laying down to sitting and licking

[GinnyJ]

My Sophie, will be laying down sleeping. Suddenly she will sit up, hold her head up high and lick her lips over and over again.
She'll look at me and her eyes have a 'scared' look in them.
Does anyone have any idea what is happening to her?
She has a heart murmur grade 2-3.

[Karlin]

She sounds like she is being startled out of her sleep by something.

Have you spoken to your vet about this? That would be my first port of call. I could well be sudden pain or discomfort startling her awake. Lip-licking has been identified with syringomyelia but probably is associated with others things too. I have a couple of lip-lickers who will dot his for a long time at night sometimes. But the ones who do it are not my SM-diagnosed dogs... on the other hand they have never been MRId. They don;t seem uncomfortable otherwise. Cavaliers do sometimes get flycatchers syndrome which is similar -- an obsessive compulsive or neurological condition.

I'd talk to your vet as a start and see if they have any ideas.

[Barbara Nixon]

I thought this was corredt, so have checked: Lip licking or smacking can be either a sign of strees or an appeasement gesture. Monty , my lowest ranking dog, sometimes smacks his lips when he comes for a fuss.