Howling in sleep

[Kami Allen]

My doodle is almost 4 years old and just this last week at least 4 times in the middle of the night we have awoke to her howling/crying.  She wimpers in her sleep from time to time but this is a very loud powerful howl/cry and almost sounds painful!  It's never happened when she has been awake but I find it strange that it's happened several times the last week and has never happened before.  Anyone experience this??

[Lynda Kamrath]

I would say she is in deep sleep and dreaming.  Are her legs moving?  My dogs make different sounds when they are sleeping and it is sometimes pretty funny.  She must be on a good chase.

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Sounds like dreaming to me too!  Libby shakes a lot when sleeping, but no noise!  I often wonder if/what they are dreaming about!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Dogs do dream, and apparently they also have bad dreams. All of my dogs have done this. I usually just say their names, and maybe "you're okay" when it happens, and the sound of my voice usually seems to be enough to bring them out of the deep sleep/dreaming phase but not enough to wake them completely.

[Star and Goldie]

This is exactly what I do too. When my Golden was about 7 years old she went through a spell of bad dreams, it seemed more like night terrors. I would calmly say "It's okay Riley, you're okay, ssshhhh it's okay" and then she would start to calm down but would never wake up.

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Aw that sounds so sad!

[rebecca fairhurst]

I like the idea of saying the dogs name to lighten their sleep and their noises.

Maui didi the same in the middle of the night, last night - like a whimpering, high pitch noise but she has made these 

noises sometimes in the day after her exercise.

There is a very funny You tube link of a dog - 'sleep walking dog' but also he has a shocking wake up...worth a watch

[Christine & Camus]

Yes. Camus dreams a lot, making crying sounds occasionally.  I have even seen his tail wagging during some of his dreams, so he must be having some really good dreams too.

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Aw I hope it's not night terrors... Hopefully you can help soothe her while she's sleeping and hopefully this goes away soon.

[Lynette Main]

Mya wimpers like that when she s dreaming. I saw a dog on TV  that was in a dream state and he was actually running while lying on the floor.Never saw that one before. I just talk to Mya and she wakes up. Never had any howling.

[Diana Erhart]

Charlie does this fairly regularly. He howls/cries very loudly. I usually just tell him that it is ok and will sometimes pet him or cuddle him and then he stops. And he also runs, snorts, wags his tail and makes all kinds of noises in his sleep. I like to try to imagine what he is dreaming about. My guess is usually chasing a mole or a squirrel but I will never know for sure.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Riley and Boris both have dreams too. Once I saw Boris's legs "running". They give little whimpers so I just talk to them and they usually settle. I've never heard them howl that would be upsetting so I hope this is a phase that ends very soon. Both of mine snore a little too and with my partner doing it too I'm sometimes awake and laughing at the three of them :)

[BG and Gavin]

Gavin woofs, snorts, howls, whimpers, runs, flaps his lips and generally makes much more noise asleep than awake.  He does this nearly every night about twenty minutes after he falls asleep.  I think he is chasing a squirrel.