Dreams about dogs

According to a recent survey, the top Google search for dream symbols is ‘dreams about dogs’.  Why do we dream about dogs, and what do these dreams mean?

Before we go there, according to Google’s February-March 2022 report on my website, there was a big jump in people looking for information on dreams about the end of the world. We’ll go there in this blog, but let’s begin with dreaming about dogs.

The survey, done by a bed retail store, reported that ‘dreams about dogs’ was the number one dream symbol Google search for 19 out of 180 countries. I was surprised by this result – and I speak with thousands of people about their dreams – but let’s explore!

What was the dog in your dream doing? Was it barking at you, or at someone else? Were its teeth bared? Or was it wagging its tail, happily running through a meadow or welcoming you home? Was your dream dog loyally carrying out your commands, or was it being disobedient or naughty? Was that dog in your dream running away from you, or was it a scary dog, chasing you or barring your way? Were you looking for a lost dog, or did you rescue an injured or mistreated dog?

Bear with the questions, they are the key to understanding your dog dream.

How did the dog in your dream feel? It might have been obvious: perhaps the dog was howling in grief or in abandonment, or barking fearfully, or barking confidently. Was your dream dog cowering, dropping to the floor in surrender, or was it in guarding or protective mode? Read your dream dog’s body language: name what it was feeling.

Dream symbols are important, but you can gain quicker insight into your dream if you look at the dream theme and any expressed emotions or feelings.

For example, your dog dream theme might have been abandonment (the dog howling in grief), or protection (the dog guarding someone), or loyalty (the dog carrying out your commands), or unconditional love (the dream dog’s unwavering support of you), or cowering in fear (the dog dropping to the floor), or mistreatment (the injured dog in the dream).

Or your dog dream theme might have been loss (looking for the lost dog), or rescue (wanting to rescue a dog), or disobedience (the naughty dog). It’s your own unique dream, so keep exploring along these lines until you feel, ‘Yes, that’s it, that’s the theme of my dream’.

Where is this theme playing out in your life?

By now, you’ve probably identified the life situation or issue that your dream is processing. It’s a start. You may realise that your dream dog represents your feelings about or issues around loyalty, protection, defence, attack, personal or physical boundaries (marking your territory), fear, disobedience, mistreatment, or many other possibilities.

Dream interpretation helps you to acknowledge what you already know (for example, ‘Yes, I do need more personal space’), and to discover what you don’t yet know about yourself, what is unconscious (for example, ‘I didn’t realise I was feeling abandoned but knowing this makes sense of how I’m approaching my life right now’).

As an aside, the dog in your dream might be an actual dog: your current dog, a dog that died, a friend’s dog. What do you see as these dogs’ personalities? What do you see as their doggy life dramas? What does a particular dog mean to you? Your answers will help shed further light on the meaning of your dog dream.

Why are Google searches for ‘dreams about dogs’ ranking so highly?

I haven’t looked at the Google search data myself, but I wonder if an upswing in dreaming about dogs is a Covid pandemic effect.

Isolation and working from home led many people to buy pets or give shelter to rescue dogs. Perhaps people living alone in quarantine wanted companionship, comfort, and loving, loyal support. They may have dreamed about their new companions in this light.

But I prefer to look more deeply, and into the personal.

People in lockdown with family or housemates may have needed more personal space and boundaries, metaphorically wishing to mark their territory, defend their patch, or, just occasionally, snap and bite. Their dreams may have processed these feelings and issues as dreams about dogs.

Dreams about disobedient dogs – or even just mildly naughty ones – may have reflected people’s feelings and issues around lockdown rules, travel bans, mask mandates, QR code check-ins, and other regulations. Such dreams may process battling your own streak of disobedience or your feelings about people who do not co-operate with the law.

Loyalties have been questioned during the pandemic: perhaps you lost your job due to Covid after many years of being a loyal employee, or – more significantly in the land of the deep self and dreams – flowing with the changes has made you feel disloyal to the past. You decided to pivot in your career? It was probably the right response, but did part of you feel disloyal to your previous career plans and goals?

Dreaming about dogs certainly predates the pandemic, of course. I had recurring dreams of wolves (wild dogs, I guess), as a child, and many people have asked me about their recurring childhood aggressive dog dreams. After childhood, my dream wolves gradually transformed into dogs, firstly quite scary and then, over time, loving and supportive, as I overcame my fears and learned how to confidently stand my ground and claim my space.

Hopefully the dream interpretation tips I’ve shared so far have helped you to define the issue your dog dream is processing, and may have shed some light on your more unconscious feelings and tendencies. The full meaning of your dream – what it reveals about your mindset and the issue, and insight into how to resolve the situation – is contained in the other details of your dream.

So, why are people also searching more for ‘end of the world’ dreams?

At least according to my website stats they are, and I have also noticed people telling me more ‘end of the world’ dreams recently. Why do you think this is?

On one level people are processing, in their dreams, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as climate change induced natural disasters (floods, storms, fires) while we’re also still experiencing levels of Covid uncertainty. Our dreams help us to process these devastating emotional experiences, although it’s true to say that our dreams will often use symbols removed from the literal situation because that’s the nature of dreams.

On a deeper level, our ‘end of the world’ dreams are also about ourselves: what is ending in our personal world, and what is about to begin. Endings can be positive, the end of an attitude that no longer serves so that a new and more appropriate attitude might take its place. Dreams often use death as a symbol of change, a symbol of what is ending in our lives. ‘End of the world’ dreams tend to symbolise our fears and feelings around really big changes, changes in our personal world that seem all embracing, a huge change from the way you used to live your life to how you choose to live your life now. The end of the world as you knew it, and the beginning of your new world.

As things in the outer world and in your inner world rumble, you have the opportunity to decide how to move forward, how to build a new outer or inner world, how to live in a different way. What have you learned about change during the last two years? Explore your ‘end of the world’ dreams to gain deeper insight.

 

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