Scout closes her eyes, and within minutes, her lips are twitching, Then all four legs paddle as if she’s chasing a rabbit, romping in the woods, or running toward home. Whatever’s happening, I hope it’s an amazing dream.

Happy New Year! For my first post of 2026, I pose the question, do dogs dream?

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I bet most of us would say, “Of course they do!” Anyone who’s observed a sleeping dog’s vocalizations, wagging tail, paddling feet, and twitching muzzle would likely agree. But the fact of the matter is, we don’t know with scientific certainty that dogs dream.

While our knowledge is limited, the following known information supports the notion that dogs do dream.

Matthew Wilson from MIT and Kenway Louie from NYU teamed up to study the relationship of memory, sleep, and dreams in rats. They documented that, when rats are trained to run along a circular track for food rewards, their brains create a distinctive firing pattern of brain cells. The researchers conducted the same brain monitoring while the rats were sleeping. Low and behold, the sleeping rats’ brains had the same signature brain activity pattern associated with running on the track. In fact, the memories played at approximately the same speed during sleep as when the rats were awake. Can we take the information from this study and apply it to dogs? Wilson believes we can because the hippocampus, the portion of the brain that collects and stores memories, is wired much the same way in all mammals. “My guess is — unless there is something special about rats and humans — that cats and dogs are doing exactly the same thing.”

In people, most dreams occur during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Dogs also experience REM sleep during which their breathing becomes irregular and shallow. There may be muscle twitching during REM and, when one looks closely, rapid eye movements behind closed eyelids are often observed. It is during REM sleep that behaviors thought to be associated with dreaming (legs paddling, twitching, vocalizing, etc.) are most commonly observed. This matches how humans physically “act out” dreams (minus the barking and tail wagging, of course).

Dr. Deirdre Barrett, a psychologist and dream researcher at Harvard Medical School, thinks it’s safe to assume that dogs dream very much the same way we do. “Whatever you can observe dogs being interested in by day is what you would expect to show up in their dreams. Since most dogs are extremely attached to their human owners, it’s likely your dog is dreaming of your face, your smell and of pleasing or annoying you.”

Sigmund Freud theorized that dreaming is a “safety valve” for our unconscious desires. Perhaps he is correct, and, when our dogs sleep, they dream about finally catching those pesky squirrels or stealing the Thanksgiving turkey off the dining room table.

Do you think your dog dreams? If so, what do you think they’re dreaming about?

Wishing you and your four-legged family members a happy and healthy new year,

Dr. Nancy

DrNancyKay.com

Speaking for Spot - Dr. Nancy Kay is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.