Doodle Dreaming & Emotions....

[LG & Sadie]

I did a search, and it looks like it was 2008 when the topic of Doodle Dreaming was active-so I hope enough time has lapsed to bring it up? Just wondering....Sadie has always (turned 3 last week) had VERY active sleep-so I assume when all paws are moving or her tail is wagging that she is dreaming. I have also noticed that perhaps the dreams are not always happy ones~she may whimper or wake up looking afraid....do other folks notice this in their doodles? And, if so, should we be comforting her if she is whimpering even if she isn't awake? And, one more thing...do you notice your doodles can hold on to emotions? I had always been told dogs are very in the moment...but, with Sadie, if she is mad, sad, etc. she might pout a little or quasi hold a grudge for a bit before she decides to forgive and perhaps forget. I would love to know if this stuff is Sadie specific or a doodle thing....Thanks~

[Eva]

Awww, your story about Ivan made me laugh. He is pretty darn smart. I can just picturing him going cage to cage to unlock the other dogs and let them out. haha, what was he thinking? I do agree, that dogs understand us much more than we give them credit for. They know... Eva

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Murphy has twitched and whimpered and made short little ruff-ruff noises in his sleep since the day we got him. He sometimes will twitch really violently and I even asked the Vet about it once. Said it was normal and most do it in some degree of another. Except instead of worrying about waking him, he wakes us with his shaking. Feels like someones shaking the bed! I have gotten to where I just give him a little push with my foot and he stops.( He sleeps at foot of bed) Doesn't move or wake up. Kinda like the push you'd give a snoring husband.

As for grudges, he does seem to give me "the look" when I've had to do some kind of doodle care he doesn;t like. Mostly ear medications or clean his eye goopies. Then he will back away from me for the next few minutes, until he figures he'll give me another chance to just pet him.

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

Timbow has dreams too, a lot of which he acts like he's running. He does make a whine sound occasionally, but I just say sweet things to him and he seems fine.

[Holly Doodle]

Holly does a deep, low, muffled sounding bark along with whimpering. It's pretty cute actually, I picture her barking at squirrels or bunnies :). Whatever you do, don't comfort her when she's scared. I've heard that actually reaffirms the behavior, like you're praising them for being scared in that situation. I don't know if this includes being scared while dreaming, but just and FYI!

[Patty]

I've always reassured my dogs when I've seen them dreaming, whether by voice or touch or both. One of my dogs was deaf so touching him was the only option.

I had an Irish Setter when I was a kid, and boy could that dog hold a grudge! Epic grudges. Overwhelming grudges!

[Meridith and Lola]

Lola has definitely held on to her emotions. It was pretty surprising when it happened. She was about 13 months and was getting into the habit of barking right at met to get to me to play with her. I was on the phone and remembered I had a soda can with some coins in it that I had used only occasionally when she much younger. I picked up the can and shook it behind my back. Her behavior changed immediately. She went into another room. She always sleeps in my room but that night she never came in and the next day she was really aloof. By the following day, she seemed to be back to normal. I asked a few people with more dog experience than I if they ever had a dog get mad and stay mad but everyone seemed quite surprised. The good news is she no longer barks at me!