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?
What you say makes sense. Why not learn some commands in Spanish, and when she gets used to your speaking Spanish, slowly switch to Spanish-English, then English-Spanish, then, just English. I mean say the command in one language and quickly in the other. She will get it pretty quickly, I think.
As for the sleeping: She was probably traumatized. When she is having a nightmare, be near her and call her name to wake her up and immediately show her some love. Keep doing that and eventually, put your hand on her when you do this, and I think she will begin to trust you and will relax. All things can be fixed with love.