks usually go with ordinary dreams, such as chasing a squirrel or greeting a person. A dog who cries out as if in pain, does it repeatedly, or keeps crying after you wake him is worth showing to your vet, because that pattern fits a sleep disorder or a medical problem rather than a passing dream.
Do dogs have nightmares about their owners?
There is no evidence either way. Familiar people are part of a dog's day, so they probably appear in his dreams, but whether a dream about you is pleasant or frightening cannot be measured. What you can control is how you respond: stay calm, keep your distance during the episode, and give him a quiet place to settle afterward.
Why Do Dogs Have Nightmares?
Ordinary bad dreams need no cause beyond REM sleep itself. When episodes are intense, the cause of REM sleep behavior disorder in dogs is usually unknown. In humans it often appears later in life and can precede neurologic diseases such as Parkinson's disease, but dogs develop it young, so it seems to be a different phenomenon.
Studies suggest possible causes of sleep disorders in dogs may include:
- Congenital: the puppy was born with it.
- Neoplastic: cancer that affects the brain or nervous system.
- Infectious: a bacterial, viral, or fungal infection of the brain, or one elsewhere in the body that crosses the blood-brain barrier.
- Degenerative: a brain disorder that decreases brain function, like dementia or Parkinson's disease in people.
- Idiopathic: not traceable to a direct cause.
- Vascular: disrupted blood flow to the brain, similar to a stroke or ministroke in people.
- Traumatic: head injury, for example.
Why is my dog having nightmares all of a sudden?
A sudden change deserves a vet visit, especially in an adult or senior dog. New, intense sleep episodes in an older dog warrant a full neurological workup, because pain, other neurologic disease, or changes in brain function can all disturb sleep. In puppies and young dogs, an intense episode is more often idiopathic, meaning no cause is found.
Do dogs have nightmares after trauma?
No study shows that trauma causes nightmares in dogs, but owners of rescue dogs often ask about it, and my own first case below, Chica, was a rescue who started having violent episodes soon after adoption. A vet should rule out medical causes first. For a newly adopted dog who sleeps fearfully, consistent routines and a quiet sleeping spot matter most, and some owners of anxious dogs ask their vet about a calming supplement such as Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets Calming Care.
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- Screaming or crying out as if in intense pain during sleep
- Violent leg movements, running in place, or falling off furniture
- Growling, snapping, or biting at the air or nearby people while asleep
- Episodes that happen every night or multiple times per night
- Your dog seems confused, disoriented, or unsteady after waking
- Episodes that are getting longer or more intense over time
- Any of the above combined with unusual behavior while your dog is awake
- Your dog injures itself or someone else during a sleep episode
- If more than one or two apply, do not wait. Book a vet appointment and bring a video, which helps your vet rule out seizure disorders and neurological conditions.
REM Sleep Behavior Disorder in Dogs: Signs, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Veterinary neurologists believe the most intense episodes are REM sleep disorders, which are commonly associated with what owners call dog nightmares. They are well studied in people and harder to study in dogs. The big difference is age: people often develop the syndrome as they get older, while in dogs it often occurs in young dogs.
What an episode can look like
As a veterinarian, I often hear from pet owners that witnessing an intense sleep disorder episode in their dog was a frightening experience. "It freaked me out!" is a common sentiment. During these episodes, dogs can:
- Scream as if they are in intense pain.
- Exhibit violent limb movements or even run throughout the house.
- Howl, bark, growl, or chew, and in extreme cases bite themselves or others.
Some dogs have even been known to chase or "pin" humans or other animals during these episodes. Intensity and frequency vary from dog to dog. For a visual guide on how to handle dog nightmares, check out this helpful video.
How vets diagnose it
Diagnosing REM sleep disorder in a dog is not easy. An electroencephalogram (EEG) can show that the sleep-associated episodes occur during REM sleep, which supports a diagnosis of a REM behavior disorder, as in this case reported in the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association. Other brain imaging is needed to rule out primary brain changes. All of these tests require referral to a veterinary neurologist.
Vets usually diagnose REM sleep disorders using these tools:
- A thorough neurologic exam and basic blood work, which should be normal.
- A detailed history and videos from the pet parent. If the pet is neurologically and behaviorally normal in every other way except while sleeping, it is most likely a REM sleep disorder.
- Referral to a veterinary neurologist or behaviorist if the case is confusing or severe, or if you have also seen seizure-like activity.
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Dual diagnosis
Seizure disorders and behavioral problems are fairly common in dogs, so a dog could have more than one condition, which complicates the diagnosis. Case reports describe pups diagnosed with REM sleep disorders as well as seizure disorders, behavioral problems, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Most experts do not believe the conditions are correlated, but more studies are needed.
Mild episodes
If the episodes are infrequent, not very intense, not threatening to people or other animals, and not disturbing the household, many people choose to have the dog sleep in a comfortable crate, padded if necessary, or in a secure sleeping space. Mild episodes are not dangerous to the pet, so conservative treatment is an acceptable option. Calming supplements such as Greenies Calming Soft Chews are not a treatment for REM sleep behavior disorder, but some owners of generally anxious dogs use them, so ask your vet before trying one.
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Severe episodes
More severe cases usually require drug therapy. Severity is indicated when:
- Episodes occur nightly or multiple times a night.
- The episodes are intense or intensifying with time.
- The dog harms himself or others during episodes.
- The dog cannot be contained in the environment.
Treatment is individualized by a veterinarian or veterinary neurologist. Options reported in dogs include anti-seizure drugs such as potassium bromide, benzodiazepines such as clonazepam, and tricyclic antidepressants, which were used in the published case report by Bush and colleagues (JAAHA, 2004). Dogs, like humans, can develop a tolerance to benzodiazepines, which is one reason many vets do not reach for them first.
Response to drug therapy
The response to drug therapy varies, just like the disorder:
- Some dogs have their sleep disturbances completely controlled.
- Others still have episodes, but they are less intense or less frequent.
- Rarely is there no improvement at all.
If a combination of drugs does not relieve symptoms, it is time to look further for an answer, because there may be an underlying brain lesion. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been tried and may work in some cases, but some dogs actually get worse on an SSRI. This is true in people as well.
How to Comfort Your Dog After a Nightmare
If your dog has just had a bad episode, approach with care. Nightmares can be distressing for both the pet and the owner, but there are ways to comfort your dog without causing additional stress.
- Stay calm: your dog can pick up on your emotions, so staying composed matters.
- Use a soothing voice: gently call your dog's name or speak in a soft, reassuring tone to bring him out of the dream without startling him.
- Avoid physical contact: as much as you may want to reach out, it is best not to touch or shake a dog during a nightmare. Contact could startle him, leading to an unintended bite or increased anxiety.
- Create a safe environment: make sure the sleeping area is comfortable and secure. A familiar blanket or a favorite toy nearby can create a sense of safety.
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Can nightmares affect your dog's overall health?
While dog nightmares are generally not harmful, frequent and intense episodes can potentially affect your dog's overall health:
- Sleep disruption: repeated episodes can disrupt sleep patterns, which may affect your dog's mood, energy level, and overall well-being.
- Stress and anxiety: frequent nightmares may increase your dog's anxiety, leading to stress-related behaviors such as excessive barking, whining, or destructive behavior.
- Physical injury: in severe cases, a dog might injure himself during an intense nightmare, especially if he is thrashing or trying to run in his sleep.
If you notice signs of stress, anxiety, or physical harm related to nightmares, consult a veterinarian. They can assess whether the nightmares are a symptom of a more significant underlying issue and recommend appropriate interventions. For general nighttime restlessness, WebVet's guide to dog anxiety at night covers the signs and what helps.
What to bring to your vet visit
A vet cannot watch your dog sleep, so the details you collect decide how far the workup goes. Bring:
- One or more videos of full episodes, ideally including how the dog behaves right after waking.
- How long after falling asleep each episode started, and how often they happen each week.
- Your dog's age when episodes began, and whether anything changed at home around then.
- Any medications or supplements your dog takes, and whether he is neurologically normal while awake.
With that, your vet can tell a dream from a seizure far more reliably than from a description alone, and can decide whether a referral to a neurologist is worth it. A short written log with the date, time, and length of each episode makes the pattern easier to see, and it costs you only a minute after each one.
My First Case of REM Sleep Disorder
In 1990, I encountered my first case of what I now recognize as REM sleep disorder in dogs. A friend's middle-aged rescue dog, Chica, was frequently experiencing violent nightmares shortly after being adopted.
At the time, little was known about sleep disorders in dogs, and recording these episodes was challenging without the technology we have today. My friend described how Chica, normally calm and peaceful, would thrash around and even attempt to bite during these episodes. Recognizing the severity of the situation, I referred her to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, where she received a proper diagnosis.
This case taught me important lessons as a veterinarian:
- Take pet parents seriously: even if a complaint seems unusual, it is crucial to listen. Pet owners know their animals best.
- Approach with humility: the field of veterinary medicine is always evolving. Keeping an open mind helps us better serve our clients and their pets.
If your dog seems to be having nightmares, keep your phone ready to record, or consider using a nanny cam to capture the episodes. In these cases, a video is worth a thousand words.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
No study has tested whether dogs recognize a sleeping person's nightmare. What research does show is that dogs notice human distress: in a small 2012 study of 18 dogs, dogs approached a person who was pretending to cry more often than one who was talking or humming. A dog may well come to you if you cry out in your sleep, but that response is not proof that he understands a nightmare.
Only a vet should decide. Mild, occasional episodes need no treatment. Severe REM sleep behavior disorder is treated with prescription drugs, usually potassium bromide or clonazepam. Calming supplements are not a treatment for the disorder, so ask your vet before giving your dog one.
It is reported most often in young dogs, including puppies up to about a year old, which is the opposite of people, who usually develop it later in life. A sudden start in an adult or senior dog is more concerning and calls for a full neurological workup.
For intense episodes, it is safer to give him his own secure sleeping spot until your vet understands what is happening. A dog startled out of a dream can bite, and a thrashing dog can hurt a sleeping person. Once episodes are mild or controlled, you can revisit the arrangement with your vet.
References
- Louie, Kenway, and Matthew A. Wilson. "Temporally Structured Replay of Awake Hippocampal Ensemble Activity during Rapid Eye Movement Sleep." Neuron 29 (2001): 145-156. MIT News summary: Animals have complex dreams, MIT researcher proves. January 24, 2001.
- Coren, Stanley, PhD, DSc, FRSC. "Do Dogs Dream?" Psychology Today. Oct. 28, 2010. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201010/do-dogs-dream
- Bush, William, VMD, DACVIM, et al. "Diagnosis of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Disorder With Electroencephalography and Treatment With Tricyclic Antidepressants in a Dog." Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association 40, no. 6 (November-December 2004): 495-500. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15533971/
- Calder, Christine D., DVM, DACVB. "A Case Report: REM Sleep Behavior Disorder in a Jack Russell Terrier." American College of Veterinary Behaviorists Veterinary Behavior Symposium, 2017.
- Overall, Karen, VMD, PhD, DACVB, CAAB. Manual of Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Dogs and Cats. Elsevier. 2013.
- Schenck, C.H., and Mahowald, M.W. "REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: Clinical, Developmental, and Neuroscience Perspectives." Sleep, 25(2), 2002. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11902427/
- Custance, Deborah, and Jennifer Mayer. "Empathic-like responding by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to distress in humans: an exploratory study." Animal Cognition 15 (2012): 851-859.
VMD
Dr. Debora Lichtenberg, VMD, is a small animal and exotics veterinarian who has been practicing medicine for over 30 years. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Lichtenberg also trained at the Philadelphia Zoo. She now practices in the New York City area and lives in the West Village with her husband and her rescued pets, Cocoa and OG. Dr. Lichtenberg has been writing for Petful for many years, and she has been recognized with Certificates of Excellence from both the Dog Writers Association of America and the Cat Writers Association of America.
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