It can indicate a great many things, but they tend to be in some way symbolic of relationships. Whether that’s relationships with other people, with dogs themselves, animals in general, with the world—it’s about relation. It can also be a sign of need for protection, or to protect another.
Unsurprisingly, given the overwhelming presence of dogs in our own lives today and reaching back into the far mists of time, there are many interpretations of their meaning in dreams.
To really nail down an interpretation, you’ll need to put some thought into your own individual circumstances.
Let’s look further into this.
What does it mean when you dream about dogs?
It can mean quite a wide array of things.
As I mentioned, the broadest category we might look at is relationships.
Dogs are and have been known for a very long time as man’s best friend.
No other animal in the animal kingdom, except perhaps cats, comes close to having such an intimate relationship with us.
It could be that dreaming about dogs indicates security in your familial relationships.
Dogs are pack animals, and this pack mentality reflects in our family units.
Dogs are representative of family relationships in this way.
Dreams about dogs can also be related to your relationship to the wider world.
It could simply be about you, and your dogs in particular.
Even if you have no dogs, it could be about your relationship with the natural world as a whole.
Animals, in general, or even more broadly nature.
Relationships are a very broad category, naturally, but the symbology of dogs is, too.
They have meant many things to many people at many times, but the aspect of the relationship can’t be escaped in any time or place.
Finally, symbolically, it can also be about protection—let’s look into the spiritual meaning of dogs in dreams.
What is the spiritual meaning of dogs in dreams?
There are essentially two sides to the coin when it comes to the spiritual meaning of dogs in dreams.
On the one hand, it’s about protection.
Dogs are inherently protective creatures, seeking to support and defend other members of their herd.
This includes you.
So, dogs are a spiritual embodiment of protection.
Protection of yourself, your family, your loved ones, your life as a whole.
As a spirit animal, dogs are wards against threat and even evil.
On the other hand, what we see in dogs today is their capacity for love.
They aren’t needed for direct protection in the same ways as they once were.
The other spiritual side of dogs is their unreserved, endless, unconditional capacity for love and loyalty.
When you see dogs in your dreams, this may well be what your subconscious is conjuring.
You may feel safe in the loyalty and love of your loved ones, so again we return to the question of relationships.
Ultimately, dogs have mostly positive associations.
In the vast majority of cases, dreaming about dogs have wonderful connotations and possibilities.
But they can also embody other emotions.
What does it mean to dream about dogs chasing you?
Dreaming about anything chasing you usually indicates some building fear or anxiety in your mind.
There is something you are worried about, that you feel perhaps drowned or confronted by.
Dogs, specifically, can be more about trying to escape something.
You are attempting to flee from something, not literally, but in your life.
There is something unaddressed which you don’t wish to properly confront.
It depends on your own emotions in the dream, though.
If you were having fun and it felt more like a playful chase, then this may not be the case for you.
What do black dogs mean in dreams?
The color black can often be felt as a bad portent in dreams.
It doesn’t have to be, though.
That said, black dogs in dreams can indicate sadness, even depression or grief.
Many interpret it as a expression of separation from a loved one.
On a deeper, spiritual level, black dogs are also often depicted as guardians of nether realms.
They work in the shadows, representing deep emotional change that is occurring under the surface.
They can appear when you are engaged in deep, introspective and emotional work.
Black doesn’t have to suggest something negative.
Black dogs can, too, even be representations of love in the face of sadness.
Love persevering in the face of grief. An owning up to our emotions.
Dogs are perhaps the single most long-standing companion of humans of any animal.
It is virtually impossible to say how long ago we first befriended them, but they have been fast friends ever since.
Their presence in your dreams, then, can understandably suggest a very wide array of things.
Fundamentally, they are about protection and relationships.
But your circumstances, as well as the specific content of your dream, could suggest something more about the dream.
More in dreams
- Dreams about alligators
- Dreams about babies
- Dreams about cheating
- Dreams about dogs
- Dreams about elephants
- Dreams about fire
- Dreams about ghosts
- Dreams about horses