The Chinese Fu Dogs, whose statues often sit outside temples in China, are perfect examples of dogs as guardians. If the dream dog is one associated with comfort, and it appears calm and at peace, then the dream may indicate that the dreamer is enjoying similar feelings. He or she feels safe and satisfied. Perhaps, in the waking world, the dreamer feels particularly secure.
Dogs are not only mythological guards but are also trained by everyday people to guard homes and their owners. Some dogs are trained to guard by force, others guard by barking.
Check to see what the dog is doing in the dream. Is it barking? If so, the dog dream may be trying to call attention to something awry in the subconscious or it might be calling attention to an unsafe situation in the waking world.
Temple Fu Dog | Source
Dogs as Guides
In waking life, dogs are often used as assistance animals. In dreams, the dogs that help guide in waking life can become entities that help one navigate the subconscious.
Just like dogs who can alert one to seizures or sniff out tumors in the waking world, dream dogs can help one to see what is hidden in the realm of the unconscious.
That which is hidden can be surprisingly pleasant, such as unused gifts or talents. Alternatively, dream dogs can help point out the unpleasant aspects of the personality, or the subconscious ways in which the dreamer is engaging in self-sabotage.
Guided by Scent | Source
Dogs as Fidelity Symbols
Faithfulness and dogs go hand in hand. When dreaming of dogs, check to see if the dog has a companion. If so, and if the dog is healthy, that person can be symbolic of someone the dreamer has abject faith and trust in. Make sure that trust is well-founded.
If the dream dog is injured in some manner, this can indicate betrayal, a breach of trust, or a damaged relationship with the dog?s companion.
If the injured dream dog has no companion, the dreamer should check to see if he or she is engaged in self-sabotage.
Source
Dogs not only inhabit a place in the heavens, as in the cases of Orion?s Sirius and the constellations of Canis Major and Canis Minor, they are also figures of the underworld as the fearsome three-headed Cerberus who guards Hades?s entrance and the C?n Annwn. The dogs of the Celtic Otherworld, Annwn, will attest.
Since the dog is associated with the underworld, and since the color black is often used to symbolize grief and death, it may only be natural for the coupling of black and dogs to end up as harbingers of death.
This is in fact the case in both Irish and British folklore. Variously called the ?Churchyard Beast,? ?Padfoot,? and ?Cu Sith? amongst other names, ?The Black Dog? is an entity whose encounter means that death is on the way.
Usually, tales of encounters involving this entity occur during waking life, happening in much the same way that reports of ghostly encounters are reported. The experience is usually of an eerie nature. The dog is usually reported as being of a monstrous size with glowing red eyes.
While dogs symbolize loyalty, black most commonly symbolizes mourning or depression. Therefore, dreaming about a black dog might symbolize a disloyal friend. Perhaps your are mourning over this betrayal, or perhaps you are mourning over a lost or unfaithful lover. One might even do well to consider it a warning.
Even if it is heralding death, it is most likely a symbolic death. Death symbolizes radical change, the leaving behind of that with which one is comfortable and familiar with in favor of the complete unknown. Black can symbolize the void, or the unknown.
Change and transition often involve loss. If, for instance, one is moving to a new location in favor of pursuing a career or relationship, the loss of friends that will result from the change might be interpreted as a black dog.
What is encouraging, as dour as dreams of death may sound, is that death is actually a natural occurrence. Therefore, this can indicate that the transition may be a more natural state of change, rather than an out-of-the-blue jolt.
