To ensure your dog is healthy and that you’re providing her with everything she needs, it’s crucial to know what is normal behaviour. This includes knowing how much sleep dogs need. By comparing her sleep patterns to the average dog, you’ll find out if she’s resting enough, if you should be concerned your dog is sleeping too much, or if she is oversleeping, perhaps due to a health condition.
How Many Hours Do Dogs Sleep?
Dogs sleep as few as eight hours and as much as 20 hours a day, although the average is 11 to 12 hours. Since each day is 24 hours long, this means most dogs are spending around half of their time asleep. They spend another third of their time lazing around: although they’re awake, they’re not doing much. Dogs enjoy lying around to observe what’s going on without partaking in activities. Only around a fifth of a dog’s life is spent being active.
Most dogs’ sleep time is during the night, but around a third of their sleep is during the daytime. If your dog feels tired and is able to sleep, she’ll take a nap — unlike humans, dogs listen to their bodies and sleep when they’re tired rather than when it’s bedtime. Having said that, her sleep patterns will depend on your routine, to an extent. She’ll sleep more when you’re not interacting with her and when it’s not almost time for her to go for a walk or close to a mealtime.
Why Do Dogs Sleep So Much?
Sleep is important for all sorts of things, including overall health, behaviour, and cognitive function. Dogs use sleep to organise their thoughts just like we do. Sleep plays a role in forming memories, improving capacity for learning, and brain development, especially in puppies.
If you make sure your dog gets enough sleep, you may see an improvement to her mood. Anecdotal evidence suggests that dogs who are sleep deprived suffer some of the same consequences as humans, including exaggerated reactions when dealing with stressful stimuli, irritability, decreased memory recall, and difficulty learning.
Factors Influencing Dogs’ Sleep
The reason there’s not always a simple answer to how long dogs sleep is because it depends on a few factors.
Age
Puppies, adults, and senior dogs all have different sleep patterns and needs.
When families adopt a puppy for the first time, they usually want to know how long puppies sleep for. They may be concerned that their puppy is sleeping too much because it’s only active for short bursts. In fact, puppies sleep less at night than adult dogs, but they may sleep more hours overall because they sleep more throughout the day. Puppies typically sleep at least 11 hours a day, although they may sleep up to 20 hours a day.
Once dogs reach middle age, they sleep more consistently through the night. They also sleep later into the morning and take more naps during the day. This increases the amount of time they sleep compared to young adult dogs, which is necessary as they age for recovery from activity.
Breed
Certain dog breeds require more sleep due to things like energy levels and genetic predisposition. In general, big breeds need more sleep than small breeds because activity requires greater exertion for them. However, working dog breeds sleep less because they were bred to provide their owners with protection or to carry out other tasks.
Health Conditions
An underlying health condition may affect a dog’s quality or quantity of sleep. If the time of day when your dog sleeps or how much your dog is sleeping has changed considerably, your dog may have a health problem. Common health conditions that impact sleep include diabetes, kidney disease, hypothyroidism, heart disease, and arthritis.
Another warning sign is that your dog is not waking up easily or doesn’t want to wake up for an activity she usually enjoys. Keep a note of your dog’s sleep patterns and behaviours to help your vet with the diagnosis.
Changes to Their Environment
Dogs may also change their sleeping habits if their environment changes. For instance, it may be more difficult for them to sleep as much if you bring a new pet into the house. Your dog may also adapt to fit around your new schedule, such as if your work hours change.
Creating a Comfortable Sleeping Environment for Your Dog
Since dogs sleep so many hours every day (and much of the rest of their time is just lying around), it’s important to make sure your dog has a comfortable spot just for her. Ideal is a proper dog bed, perhaps with some extras like a faux fur blanket for warmth or a protective cover to make cleaning easier.
How to Calm a Restless Dog at Night
If your dog seems restless or you see your dog twitching during sleep, you should take steps to help her sleep better. One thing you should do is improve her dog bed. She may have joint pain or arthritis, particularly if she’s older. An orthopaedic dog bed (such as one made from memory foam) is ideal for promoting calming sleep.
Your dog may also be uncomfortable if she’s cold. Keep her warm in the winter with things like a thick fleece and a blanket for her bed. A plush cover is great for adding warmth and comfort as well as meaning you won’t need to wash the entire bed every week.
Lastly, your dog’s restlessness could be due to canine cognitive dysfunction. Other signs of this are confusion as it becomes dark in the evenings and struggling to fall asleep. Your vet will provide you with a solution to help your dog improve her sleep, which may include medication, keeping the light on, or playing the TV or radio at a low volume.
At Dog Friendly Co., we have all the sleep essentials your dog needs — from soft covers and blankets to the bed itself. Check out our online store to find beds, covers, sleep sets, and other dog sleep accessories.