Recently, I have been asked if animals dream. Of course they do. Many people have witnessed their dogs moving their legs and woofing as they are sleeping. When my dogs awake from one of those running dreams I ask them what they were dreaming about.

Maia, my wolf-hybrid, is almost always chasing deer through the deep woods of New York passing ponds and jumping over stonewalls.
Storm, my Aussie, is either chasing a ball or Frisbee or doing an agility course where he “has to think a lot”.
When Maia was sick with cancer every morning she would tell me that in her dreams she would play with old dog friends who have since died. I thought for sure it was a sign she was going to pass over. Maia recovered and still has those dreams, but not as often.
One morning, I asked Stormy if he had a good night. He told me he had a dream that birds were flying all around his head. He said that at first he was scared and then he noticed all the birds were pretty so he then just thought it was strange. I think this dream had something to do with the new birdfeeders that I recently put in the yard.

Joey, my oldest cat, told me this morning that the best dream he ever had was that he was lying in a field of lush organic catnip. He said the soil and the plants smelled beautiful and the catnip tasted perfect. He also said that sometimes he dreams of old people we knew and old places we used to live. For six years, I had a boyfriend who was an avid organic gardener. He chose Joey at the adoption agency. He loved the cats, soil and plants. For years every spring, summer and fall Joey had a mini field of catnip of different varieties. I feel a little guilty I don’t have the talent of a great gardener.

The other day, I spoke to a client’s dog that has been waking up at 2:00am every morning. She pants, scratches at her people, whines and paces. When I asked Lady what was going on she told me. “I keep having this nightmare that my mom (person) is hurt and that the ocean fog is rolling into the house, but it is not white like fog it is black.” Lady was terrified of her nightmare. Honestly, I was too of the image she showed me. I think it had something to do with her person moving to NY City and leaving Lady behind with her parents. Lady said “When she went to college she could still hear me, but she can not hear me where she lives now.” Lady’s person went to college in the country where it was easier to know when Lady was thinking about her. It is much harder to sense Lady in NY City where there are so many distractions. Lady said, “The only thing that helps is eating my kibble in broth.” So that is what they do at 2:00am and she settles much faster.

I had to ask, “What do bunnies dream about?” Bean, my bunny, said “Sometimes I dream I have wings and I am flying other times I dream of a big cardboard box filled with my favorite treats that is located in the middle of my pen.” This is does not surprise me.

Serafina, my cat I found in the Upper Ojai woods, added, “Sometimes, I dream about wandering outside under the stars and trees, but you wont let me.” She still doesn’t believe me about nighttime coyote hunting.

Makia, my pure white cat, said, “I often dream of talking to angels. They are teaching me how to send love to everyone who walks by our house. So many people are angry or unhappy. The angels say ‘there should be more beings sending love and peace into the world.’ I have an important job.”