Do dogs dream? Yes.

What do they dream about? Who really knows.

Judging from the Beagle, her dreams involve a lot of chasing and yelping.

Researchers believe dogs dream about things that happen in their lives as a way to sort through their experiences just as humans do. For dogs, this involves a lot of hunting and tracking; for humans, it just means showing up naked in class or being chased by a unicorn.

Like humans, dream time for dogs happen during the REM stage of sleep.

When your dog first goes to sleep, he enters the slow wave or quiet phase of sleep. He lies still, oblivious to his surroundings. His breathing slows, his blood pressure and body temperature drop, and his heart rate decreases.

After about ten minutes, your dog enters the rapid eye movement (REM) or active stage of sleep. He rolls his eyes under his closed lids and dream time begins.

Research shows that adult dogs spend about 10 to 12 percent of their sleeping time in REM sleep. Puppies log more dream time probably to sort through all the new stuff they are learning.

Apparently small dogs dream more than larger dogs. A Toy Poodle may dream once every ten minutes while a Golden Retriever may only dream once every 90 minutes. Again, who knows the reason for the difference – maybe smaller dogs appear larger in their dreams and they want to keep that experience going for as long as possible.