Can dogs sleep with their eyes open?

gmackematix

Dolphins and other marine mammals sleep with one eye open as they only lose consciousness in one half of their brain at a time when they sleep. I think that dogs and most land mammals automatically close their eyes with the loss of consciousness that sleep incurs. That said, I'm also fairly sure I have seen dogs lying down with at least one eye open whilst still appearing to be in the twitching dream state. I'd love someone to explain what is happening in this case. Sep 21 04, 5:49 PM

philsgirl

I have noticed, that when her eyes are open, she doesn't track anything. And if you touch her, she shuts her eyes then opens them as if waking up. Sep 21 04, 5:52 PM

Brainyblonde

Unihemispheric slow-wave sleep: sleeping with one hemisphere of the brain awake while the other side experiences the kind of sleep that produces large slow brain waves. The EEG recordings confirmed that when one eye was open, the corresponding hemisphere was in a quiet waking state, while the opposite hemisphere was experiencing slow wave sleep. And by displaying an expanding video image simulating a predatory attack, Rattenborg was able to prove that the wakeful hemisphere was capable of predator detection: the ducks initiated escape behaviour. There is a whole article about it at this site. http://www.exn.ca/Templates/Story.cfm?ID=1999020351 Sep 23 04, 12:03 PM

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