Is something wrong?

[LadyPirate]

We have had Lucy for a year and a half now. Since she came to live with us, she has always had this thing she does in her sleep. It's like she is snoring, but at the same time her legs are moving and she is whimpering. We have always thought she was "dreaming". Here in the last couple months, we've noticed it happening more often, especially at night when she is on the bed with us. Last night, she did that, and we couldn't wake her up. Once we did get her awake, she was awake, but seemed "out of it". Now I'm wondering if maybe these are some type of seizures. The noise she makes is like a snoring, snorting, hacking sound. She doesn't seem to do this in the daytime. Maybe once in a while, but she has always snapped right up when I've spoken her name. Could it be that at night she is just in a deeper sleep? She doesn't seem to be sick. She's playful, eats well, loves taking DH for a walk, and her favorite place to sleep is still under my feet. I will ask my vet about this, but until I can get there, I was just looking for some opinions. Does anybody have a dog that acts like this?

[_Lisa_]

Dogs experience REM sleep just like humans do-during that time they dream & move & twitch & whimper & all sorts of other things. My dog twitches a lot in her sleep, and moreso at night because we're all asleep & the house is quiet & she slips into REM sleep for longer periods of time than she would during the day when we're up & moving around.

This is a great site that explains the theory of REM sleep in dogs:

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/do-dogs-dream/page1.aspx


What concerns me is that once you were able to wake her up, she seemed out of it. To be honest, I have no idea if my dog reacts the same way. When she starts twitching so hard that she shakes the bed I gently nudge her with my feet (hey, she sleeps at my feet anyway!) until she wakes up or at least stops twitching. She could be disoriented at first, but who isn't when they first wake up? I just don't know if its common in dogs to be disoriented when they wake up from a deep sleep...thats definitely something I'd ask your vet about if you are really concerned.