Dogs almost certainly dream — and they probably dream about their owners
Dogs show REM sleep with the same brain activity patterns as dreaming humans — rapid eye movement, limb twitching, and vocalisation. Rat experiments (rats were trained to run a maze, then their hippocampal activity was recorded during sleep and matched exactly to maze-running patterns) strongly suggest mammals replay experiences during sleep as memory consolidation. Given dogs' strong emotional bonds with owners and their daily experience, they most likely dream about running, playing, and the people they spend their lives with.
Dreams feel uniquely human — a product of consciousness and narrative self. Finding evidence that dogs dream, and specifically that the content likely involves their owners, makes the dog-human emotional bond feel deeply physical and neurologically grounded.
“Dogs almost certainly dream — they show the same REM sleep patterns as humans. Given what we know about mammal dream content, they're probably dreaming about you. 🐕💭 #OddlyHuman”