Take a moment to check out these Easter safety tips for your furry friends! 🐣🌷🐰
Ever wonder why dogs twitch in their sleep? While they sleep, a dog’s brain processes information and experiences from the day through dreams. Twitching is often related to active dream cycles in the brain.
Dogs experience the same dream stages as humans, - including rapid eye movement (REM). During the REM state, a dog’s eyes move around behind their closed eyelids, and the large body muscles are turned off so the dream is not physically acted out.
The part of the brain that contains these off switches is called the pons. In younger dogs, the pons may still be developing, while in older dogs it may be weakening from age. This is why twitching while sleeping occurs most commonly in younger and older dogs and less often in adult dogs.
It is often advised to not awaken a dog that is twitching in their sleep unless they are clearly in distress. A nightmare or night terror could be the cause of these involuntary movements, and they may wake up frightened. Try to avoid touching them so they don’t bite or scratch you as a result of being startled.