Have you ever seen your dog or cat whimper or twitch while he is asleep in Dreamland? Are they running? Are they jumping? Are they chasing birds or getting their tummies rubbed in their dreams?
Well, experts say that it’s like they dream about the same types of things that you do.
“Humans dream about the same things they’re interested in by day, though more visually and less logically,” Dr. Deirdre Barrett, a teacher and Clinical and Evolutionary Psychologist at Harvard Medical School, told People. “There’s no reason to think animals are any different.”
So what does that mean? Get ready for the cutest thing you’ve ever heard in your life.
“Since dogs are generally extremely attached to their human owners, it’s likely your dog is dreaming of your face, your smell and of pleasing or annoying you,” Barrett says.
And there it is folks.
You little poochie or kitty cat is dreaming about your sweet face. You always had a hunch that you were your pet’s favorite, now you know it’s true! Well… speculatively.
“Anything about what animals dream, or even if they dream, is speculative. The only two animals even suggested to have ever told their dreams to a human are the signing gorillas Koko and Michael. Researcher Penny Patterson reports that Koko occasionally signs about fantastic events, people and places she has not seen recently only upon awakening,” Barrett explains. ” Michael, who is known to have been captured when poachers killed his entire family, sometimes wakes up and signs Bad people kill gorillas.'”
Apparently, researchers know more about what our feline friends are dreaming about than our dogs.
“We actually know more about cats dreams, because one of the earliest sleep researchers, Michel Jouvet, destroyed the tiny area in cat brains that inhibits movements during REM sleep,” Barrett explains. “Cats lay quietly through the other stages of sleep, and when REM began, they leapt up, stalked, pounced, arched their backs and hissed. They looked like they were hunting mice in their dreams.”
But they do have some idea about what goes on in the mind of a dog while it sleeps.
“What we’ve basically found is that dogs dream doggy things,” author of “Do Dogs Dream?” Stanley Coren told Live Science. “So, pointers will point at dream birds, and Dobermans will chase dream burglars. The dream pattern in dogs seems to be very similar to the dream pattern in humans.”
Barrett says the best way to ensure that you and your pets have sweet dreams is to have good experiences in the daytime and get lots of sleep in a safe and cozy environment.
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