Puppies come in all sorts of adorable behaviors. Some puppies sleep in an orderly manner, while others sprawl in various positions. Rolling their eyes and sticking out their tongues while sleeping is actually quite normal for most puppies. If the puppy doesn’t have any eye problems, rolling its eyes during sleep is normal. Puppies stick out their tongues to regulate body temperature, especially in summer. It’s common for puppies to prefer sleeping directly on the floor with their tongues out, sometimes even resting it on the floor. These are all normal behaviors.

Rolling Eyes While Sleeping
Some puppies may sleep with their eyes half-open, resembling rolled eyes. Sometimes owners mistakenly think that the puppy is not asleep, but in reality, it has already entered dreamland. It’s quite normal for puppies to roll their eyes while sleeping. Sometimes they are just too tired from playing and fall asleep in a hurry, forgetting to close their eyes completely. Owners don’t need to worry excessively as long as there are no eye problems—it’s normal.

Sticking Out Tongue While Sleeping
Similar to rolling eyes, sticking out the tongue while sleeping is also normal, especially in hot weather. Dogs use their tongues to dissipate heat. Therefore, during the summer, it is common to find puppies sleeping outside their crates, lying on the floor with their mouths open and their tongues sticking out, sometimes even resting on the floor to regulate body temperature.

Apart from regulating body temperature, sometimes puppies may breathe through their mouths while sleeping, such as when panting, which causes their tongues to stick out. All of these are very normal occurrences.

Twitching Limbs While Sleeping
It’s relatively common for puppies to experience limb twitching while sleeping. Most of the time, it’s normal. For example, when a puppy is dreaming (yes, dogs dream too), if it dreams of running on a grass field, limb twitches are normal. However, there could also be abnormal causes for twitching, depending on the specific reasons.

Reasons for Twitching While Sleeping:

1. Physical Development: Puppies grow rapidly, and they usually reach maturity within two years. Their growth rate is much faster than humans, so even when they are asleep, puppies are constantly developing and growing. Sometimes, their bodies twitch while in deep sleep.
2. Dreaming: Dogs have advanced intelligence, and their nervous systems are well-developed. They also have cognitive activities, so when dogs sleep, their brains, like humans, remain active. When a puppy’s legs tremble or shake while sleeping, it might be recalling encounters with other dogs during the day.
3. Calcium Deficiency: Insufficient calcium in dogs can lead to overactive nerves and muscle cramps. Therefore, owners should promptly supplement their dogs with calcium.
4. Feeling Cold: When the weather is cold or the place where the dog sleeps is not warm, the dog will continually tremble its body, generating heat through joint friction.
5. Fearful or Anxious: This mainly applies to puppies who have recently changed owners or environments. They may tremble due to fearfulness.
6. Epilepsy: If a puppy is twitching abnormally, it is worth considering whether it has epilepsy. Epilepsy is characterized by excessive excitation of certain nerve cells in the brain, leading to temporary abnormal brain function. When a dog experiences a seizure, it may exhibit perceptual disorders, convulsions, and behavioral abnormalities.

Therefore, when a puppy rolls its eyes, sticks out its tongue, or exhibits these behaviors while sleeping, it is generally considered normal. These behaviors alone should not be used to determine if the puppy has health problems. It is essential to first confirm the presence of health issues before noticing abnormal eye rolling, tongue sticking, or other sleeping behaviors. As for twitching while sleeping, it is generally considered normal as long as the puppy is not injured and the parents are healthy without hereditary diseases. Even if a puppy occasionally rolls its eyes, sticks out its tongue, and twitches a little while sleeping, it is still considered normal. However, if the puppy twitches every time it sleeps and the frequency of twitching is high, there may be underlying health problems. In such cases, it is advisable to take the puppy to a veterinary clinic for examination.