I would post this to r/dogs but I’m shadowbanned there because I subbed to TD, conspiracy and some other Covid related subs that were quarantined. You frens are my outlet RN since I’m unemployed and I don’t know any dog experts.
Anyways, I adopted a female 6yo beagle in 2020. She came to IL from TN and had recently had a litter. She was trained. Knew how to sit for things but didn’t understand English commands. So my assumption is she was a backyard breeders dog who likely spoke Spanish to her as she gets very excited when Spanish is spoken around her. Sadly, she is still looking for her original master even to this day☹️ and hasn’t really bonded with us.
My question is this…every time she falls into REM sleep she has nightmares. She growls, her feet twitch and she yelps a lot. She’s clearly having a dream of something violent happening. It happens 3-4 times per day and it’s every time she has REM sleep. She never has interactions in our everyday life that cause her to growl or yelp so this seems odd for her to be reliving some experience so disturbing that she would growl and yelp in her dreams everyday 3-4x per day for the last 4 years? Or am I wrong? Do dogs just have regular dreams of them violently fighting all the time?
CBD oil works great for my puppers who is scared to death by loud noises, been using it for 4th and Newyear for a couple years now, calms her right down. Not thought about using it for sleep troubles though. Most dogs do have crazy sleep events like that, who knows whats going through their minds in Rem. Mine have every once in a while but, never every day or every time the sleep. Knowing your dog well enough to know it's usual reaction to things does help. Does the dog over react to stimuli when awake? Could be reliving trauma, could be dreaming of running freely in a field chasing a rabbit, could be playing with her puppies, who knows. I do agree with knockknock, try allowing her to listen to a low energy show that is in Spanish at night for a bit, see if that helps her. I would keep in a low energy one where no one is raising their voices though, incase them doing so may be a fear trigger. You seem connected, many humans do not bother to even try to understand how their dogs may be thinking, animals do not think and look at the world around them the same way humans do. They live in the here and now most of the time, make sure you yourself are not projecting your own guilt of knowing how horrid humans can be onto to her. Past is the past and most of the time, dogs will be just fine living in the here and now and not the past. The last two shelter dogs we brought into the home, as soon as introduced to the rest of the "pack" humans and other pets alike, there was no special treatment to the new pack member, they all expected to behave, have fun and get plenty of belly rubs. lol. Easier when you have other dogs in the home who accept the new one because the new one learns the rules of the pack from the other dogs more than from us silly humans.. well, xept my smallest Pomeranian, she chose to learn from our elder cat, she even still paws the ground every time she goes pee outside, like the cat did in its litterbox oO. Sorry about the book here, I am no expert, just have owned many animals over the years and have myself consulted "experts" or advice here and there. One other thing comes to mind, if you feel she is have a problem understanding language, maybe it will be easier for her to pick up non verbal directions. I have a def dog, she does great, responds to hand and body cues. If I look at her and lift my chin in a direction, she moves the way I pointed with a quick flick of my head. If she is outside and I want her to come in, all I have to do is walk around the corner and be looking at her and as soon as she sees me, I walk back inside, she knows I am "calling her to come in now". Many of the cues I give her, I learned from watching how the other dogs "talked to each other" using their body language.