The article 'What do dogs dream about', presents Hugo's views on the subject. Read on to know who Hugo is and about how he, explains dog's dream interpretation to his fellow canines...
What do dogs dream about? Well, before answering this question one must ask himself, "Do dogs dream?". Hugo 'barks', "Yes"!, they do. Hugo holds expertise in dog behavior issues and ardently believes that dogs have the ability to dream just like human beings.
A starry night, four dogs sitting under the sky....
It was getting dark and four of us were sitting on the lawn, watching the pedestrians on the sidewalk dodging each other and the vehicles, squealing and groaning at one another while they ducked each other to find way through traffic.
Tommy was fidgeting all evening and the rest of us were waiting for him to spit out whatever was bothering him. Finally, after grappling with the problem to his heart's content, he stopped facing it all alone and put forth a question to all of us. "Do dogs dream?" Well, we knew Tommy was not a smart dog, so the question took us all by surprise; to which Bruno retorted with, "Can pigs fly?"
For the next five minutes we, including Tommy, with the burden quartered and renewed zest, tried to struggle with the question. However, Hugo's appearance saved us from ruining the rest of the evening. He took our direct aggression like a man does, i.e in his stride, 'What do dogs dream about', and his eyes took a dreamy look.
He stood still like a statue and exclaimed from the bottom of his heart, "Yes!". He went on to claim, "It is not only me, even my man believes that dogs dream in their sleep, and in my shoes, each one of you will swear by this fact". This completely floored us, and we waited expectantly for him to elaborate on what does a dog dream about, when asleep.
Our experience has taught us not to strike down Hugo especially for his explanations related to dog behavior. We were not going to argue with him. When he was about to spin some yarn about this strange thing, all of us were eager to listen. We also thought he would say something profound that would change our views about our fellow canines. We waited, and Hugo continued with, "My firm opinion is that dogs can dream, read and sing". To prevent him from getting off-track, I interrupted with, "Hugo, all four of us are waiting for you to say something about, what do dogs dream about?".
Hugo said, "All of you know that my man, Lim, is a vet". The other day Mike came to visit him and went on to show him a video. I peeped over Lim's shoulder and saw a puppy, may be four months old, on his computer screen. It was sticking his tongue out and withdrawing it repeatedly in his sleep. It was also making some sound, dogs like to do. Funny sight, isn't it?", said Mike. "It is the first time I saw a dog doing that and you know...". Is it dreaming?", he added. The vet replied, "Oh! Yah! It happens all the time! Dogs, like us, do dream!
However, the question in this case is, what this puppy is dreaming about?" "To me, it is obvious, the puppy was lapping milk or cream out of his bowl, in its dream", said Mike. "And, what would you associate the sound it is making with", my man inquired gently. "Mike is a valuable customer and an amateur vet, there was no point in antagonizing him by showing off my knowledge", my man often tells me.
"But Hugo what is your take on this?", I asked. Hugo said, "That puppy was doing anything but lapping something out of his bowl. In his dream, may be he was trying to lick his owner's face, most probably it was his owner's playful child. On the other hand, maybe the puppy was trying to lick the dew off the grass blades one by one. You see, he was making sounds of being happy, while sticking his tongue out!
Such things add many dimensions to this dog's dream interpretations, which, in the first place, is a tough business to get involved in.
I said, "I knew you are deeply into these things, but I could have never come up with that dew business". Hats off to you, Hugo! He said, "If you know a little about the psychology of dreams it is not difficult to come up with alternatives. Marco, whose man is a psychiatrist, added knowingly, "One can, in general, arrive at what causes dreams and guess what one is dreaming by the age, sex and profession of the dreamer".
Goldie, who is with a security firm, said, "Hugo, can you do a favor to an old friend". "Come on, what is this business of favors between friends? Tell me what's bothering you", Hugo said. Goldie continued, "The other day, while on a night shift, I went to sleep. About an hour later, as if out of the blue, something dropped on my chest and somebody started moaning right in my ears. I woke up to find old Charlie, a street dog, fallen on me. I don't know how he got there, but, he did make me jump out of my skin. I shook him to get him off me and he staggered to his feet and looked at me with his eyes wide open as if I were not there". I inquired, "Are you all right Charlie?" Without replying he went away, and the next moment he was snoring. "Hugo, can you interpret this for me? Did all of this happen in his dream, or was he trying to fool me? Was Charlie really dreaming?
Yes, of course! "But, how old is he?", Hugo inquired. "Well, he must be past 14 years of age," Goldie replied. Hugo said, "In that case, may be he was moaning in pain. You know dogs when they grow old, they suffer from arthritis. May be Charlie was dreaming about how he used to walk with a spring in his steps and then suddenly, stumbled upon you, in reality. When you shook him, he just changed the direction he was walking in, in his dream. When he went away he may have realized instinctively that it is a safe place and as it offers protection to his back and flanks from attack, he must have got down and continued his dream".
Goldie asked, "How can I prevent this from happening again?". Hugo replied, "Charlie is an old bone, long past his prime. I am sorry to say this but, the best solution is to put him to sleep and spare him the pain".
The talk of death saddened all of us. After 5-10 minutes of chitchatting, Hugo left and went down the 53rd street. As he was passing the 4th street lamp, I said, "Maybe today he wouldn't bother the 5th one as usual". But, Hugo did bother the 5th street lamp! Marco said reflectively, "Even though two years have passed since King came under a car, Hugo, still bothers that lamp to avenge King for stealing his girl.
And here ends Hugo's rant on what do dogs dream about. Now, what do you think? Do dogs dream?
