Andrea Rosebrock 
We’ve all seen our dogs dream in their sleep, growling, making weird noises, legs kicking and paddling like they’re chasing after something. My Jezzie notorious for this! Well, this is one pooch whose dream must have been very enthusiastic because she went quite a bit further than just kicking. Have you ever seen a sleepwalking dog? Check it out.
Now, if you’re anything like me, part of you is gonna be “awwww, poor baby,” but the other side is going to be laughing your butt off. No worries though, the pooch is just fine. 
PS. These videos of Bizkit, yup, that’s the dog’s name, are making their rounds on the internet. Most people think it’s the funniest thing they’ve ever seen but some people are getting incensed and saying there is something wrong with the dog and that the owner is cruel.
The owner posted this, “Bizkit is glad she could make so many people smile. She walks in her sleep all the time and will be posting more. She is in no danger. We take good care of her. We can not keep her from walking in her sleep, so we might as well enjoy it and spread a little humor. Besides, it just plain F’en funny. SHE IS NOT ILL!”
That is not funny! Maybe when the dog starts doing this you could GENTLY wake her up so she doesn’t hurt herself. It seems like her dreams are scary for her so why not wake her and stop them for her. I have a great sense of humor but this is not funny to me as the dog seems to be trying to fight something or trying to get away from something. I feel sorry for her!
I am wondering if he might have a health issue something other than dreaming. I have never seeen a dog do that. Make alot of noises and kicking even falling off the bed but not one that does this. He might get hurt.
I do not believe he has any health issues. I have seen this with many dogs in my lifetime – from small dogs to larger ones. It is just like a human sleepwalking; and you never wake a human who is sleepwalking – and same goes here with any animal. You do not wake them up. And yes, to me this was quite funny. Dogs, just like people all have their “quirks” that others have to get used to.
Thanks Susie, I was starting to feel guilty posting that. My Jezzie is a serious dreamer and I have caught her on one occasion get up and bark while she was still sleeping and she woke herself up, looked around with a dazed expression, even a little embarrassed, then laid back down and went back to sleep. Usually whenever I notice her in a heavy dream I will gently soothe her and she will calm down.
As for the pooch running into the wall, I’m surprised my Bruti has any brains left as often as he bashes head first into things. He barely even stops, just keeps right on as if nothing untoward even happened. I’m the one who gets worried and upset, coddling him. He puts up with it but you can tell he just wants to get back to playing.
Dogs are very resilient and yes, they do have their quirks and idiosyncrasies.
I will apologize to anyone who is offended by the video but I did my due diligence before I posted it. I made sure the dog was alright and got a little background. The owner says there is nothing wrong with Bizkit, that she just dreams and sleepwalks occasionally.
D.
It is not too often we can catch our babies doing strange things like this! I know the “embarrrassed” look oh so well. I have calmed Knight and Buddy down when they wake me up having one of their dreams. Maxi, well he wakes himself up with his dreams and his snoring!
Bruti is just giving you a few gray hairs. It’s like he is saying to you “see Mom, I’m okay – I will do it again, just to proove it”…….
if a dog lives a full, rich life with lots of outside stimulus, dreams like this can happen at any time. just like with people, especialy children. it doesn’t mean the dog is having scarey dreams. i saw this just before i left for our vet appt.. i mentioned it to my vet and she had already seen it. she said that there are a lot of dogs that dream like this and most people don’t even know their dog does it, because they dream at night when there are no distractions and they can realy get into a dream.
I read someplace that there is a part of the brainstem that stops people (and animals) from physically moving about when they are dreaming. When their is some kind of malfunction in that part, then people and animals DO get up and walk around and do all kinds of things in their sleep.
I have also read that it is a disrupton of the brain wave patterns that are present when someone is sleeping that causes/allows people to become physically active during sleep.
People who use the drug Ambien for sleeping have been known to actually drive cars while they are asleep and have no memory of it afterwards.
I use to know a guy that was in the military and he would get up at night and do jumping jacks while he was asleep.
For a person they talk about things to do to minimize the cahnce of injury when an episode occurs. Take precations to make sure the individual is sleeping in an environment where they can’t do much damage to themselves (ie – no sharp objects in the room, putting alarms on doors and windows so that they ring when they are opened to try to wake the person up, etc.)
I know that as a child I use to sleep walk but I eventually grew out of it and I have often wondered if during the time when I was sleep walking that part of the brain stem had not been developed yet. I have since read that children do sleep walk more than adults and it is thought to be an undeveloped Central Nervous System issue. There is also a genetic link to sleep walking. Sleep walking is 10 times more likely in an individual if a first degree realtive also sleep walks.
Sleep walking is an interesting phenomina that we don’t think about much in animals. It doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with the animal. It does mean the caretakers should have some awareness of the environment that the animal sleeps in to make sure they are safe.
My dog, Bailey, will be 13 years old next week. Sometimes she will move her legs when she sleeps. Not as drastically as Bizket, but enough that she wakes ME out of a sound sleep (while she snoozes on in comfort!). My vet told me it’s part of the aging process.
Thanks Bev and congrats to Bailey for making it to 13 (on March 11) and being a 4 year cancer survivor!! Woo Hoo!! Go Bailey!
D.
I don’t think that dog was hurt in any way. Don’t worry, Deanna, I’m glad you posted it. He looked like he was running after squirrels, or something else and he did NOT look like he hurt himself, at all.
Thanks Vicki, she sure did look enthusiastic. Wonder if they ever catch what they’re chasing in their dreams?
D.
Poor Guy………he sure has a surprised look on his face. I doubt, seriously though, that he would get hurt and I’m sure the family keeps a close eye on him. I have heard the same re: waking up the sleepwalkers….as well as an animal dreaming. Never wake them up! Besides, what a drag if you wake them up, right before they get a hold of that squirrel or whatever they are chasing. I am always amused by my Sage sweetie, barking and growling in her sleep. She’s certainly after something!