Have you ever wondered what it means when animals appear in your dreams? If you believe dreams bring us information and messages, it’s useful and sometimes even fun to consider what a dream may be telling you. People who study dreams tell us the first step in understanding an animal dream is to focus on what the animal symbolizes for you. In many schools of thought, the person deemed most qualified to interpret a dream is the dreamer. So, an animal’s significance to you is key to understanding the meaning of that animal’s presence in your dream.

Once you have answered that question, another source of information can be the characteristics typically attributed to the animal by the larger society.  For instance, a dog may be a symbol of loyalty. A lion might represent courage. A fox could be symbolic of cleverness, or even trickiness.

Then notice what the animal is doing in your dream. The answer may help you understand the dream even better. One member of a dream discussion group reported a theme that appeared repeatedly in his dreams: his dog with a serious injury to the head. After discussion of the dreams by the group, the dreamer was able to find meaning in the dreams. He believed that the dog represented loyalty, that the injury to the animal represented damage to that loyalty, and that the location of the injury – the head – meant his own thoughts were harming his loyalty to himself.

Scientists believe that animals dream.Perhaps the animals who live with us ponder what the presence of a human symbolizes in a dream.  Pleasant dreams to you and the animals in your life.