One of the most surprising aspects of dogs is their rest. But how much sleep does a dog get a day? In many cases, they can sleep between 12 and 20 hours, so they spend at least half of the days sleeping. This sleep range is quite large because there are many factors that condition it, such as age, environment, physical exercise or race.

Ensuring your dog’s good rest is essential for him to be physically well and in his mood. It is one of the most important aspects of their well-being, just as it happens in human beings. To discover how much a dog sleeps a day, the conditioning factors of his sleep and why he is able to sleep so much, in we recommend that you continue reading this article.

How many hours a dog sleeps per day

A dog can sleep each day a minimum of 12-13 hours and a maximum of 20 hours. These figures make many people think that they have a very sleepy little furry, but there are a number of factors that determine the ideal rest of dogs.

It should be noted that, as in humans, dogs have dreams and nightmares and go through identical sleep phases. Some also snore like brachycephalic or snub-nosed breeds, which emit noises while sleeping and even get to move.

According to age

A very influential aspect in a dog’s sleep is age. Depending on the time of life you have, you will tend to sleep more or less and will need a few specific hours to rest properly.

• Puppies: If your question is how much puppies sleep, if they have, at most, 12 weeks from birth, they are able to sleep for 20 hours a day. It is very healthy for the dog since, in a phase of adaptation to a new environment, if he manages to have so many hours of sleep it will be a sign of acclimatization to his family and home with benefits for memory and learning.
• Adult dogs: to the question of how much a 1-year-old dog sleeps, you should know that dogs that exceed one year of life are already considered adults and sleep up to 13 hours a day, but not consecutively. Generally, they sleep 8 hours at night and the rest during the day with small restorative naps when returning from each walk, out of boredom or after playing.
• Older dogs: dogs that are more than 7 years old are considered as elderly dogs. These can sleep up to 18 hours a day. This sleep is also conditioned by other factors such as health, since if they suffer from an illness they can sleep more (such as arthritis).

According to physical exercise

To know how much a dog sleeps a day, we must also take into account the physical characteristics of each dog, as these are determinants in the hours of sleep he needs. On those days with a heavy load of physical exercise, you will need more sleep to recover. You’ll also appreciate that small naps throughout the day will be deeper and longer in time.

Even the visits you receive at home or the trips you take with your dog will influence his rest. Being so sociable and wanting to explore everything, he will make an extra effort to discover new people, places and environments unknown to him.

In the following article, we explain how much exercise time a dog needs.

According to the environment

The environment influences a dog’s rest. If, for example, dogs are cold in winter, they tend to be lazier and want to rest more looking for warm places. They don’t feel much like walking and tend to sleep longer.

On the other hand, in summer the heat can affect them more than it should and disturb their sleep. Being thirstier, you will notice that your little furry one gets up more times to drink water during the night. You will also move more frequently to escape the heat and look for cool areas such as the kitchen, bathroom, under the air conditioning or fan.

According to breed

Breed also determines how many hours a dog sleeps a day. The genetic aspect provides physical characteristics and influences their behavior, requiring specific care among which is sleep.

When determining the physical characteristics, the breed of the dog also implies a physical activity to develop and, consequently, the rest necessary to recover energy.

According to health

Health is another aspect to consider in the hours of sleep that a dog requires. Enjoying good health, age and physical characteristics, as well as daily exercise, determine canine rest, but in the case of suffering from an illness you will need more sleep.

Arthritis and other diseases that limit both physical activity and energy of dogs, influence the hours of sleep of an adult, young or elderly dog.

Do dogs sleep through the night?

The three phases of sleep of dogs allow us to understand how many hours in a row a dog sleeps at night. The first stage is known as “Slow Wave Sleep”, it is recognized because it is in which breathing begins to slow down and cardiac activity is reduced.

The second phase, REM, is notable for uneven breathing. The eyes may move quickly and some dogs growl or cry because they are in deep dreams. And the third phase, known as waking state, takes place every 20 minutes, keeping the dogs on alert while asleep, so they wake up with the slightest movement or noise.

It is this third phase, that of the waking state, is where dogs wake up and cannot sleep all night, since the REM phase of deep sleep lasts less than the others.

Why Dogs Sleep So Much

As has been explained throughout the article, there are many factors that explain why dogs sleep so much, such as age in puppies and elderly dogs, great physical activity, especially icy environments, or according to their health.

But if you ask yourself “What if a dog sleeps a lot?”, you have to know that, when they suffer from an illness, they get very bored or are sad, they sleep more than usual. If it is any of these cases and you do not know how to act with your furry friend, go to a veterinarian to find the best solution.

If you liked this article about how much a dog sleeps a day, you may find this other post interesting about the meaning of dog sleeping positions.

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