Is your dog getting enough sleep?

Is your dog getting enough sleep? Most owners have no idea how much their dogs need to sleep, and since the pandemic especially, a lot of dogs aren’t getting nearly enough. In order for them to be their best we need to cooperate with their natural rhythms. Dogs are a corpuscular species, meaning they’re most active at dawn and dusk. A well exercised and regulated dog will typically sleep through a lot of the middle of the day as well as at night.

Since the Covid pandemic many owners are home with their dogs more than they were previously. While this is wonderful, it has come with some hiccups. An escalation in separation anxiety wasn’t a huge surprise to most of us, but a strange other problem popped up. Dogs were staying stimulated the vast majority of the day because their owners were home now. A lot weren’t napping because their people were there to follow around, we were always talking to people who weren’t there, and dogs had to self occupy while simultaneously getting hits off the moments when owners could give some attention to play and cuddle.

For young dogs especially, sleep is extremely important to help them grow and regulate their nervous system as they learn about the world. Its pretty easy with the babies because they tucker out fast and fall asleep with minimal intervention. We schedule their day because its obvious they need the help. With teens we tend to miss the mark. As they kiddos mature, they have an easier time finding things to keep them entertained. If you don’t reinforce the art of doing nothing early, many dogs won’t figure it out. This frenetic energy compounds and can create reactivity and anxiety, especially in working breeds. The mild anxiety that comes from being overtired can exacerbate other areas of stress. We often see barking, nervousness, sound sensitivity, separation anxiety, you name it.

We can take some really easy steps to ensure this doesn’t happen in our homes. For dogs who are busy by nature and don’t easily nap you can: use a crate or pen if they rest better in a smaller space, tether them to a large piece of furniture with a bed or cot to sleep on, or stand on their leash when you’re settled so they learn to match your energy. Puppies (up to 4ish months) do well being out with you for an hour and down for a nap for two. Adolescents (5ish months to 8ish months) do well when you monitor after about an hour for signs of getting tired then help them transition to a nap so they learn to honor the feeling. Teenagers (9ish months to 18months) should be self-enforcing naps at least 2 or 3 times a day as they learn to self-regulate. Some dogs need more help which is where we step in to help for longer.

Even super high energy working breeds will learn to regulate with appropriate breed fulfillment. Unfortunately many owners don’t know exactly what their pup is when they adopt it or underestimate how much work it is to fulfill a dog who’s bred to have a full time job. Sometimes you have to get creative to make sure you're meeting your dog’s needs, but we can get it done in most situations! This is a big reason so many of us trainers advocate for getting a DNA test for any new rescue. We want the information o ensure were meeting your dog where they’re at through and through.