THE DREAM Dream one: POISENING A ROTTWIELER PUP

The neighbor's in this dream bought a rottweiler pup and I decided something had to be done about it before it got too big. After talking it over with my husband I decided to go ahead and poison it.

I expected the pup to die quickly but it didn't and I found its suffering at my hands distressing. The neighbor's were angry when they found out what I had done and I offered them $10,000.00 in compensation as it was a rare breed and a valuable dog. In the dream I realized quickly no amount of compensation would be enough. I had a lot of regrets about the unintended outcomes of my action.

The little pup was still alive as the dream closed but there seemed no way to help it. Even euthanasia by a vet seemed a long way off and I truly regretted the suffering I had caused the little pup. Even so I did not want it to become a fully grown Rottweiler and did not want this dog in my neighborhood so my feelings were mixed.

(Posted at www.Dreamsymbolism.info August 18, 2012, 19:06 by Iceberg rose)

GUESSWORK The dreamer made the decision to end a friendship she valued because she felt it had the potential of becoming emotionally dangerous to her relationship with her husband. Her friend was a strong fundamentalist Christian who was forthright to a level that often offends the dreamer. She could see fireworks if this friend and her husband ever met so she decided to end the relationship.

ASSOCIATIONS AND SYMBOLISM
1. DECIDE: Dreams may link to real life in very simple ways. If you make a decision in a dream it may simply show that you have come to a decision about something in real life. The dream may seem totally unrelated to the real life decision - it merely shows that your mind has been dealing with the common theme - deciding that something needs to be done. You can spot what has cuased the dream in such a case by thinking about what decisions have featured in your life right now. In this case the dreamer had just come to a decision - she had decided to end a friendship with someone that could easily clash with her husband (her friend was a Christian fundamentalist).
2. ROTTWEILER: How could a rottweiler symbolise this issue? At first glance it seems inappropriate for the mind to choose such a symbol. Her friend could in no way be described as a dangerous dog. He showed no signs of temper. However, with a rottweiler we kind of expect trouble. This is probably what the rottweiler means - the dreamer expects trouble because her husband and the friend are bound to clash because of his Christian Fundamentalism. There is no hint in the dream that the puppy has shown signs of being violent. However, its a rottweiler so you can never rule it out. You can never truly trust a rottweiler. Notice as well that the rottweiler is a puppy - an excellent symbol for someone who was a trusted friend. This friend had stood by the dreamer in the same way a puppy devotes itself to its owner.
3. POISON: Feeding a dog poison was an excellent symbol for the dreamer deciding to end the friendship. Killing off the animal with poison is an excellent symbol for the moment the dreamer ends the friendship.
4. SUFFERING: The main characteristic of the dream is the suffering of the dog. This links to the dreams meaning. The wish to prevent the dogs suffering was an exact parallel of real life as the dreamer wished to end this friendship as painlessly as possible. The friend had been a good friend so ending the relationship would not be without suffering. Her friend had not done anything wrong making the break very difficult because it was so inexplicable and without reason.

DREAM ANALYSIS The dream deals with the following themes
- Making a decision
- Something fierce and scary
- Something that involved more suffering than expected

If you weave together these different themes and look carefully at the feelings that the dreamer reported then the dream seems to capture these feelings - "I have ended a friendship with a Christian fundamentalist. I was worried what would happen if my husband met him - there would have been fireworks. I thought it would be a lot easier - just cutting someone off for no good reason makes me feel very guilty. I really do not want to offend him - but its something I have to do."