Cute, but Crazy

I am the proud owner of a Boston Terrier/Beagle mix. Some people call them Boggles, but I have trouble using those cutesy "designer breed" names, especially when it happens to also be a favorite childhood game of mine. Besides, it seems pretentious. Like I scoured the earth for some animal specifically bred to have a name that makes me sound like a douche bag when I say it. For the record, he's a rescue dog. He just happens to be absolutely adorable. His name is Brooks, and he's every bit as crazy as he is cute.

Look at all the cuteness!

Perhaps it's because he's had a few bumps to the head (he has no sense of his surroundings and has run full tilt into walls and fallen off furniture) but he's kind of paranoid. Whenever my ex would be gone for the night Brooks would keep me up all night growling at perceived (and imaginary) threats. This summer he got stung by a yellow jacket in the groin (poor thing just wanted to pee on the mailbox and ended up stepping on a nest). Granted, that would be a traumatic experience for anyone, but since that day my little guy has become slightly obsessive about his junk. He might just be walking down the hall when all of a sudden he'll stop and sniff at his little boy parts. Once he's convinced that there isn't anything going on down there that should be happening he'll continue on his merry way. This happens numerous times a day, and is more frequent when he's outside and windy.

That being said, two nights in a row this week he has woken from a dead sleep on the couch and run like a bat out of hell to find shelter (once under the dining room table, once under the computer desk). The first time he did it, no one was in the room I just assumed that, with his lack of understanding of "edges", he had fallen off the couch in his sleep and scared the crap out of himself. Then it happened again the next night, but this time with witnesses. There he was, just napping on the couch when he suddenly jumped up and bolted under a desk, shaking like a little brindle leaf.

So what's the deal with my dog already. The TV was on, but that's never bothered him before. It's not like there was a doorbell on the tube and even if there had been he just gets up and checks the doors. So I've narrowed it down to two theories:

Theory 1) My dog has horrible nightmares. This actually wouldn't surprise me. He dreams all the time and they often include lots of running, kicking, muffled barks, growls and howls.

Theory 2) Poltergeists. Some unseen force is freaking the crap out of my dog because they're bored, dead, jerks.

I'm open to other ideas, but these are the only ones I can think of right now.