The analyses of a text.

After a time I slept, and I dreamed . . .
........................
Suddenly, there were growling noises near at hand. The first time I looked about I saw nothing. But then, abruptly, the were there?three huge, doglike creatures similar to the one I had slain in Julia's apartment. They were racing toward me across the garden. The howling continued, but they were not its authors. They restricted themselves to growling and slavering as they came on. Just as suddenly, I realized that this was a dream and that I had dreamt it several times before only to lose track of it upon awakening.
["Trumps of Doom" of The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny]
I'd like to know what "near" means here.
I'd like to know if it indicates "the dream."
I'd like to know if "just as suddenly" means "just like it happened suddenly."
And I'd like to know if I can rephrase the underlined clause as the following:
"I had dreamt it several times before and lost track of it upon awakening."
Thank you in advance for your help.