I have a 10 week old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, at a night when on the sofa she falls asleep like a deep sleep and her breathing is very fast/rapid, is this normal?
sara

Hi Sara,
Hopefully someone with breed can tell you if it is typical of the breed or not.
I have Golden Retrievers and when they sleep their breathing generally slows if anything EXCEPT when they dream. The breathing can quicken then but is usually accompanied by foot twitching or mouth twitching or a "whooping" noise or growling or at times all together and if you're napping at the same time can be enough to wake you !!!
Sara

Sara, I remember asking this question when I had my first puppy, puppies do breath quite fast and I am sure there is nothing wrong with yours. Why not ask your vet when you take the puppy for it's next jab, I'm sure they will put your mind at rest. Jackie H

SaraC
If she's in REM stage, she's deeply sleeping & dreaming... just like us humans. REM (Rapid Eye Movement). As she ages to adulthood, this will get less heavy, but then when she enters middle age, it will increase in amount & deepness again. That's one of the reasons why puppies & older dogs shouldn't be woken suddenly. They really sleep deeply. Which is where I'm off to now.
night all.
toodles

pups breathing/ heart always a bit faster, but as your breed is one with a bit of a "heart history" it might be worth getting it checked by the vet. I was surprised at how one of my deerhound pups had a hight heart rate, but it was quite normal for the age!

Thankyou everybody for your coments,
I have noticed that it only happens late evening after 8/9pm and seems like she's in a really deep sleep not dreaming, I know those signs as I used to have a Springer/Lhasa apso.
It takes me a while to wake her up, I'm wondering if it is where she is sooooo tired after playing with the children all day.
I will call the vet today anyway to make sure and keep you posted.
Thanks again
sara x

Talking of REM do any of you guys try to gently quiet down or wake up your dog if they are making quite noisy wimpering and growling noises when in a deep sleep ? My 3 year old bitch can make some really loud noises when dreaming and they're not always happy sounding noises but I never like to disturb her too much when she's sleeping so deeply.

Hi Claire,
It depends on the situation to what I'll do. Samma's sleep patterns are changing now she's in middle age. Sometimes she's actually barking & whimpering in her sleep.
I'll sometimes blow gently on her & she'll move on in her "dream" and get quiet again.
If she's lying next to me in bed, I'll nudge her with my foot to change position (like my esteemed spouse when he's snoring). She'll stop then, but stay asleep.

Other times, I'll actually speak quietly and tell her to "get it, get the kitty cat." She'll come slowly awake and look at me accusingly like "Hey, what's the deal?" If it's a bad "dream," I'll tell her "It's ok, leave it" and she'll actually relax.

When Pepper became stone deaf, I used to do the "blow gently" on her face and she would come awake with a wag & a sleepy smile (really, she could grin). This would work better than trying to touch or shake her awake. I did this when we came home from somewhere or when it was time for her to go out. I think it's the best way to wake a dog, if it responds like that. But it's up to you to figure out what works best in your situation. Try them out, just respect that she's really deeply asleep.

Anything is better than the cold wet washcloth my mom used for my stubborn brother :D :D
toodles

Our dog also used to whimper, pant and growl when she asleep. It seemed to increase as she got older. She also used to twitch and make running movements even though she was lying down ! In the end we decided that she was otherwise OK and it was disturbing us more than her - she used to sleep in our room - so we used to let the sleeping (and twitching) dog lie.

My CKCS sleeps on his back with his eyes open (just the whites showing) waving all four legs in the air and snoring extremely loudly.

I know this doesn't help with the breathing question, but I just wanted to share that with you all.

What's really fun is when they're sleeping & the paws are going to just lightly touch a paw pad. It'll bounce up & then lightly come back down to where it's barely off your finger. If it touches again...up & repeat :D :D
I know, I have no life :(
toodles

Ha,ha you have given me a right laugh!
The way we treat our pets its like children, I then have 3 kids under 3! Arrrr!
I went to Sainsburys today and worried about her the whole time (My hubby works shifts so I work around him) so there is always someone at home usually.She didn't mess at all!
Good Poppy! Lots of cuddles on arrival home....
Thanks again for all your posts
Sara