While I have no admin / mod position on this forum, I have on others (all of which I have left; by and large I do not like the social interactions forums engender), and in my experience people bumping up very old posts can be incredibly confusing for everyone involved. It is usually done by newcomers—often trying to get post counts up, or not taking the time to read the dates on the OP (this does not apply to you, of course). Often, problems discussed in older threads are long since solved (or have ended, in good ways or bad), and bringing them up afresh can bring up bad memories or just seem confusing to those who have been around a while. Imagine you and friends meet for dinner every Saturday. Have been doing this for years. Everyone's welcome at dinner, it's not a private party, but threads of discussion come and go. One day, as you are settling in, the door slams open, someone calls our "I'm Here!" and then replies to a question someone who isn't there asked about something eight months ago. It's not wrong. It can be confusing. Sometimes, it can be sad.
For instance, you don't know this, but Bruce, Barry's dog, died not too long ago. He was a young dog, and it was unforeseen and horrible. Of course you couldn't have known this.
Anyway, I don't know if old-thread-bumping was ever a problem here, but from my own experience w/ forums, I appreciate the fact that threads older than 6 months are not bumped.
In terms of dreaming, yes, it's entirely normal for dogs to dream, and some dream more vocally than others.