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Is it normal for a dog to growl in its sleep: what you need to know about your beloved pet's rest
06.03.2024 06:10
What can you not notice about a dog while it is sleeping?
The dogs growl, whine, snore, run somewhere, and sometimes tremble.
People who have recently started communicating with these pets can sometimes be worried to observe such behavior, but what can really become an alarm signal? Below are several options.
Growling or whining
Or other actions similar to what a dog does when it's awake. For example, it might move its paws as if it's walking or digging, or even bark softly.
None of this should cause panic: the dog is simply dreaming. Just like humans, dogs have two main sleep phases: slow and fast.
The slow phase takes up most of the sleep time. At this time, the dog's entire body is maximally relaxed, it does not move, and does not make a sound. But periodically, a period of rapid sleep occurs.
This phase is shorter, but more noticeable: the dog can chase someone in his sleep, run away from someone, eat, bark - what will not bring night dreams. Sometimes his eyes can be slightly open. But this is not scary, they are still protected by the third eyelid. And all this is completely normal.
Shiver
And here it is already more serious. Tremors can be a sign of epilepsy. This disease may not manifest itself immediately, the dog can live most of its life completely healthy, and only then show a sign of epilepsy. Moreover, the first attacks often appear in sleep, closer to the morning.
In this case, the eyes are no longer half-open, as during dreams; they open and close, but the gaze remains absent, meaningless.
During an attack, the dog's paws may suddenly stretch out, and its body may seem to want to curl up into a ball.
An important signal is foam from the mouth. Such symptoms should not be ignored, and at the first signs, immediately contact a veterinarian.
Snore
Like people, dogs sometimes snore. These can be isolated cases when the dog is simply in an uncomfortable position and just needs to turn over. But the snore can also be chronic.
This most often occurs in brachycephalic dogs. These are breeds with a flattened muzzle (boxers, pugs, bulldogs), because of which they may have problems with the respiratory tract during their life. The matter may not be limited to snoring.
When brachycephalic dogs experience stress, heat, cold, they can make other sounds: snorting, grunting.
This can also happen in sleep, and even lead to death due to swelling of the respiratory tract. Pets should be constantly monitored, and if unusual sounds appear, contact a veterinarian.
Dogs spend most of the day sleeping, not everything that happens to them at this time should frighten the owners, but it is still worth watching your pets.
Earlier we wrote about how to properly train a kitten to use a litter box.
