In a video with over two million views on TikTok, Penny the cocker spaniel can be seen lying on her back, fast asleep, and happily dreaming, prompting one user to say, “her little tapity taps 😭🥹💗”.
Her front paws cross over her chest, her back legs and feet are gently kicking and her tail is wagging, presumably, as the text says, “having the best dream chasing something.”
One user commented: “She’s in the jazz club,” with over 11 thousand likes, prompting Penny’s owner and owner of the page, @AlbusVsTheMuggles, to create another video, with the same footage and a jazz tune overlay, with over 50 thousand views.
So, what do dogs dream about? Do city dogs and rural dogs dream of different things, or is there a common theme?
Scientists have looked in to whether animals dream, and research has led to the belief that most vertebrates have the ability to dream, and regularly do.
One of these experiments involved lab rats, who spent the whole day running around in a maze. Scientists surveyed their brain activity during the day, and compared it to their activity during REM sleep.
REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep is a phase of sleep in mammals and birds characterized by random movement of the eyes. It’s often known as “deep sleep” and it’s the stage within which the sleeper has the ability to dream vividly.
What the scientists discovered during this experiment was that the same areas in the rats brains lit up both while in the maze, and asleep, meaning they were most likely dreaming of the maze.
Incredibly, by monitoring and comparing patterns, scientists could figure out exactly where in the maze the rats have dreamed themselves.
The American Kennel Club reports that while dogs can dream, they can also have puppy nightmares. “These nightmares are hard to watch,” it says. “It can be tempting to wake your dog to comfort her, as you would a child, but there are some risks associated with doggy nightmares that you should share with your family.
“Like some people, dogs can react aggressively toward the person waking them. This can be dangerous, especially for children. The best thing that you can do for a dog you think is having a bad dream is to wait for your dog to wake up and be there to comfort him, following the old saying “let sleeping dogs lie.”
User heartstopper commented about their own pup, “how come my dog snores and whines like a siren my life is so ‘unaesthetic’”
User Elvy<3 said: “My dog does this in the middle of the night, her tail bangs against the floor and makes me jump out of my skin.”
User oscarsmommy1997 wrote: “CUTE! my dog does this but then she gets all her teeth out and I start feeling sorry to the imaginary animal she’s caught.”
