Sleep terrors

On a fairly regular basis Toddy will wake very suddenly from sleep and be very agitated. Sometimes he appears to be absolutely terrified. On every occasion he thinks Snifter is to blame and he charges at him, screaming. Poor Snifter is usually asleep too and is rudely awoken. Thankfully he generally just stares blearily at Toddy who then backs off and just stares at him like a predator for a while.

On one occasion it triggered a fight because Toddy was being so extreme, but I was able to split them up quite easily. On another occasion he did it to Dannika when he was staying at the Pugnest and Dannika gave him a huge, huge telling off apparently.

It generally happens during the day or evening. I have only ever heard one screech out of him in the early hours when they were sleeping in their room. I am very aware of any noise they make and wake at the slightest peep that may be coming from them, so I am pretty confident it has only happened the one time.

If it happens when Toddy is snoozing on the sofa next to me I can usually calm him down by holding one hand on his chest and the other over his shoulders and saying calmly "Nobody did anything, Toddy." He tries to get free for a few seconds but then calms down and just stares hard at Snifter in case I was lying and Snifter had actually done something.

Anyone else ever had a pug (or other breed) that does this? Thoughts? Obviously I'd rather he didn't and sometimes I feel very sorry for him as he does seem in genuine distress on waking.

How horrible! I've never experienced it with any of my guys, Bella. I don't have any suggestions. I hope it's something he will grow out of.

Very, very strange.

Does he have any eye problems? Could he be waking up and his vision not so good, and he gets agitated? Does he act in pain?

Weird. I've heard of this in children, but never in dogs. Doesn't mean it couldn't happen, but it's a new one on me. Any chance this is a focal seizure?

YES!!! The first time Lilo did this I about had a heart attack!! I was doing bookwork all the dogs were in their crates sleeping and all of a sudden she woke up just screaming and in attack mode!! If she had been sleeping on a dog bed with any of the others she would have hurt them!!!

I spoke with my vet about it and he said it's bad dreams. Lilo is vision impaired so her waking up and not being able to adjust her vision right away could also be an issue. This happens probably 1 to 2x a month.

A couple of times, Penny has let out a roar in the wee small hours of the morning. I turn on the light, and she is sitting on the bed, looking confused. And every now and then she will wake up snapping and snarling at nothing. She calms down quickly, though. I'm assuming a bad dream, and with her poor eyesight, I'm sure she has a hard time going rapidly from bad dream to awake.

Interesting. I think Toddy does dream a lot - he very often squeeps while sleeping and he also twitches his legs.

He does not act in pain and I don't think there is anything wrong with his eyesight. He gives every indication of being able to see birds up in the sky and to judge his agility with pinpoint accuracy.

I will mention it to the vet but I want to mention it with caution and to the right vet. By which I mean I don't want them just saying "Oh he is highly strung" and sticking him on valium or equivalent, or saying to just use the DAP which I haven't tried.

Truly it is manageable but it is very scary the first few times it happens. My worry is that whilst it is manageable by me, when we go on holiday and the sitters come in it could be a different story.

I wonder if Toddy would benefit from the 'Rescue Remedy' herbal supplement or something similar? It isn't a drug, and is very safe to give.

I keep a small fan running in my room every evening. I like the white noise and it seems to help my gang sleep thru the night without outside interruptions. Maybe that could help too.

I believe you once said he's neutered? So no hormonal things happening...

And although this is a scary thought, could epilepsy of some sort cause him to have a small seizure during his sleep, and then he wakes up scared?

Hug the boy from me.