I am a first time pet owner as an adult so I don’t know a lot but I want the best for my dog.

So my problem is that he breaths heavily when he sleeps and often he has these irregularities in his breathing and he twiches like he has nightmares.

Tonight he was sleeping in my bed while I was relaxing next to him and he started breathing fast and heavy and he was twitching a lot like he had some kind of a seizure. I woke him up and he was fine I hugged him, talked to him and pet him. Then he heard my brother eating and left to find him, so I think he is okay but I am scared that he has something or needs something.

Also we have him in this house about 4 months now. He usually sleeps in the living room (on the couch) alone but the last few weeks he is trying to sleep with as in our bedrooms (on our beds).

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

  • 🐝bownage [they/he]
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    fedilink
    41 month ago

    Twitching while sleeping is not a bad thing afaik. If I understand correctly it just means they’re trying to run/move in their dreams which likely corresponds to a fun dream! E.g. they’ll be running or playing in their dream. My dog used to do it and my cat does it too.

    https://www.petmd.com/dog/general-health/why-do-dogs-twitch-their-sleep

    It seems like you can tell dream twitching apart from seizures by seeing if their limbs go stiff or the twitching goes on for a long time.