Is my greyhound dreaming or having a nightmare?

Question

i have had my retired racer for over 6 years now. and have noticed most nights she will pant, eyes flicker and move her legs while sleeping....

it seems she is dreaming of her past racing days...

is this normal....is she sufferring...

for the last 3 months i have woken her up and shown her some affection...fed her some candy bars. she then seems to be okay then....

Answer 1

Ya its normal all the dogs have dreams like that I always wanted to know what they dream off. But all dogs have them.

Answer 2

There's no way to know what shes dreaming about but every dog I ever had has dreams and maybe some nightmares, just like you and me its totally normal and i would bet shes not suffering, shes probably chasing a rabbit or something.

Answer 3

She is dreaming: the flickering eyes indicate that she's in the middle of a REM cycle, a deep sleep in which people (and doggies) can have intense dreams.  The moving her legs is fairly normal too, just like some humans walk in their sleep, or talk, like I do. My dog does as well actually, he woofs in his sleep, it's pretty cute :D  She's not suffering at all; unless she was abused I think it's pretty unlikely that she could be having nightmares.  Dreams are our brains' way of processing information that we receive in the day.

On a side note, please don't feed her candy bars, chocolate is EXTREMELY unhealthy for dogs!  Even if she tolerates it now, the toxins in chocolate can build up and cause problems later!

Answer 4

As I type this, my only-just retired greyhound is lying in the sofa, ears twitching and has just sort of 'whined' and moved his legs.

My old mongrel (breed description, not personality description!) did the same.

All dogs do it - just as we do things in our sleep. It's perfectly normal and, like a human sleep-walker, leave her alone to enjoy her rest unless she's about to go over the end of the bed/fall out of her basket!

[Ease up on candy of any sort - and chocolate is poisonous to dogs, it builds up in their bodies, so be very careful of that!'

Answer 5

no thats what dogs do when they are running in their dreams

Answer 6

I wish I had a a greyhound.

Answer 7

Dogs move, tremble , move their eyes in their sleep just as we do. It is perfectly normal.

Please don't feed your dog any chocolate bars!!  It is very bad for them.

Answer 8

Na! She's only dreaming - perfectly normal. All dogs dream, reliving their best chases.

Nothing to worry about.

Answer 9

never seen my dog sleep

so i dont know what to tell you

just call a local vet and ask them

about yuour dog but dont mention

the racing part that is kinda considered

animal abuse