How much do dogs sleep?

Have you ever felt a little envy because your dog can sleep at any time of the day? It seems like our best friends have the capacity of falling asleep anywhere and everywhere, but do you know how much they sleep?

Dogs go through the same sleeping stages that we do and like many of us they have nightmares. Each dog, depending on its physical characteristics and exercise will need more or less sleep, plus they do not sleep the same amount each day. There are some dogs that need to exercise every day to be able to sleep calmly, meanwhile there are other dogs that do not need any exercise and can sleep all day.

There are many stages of sleep: numbness, which can last a few minutes and it is the transition between being awake and falling asleep. Light sleep is when the heart rate and respiratory rate slow down, in this stage it can be difficult to wake up because the brain does not register contact with the body. The next stage is delta sleep or deep sleep where brain waves and respiratory rate are slow, it lasts around 20 minutes and it is when dogs start to remember what they did during the day. After delta sleep they enter what is called the REM period, the deepest sleep, they dream and may start moving, have you ever seen your dog move its legs during sleep? Have you heard your dog cry while he is sleeping? These happen because they are in the deepest stage of sleep and they are dreaming. Like many of us, dogs snore, especially if their respiratory tracts are narrow, like those in bulldogs.

In generals terms an adult dog can sleep between 13 and 16 hours a day, which 8 or 9 of those hours he will sleep during the night, meaning that the other 5 to 8 hours he will divide during the day into naps. When dogs are puppies they tend to sleep much more, they sleep between 18 and 20 hours a day. As they grow their need to sleep changes and as they become seniors they will need more sleep again.

Seasons also affect their sleeping, during the winter they tend to be lazier and spend more time in bed, this depends on the sensibility the dog has to cold weather. It is important to know that they need their sleep to maintain their energy and strength, just like us!