Ok, this is weird…

[Jylly18]

Hello,
I am hoping I can get some input as to whether or not this is normal, or if it something to worry about. Twice now, Tosca has done something weird while sleeping…it has only happened twice ever, both this week, once during the day while napping by me, and then last night in the middle of the night (She sleeps in the bed with us). Anyway, hopefully I can describe this accurately. When she sleeps you can often hear her breathing a little, and sometimes she lightly snores, but never anything that seemed to be labored or a problem. However, those two times she was sleeping and all of a sudden she would start breathing kinda weird...it was more like short bursts of breath, rather than a calm, regular breathing...her body would shake a little with it too, I guess the best way I can describe it is picture a little child crying hard, and you know when they breathe in (like sniff, sniff, sniff quickly), its kinda like that. Then after doing that a few times, she would start making this weird noise too, kinda like a hiccup. She didn't seem to be in distress at all, and once she started making noise I woke her up, and she seemed fine, just looked at me like "Why are you waking me up?" Then it would immediately stop. Like I said it has only happened twice before, and last night was in the middle of the night so I don't remember it too well. Other than what I described, everything about her has been completely normal with her, the only thing is we haven't been able to walk due to winter, so I hope its not related to being out of shape, and its not like she is overweight or anything...
I did call the vet about it today, and they didn't have much to say...the nurse questioned as to whether or not it was a seizure and just told me to keep an eye on her and try to figure out more info, when she does it, if it continues, etc. I am not really leaning towards a seizure, it doesn't seem like that. MOre like hiccups or doggie sleep apnea or something, if that exists. It just worries be because what would happen if I didn't wake her up? What if it happens when she is sleeping in her crate while we are at work? I really don't know what to think if it could be serious or not...for all I know it could be normal or harmless, which was why I am looking for opinions on here...has anyone seen anything like this before, or have any opinions?
Thanks for taking the time for reading this, I know its a long post...any help would be greatly appreciated.
Jill

[Mia]

well Mia more than Nike both have really vivid dreams. They are both under a year old. Mia kicks, talks and breaths irregularly in her dreams. I also would wake her up being worried and she would just look at me like "what are you doing disturbing my beauty sleep". So unless your vet is worried I would not be. Altohugh I am also curious to see what other people will say as I do hope it is just doggy dreaming :)

[Ninabeana26]

Dallas has made pretty odd sounds while he's sleeping. I know during naps his breathing has sped up to where it's like he's running or something. I asked my vet about it when we got his shots & he said that unless it sounds like he is suffocating, it's proabably just due to some vivid dreams & it isn't uncommon in hounds to have vivid dreams. He also sometimes makes a suckling in his sleep like he is still with his mom. It's cute :)

If you are worried though I'd call the vet & just explain what's going on. I'm sure it's nothing though!

[wizard]

My previous beastie clearly had vivid dreams - he would whimper, he would snort, he would breath hard and pump his legs. I wouldn't worry unless you notice an impact on his daytime health (but JMO)

[DiegosMom]

My Diego does the same thing, breath hard and irregular, twitch his eyes, shake a little, etc. I never really worried about it because we figured it was dreams, and when we woke him up he would be fine..