Keep Dreaming About Dogs? Here's What It Means, According To Dream Experts

Before we dive into dreams about dogs, let's take a moment for a refresher on general dream interpretation. While of course, there are some people who think dreams are nothing but memory consolidation and the brain flushing waste, there are others who believe dreams carry messages from the subconscious mind.

As psychologist and dream expert Rubin Naiman, Ph.D., previously told mbg, "Dream interpretation is about decoding the dream. It enlightens us and expands our awareness psychologically, [offering an] expansion of consciousness."

As aforementioned, dreaming about dogs is incredibly common. In fact, according to professional dream analyst Lauri Loewenberg, dogs are the most common animal people dream about in her experience with clients (followed by cats and snakes).

She tells mbg that dreaming of dogs often relates to three key themes: relationships, friendship, and loyalty. "Dogs are typically going to represent a relationship or the dynamics that are going on within a relationship," she explains, adding, "And that could be any relationship—friendship, an intimate relationship, work relationship, family relationship—any relationship where there should be loyalty and companionship, all these qualities that we attribute to dogs."

Loewenberg, as well as therapist and dream expert Leslie Ellis, Ph.D., both note that when interpreting your dog dreams, it's important to pay attention to the specifics of the dog.

As Ellis explains, "If I dream of a dog because I love them and have always had a dog in my life, my dream dogs would likely be related to love, friendship, and loyalty. If someone is terrified of dogs, their dream dogs would have an entirely different flavor." Try to remember if the dog was friendly or mean, healthy or scruffy, etc., she suggests.

Knowing that dogs often represent a relationship, or certain relationship dynamics, Loewenberg says you'll want to pay attention to the dog's breed, behavior, and how it made you feel.

German shepherds, for example, are known to be protective animals. "They may show up in your dream when you need to be guarded about a relationship or perhaps when you need to police your behavior," she explains. Or, maybe the dog is a breed you find particularly annoying, which could indicate annoyance or frustration within a relationship you're in, she adds.

Dogs in dreams can represent more than just romantic relationships and could also be cluing you in to a friendship, a work relationship, or a family dynamic.

An aggressive dog that's barking at you, chasing you, or attacking you, for example, could indicate that you're feeling attacked by a friend in real life. If you've always been afraid of Rottweilers and you keep dreaming about them, ask yourself what relationship in your life right now is causing you to feel threatened.

Loyalty is what made dogs man's best friend, so if you're dreaming about them, it's possible themes of loyalty are coming up in your life—for better or worse. As Loewenberg explains, a dog that's been harmed can represent betrayal of loyalty. A dog coming to your rescue, on the other hand, would be representative of a loyal person.

And lastly, according to Ellis, if you feel the dog's message is more about you than someone else in your life, that's entirely possible too. She explains that you'll, again, want to pay attention to the qualities of the dog in the dream.

If dreams truly are messages from the subconscious, the next step after interpreting the message is to act on it. And in the case of dreaming of dogs, it may require you to look at your relationships (or yourself) a little more closely.

As Ellis tells mbg, "My suggestion, if someone frequently dreams about a dog, is to get to know the dog and discover what it might be asking of the dreamer or trying to tell them." She adds that she does resist generic interpretations of dream images; however, "you can consider what doglike qualities might be important to you."

And as Loewenberg adds, if the dog in the dream was being unreliable or disloyal, for example, ask yourself how you can make a particularly unreliable relationship better—even if that means walking away.