The following and slightly spooky phenomenon: Yours Dog sleeps with eyes open. It’s over with «Oh, does my sleeping furry nose look cute!»
Instead, the cold horror grabs you, your heart slips into your pants from the shock.
What exactly is this type of sleep all about? You will find out now.
Can a dog sleep with its eyes open?
We wouldn’t give you this guide if that wasn’t the answer «Yes!»
In fact, dogs can sleep with their eyes open. These do not necessarily have to be completely open.
Often the eyes are only slightly open. That may still surprise you – after all, you don’t usually sleep like that!
Dog sleeps with eyes open – causes
So why do some dogs sleep with their eyes open? Not always must this a serious reason have. But of course there could be an illness behind it.
alertness
A first and non-worrisome cause is that alertness your dog. This is due to the genes and is completely normal – regardless of whether the dog is young or old.
Have you ever noticed that your dog always sleeps like this? He has with the slight eye opening so always keep an eye on your surroundings. At the same time, this means that he does not sleep soundly, but on «Beware» is.
nictitating skin
Did you know that dogs have a total of 3 eyelids? In addition to the upper and lower eyelids, they also have the so-called nictitating skin. We humans also have these, albeit in a greatly abbreviated form.
For dogs, this skin acts as a «Safety goggles». It not only ensures that the dog’s eyes stay moist. It also protects it from dirt, grime and scratches.
Sometimes it can be that only this nictitating membrane covers the sleeping dog’s eye. From a distance it looks like your dog is sleeping with its eyes open.
Furthermore, it can also lead to a nictitating gland prolapse come. This can sometimes result in conjunctivitis.
lagophthalmos
This disease occurs mainly in so-called torment breeds on. Here the face is extremely shortened. As a result, these dogs simply cannot close their eyes while sleeping.
Already knew?
Torment breeds that exhibit lagophthalmos include: the Pekingese, the Pug, the Boston Terrier, the Shih Tzu, and English and French bulldogs.
But that means again notthat all these breeds too automatically torture breeding are. Breeding decides what these dogs ultimately look like.
REM Behavior Disorder
Maybe you already know what the abbreviation REM stands for. No, it’s not the American music group. REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement.
This is about the deep sleep phase of both humans and animals. During this phase, dreamed particularly intensely.
The dog then sometimes rolls its eyes in its sleep. Also, it is not uncommon for the eye to twitch.
If this important REM phase is disrupted, the dog may sleep with its eyes open. And so that he does not get the rest he and his organism need.
Often are stress and anxiety the trigger for this disturbed and long-term unhealthy sleeping behavior of these dogs. Advice should be sought from a veterinarian or an animal psychologist.
epilepsy
Also epilepsy can be a reason why a dog «sleeps» with supposedly open eyes.
In fact, he’s not sleeping. During an epileptic seizure, the dog begins to twitch uncontrollably, with the eyes usually wide open.
narcolepsy
This is one nervous disease. This leads to a living being suddenly falling asleep.
In dogs, this happens, among other things, when they are particularly happy about something. Narcolepsy can be recognized by eye twitching and half-open eyelids, among other things.
sleep apnea
This phenomenon can also occur during sleep with open eyes result. In sleep apnea it happens breathing pauses and a brief lack of oxygen in the brain.
This will startle the dog out of sleep, and sleeping with your eyes open is not uncommon.
insomnia
This is insomnia. Not only we humans can suffer from it, also our dogs.
The mind and body actually want to recover – but the deep sleep phase has a different opinion here.
As a result, not only does your dog not relax, his eyes also remain open during this time.
What can I do to ensure a restful sleep for my dog?
A healthy and restful sleep is the be-all and end-all of a happy dog’s life, along with the right food.
Because the body not only recovers during sleep. Here they will too energy reserves refilled that immune system is strengthened.
Furthermore, sleep serves the cell renewal. In short: sleeping is something like a facelift for our furry friends, i.e. pure relaxation.
But what if sleep is disturbed by anxiety or stress, for example? Incidentally, these causes are not only evident in a disturbed REM phase.
They are also shown by increased vigilance. Because the dog does not have the feeling of being safe and secure. And that in turn means more stress and anxiety.
So what can you do so that your dog can sleep and dream peacefully and undisturbed again? Luckily there are some things you can do about it.
These include rest and a safe place to sleepon which the dog not disturbed becomes. Please let your dog sleep – no matter how cute he may look doing it.
Please make sure that this sleeping place is on a quiet place is – it may also help if it is darkened.
Also can homeopathic remedies help make your dog more balanced. If stress is the reason for sleeping with your eyes open, it can, among other things CBD help.
Also one Bach flower therapy may show the desired results after a few days or weeks.
If a neurological disease or a disease of the eyes is the cause: There is no way around here vet over.
Only he can find out with the right examination why your dog sleeps with his eyes open.
So then you can appropriate treatments and therapies to be started.
And ideally, your dog will soon be able to drift off peacefully into the land of dreams again – with closed eyes.
Conclusion
If your dog sleeps with his eyes open, this can have several causes.
Not always are these reasons to worry. However, you should always keep an eye on this behavior. After all, stress, anxiety and neurological diseases in particular are to be taken very seriously. A healthy sleep is extremely important for all dogs.
What experiences have you had with dog sleep? Feel free to share them with us in the comments!