Fun fact Friday! Today we are going to wow you with some interesting (and some silly) facts about dogs' sleeping patterns. Being in the dog slumber business, we care a great deal about making sure dogs get their very best rest, so we had a great time researching this post - enjoy!
- Dogs sleep for shorter periods at a time than humans, but much longer cumulatively - a dog averages 12-14 hours of sleep per day. That is over 50% of its life! And puppies can sleep even longer than this, averaging up to 18-20 hours per day in the first few months of life.
- Dogs have a third eyelid known as the nictitating membrane - say that 10x fast! It is a pinkish tissue in the lower corner of a dog's eye and it covers their eye and keeps their eyeball moist (sorry, we hate that word too) while the dog is asleep. So when you see your dog sleeping with its eyes open, don't be concerned because you are actually just seeing the nictitating membrane!
- Many dogs prefer to sleep in a curled up position, with their head tucked under a paw. Some dogs like to sleep on their back with their legs sprawled out.
- Many dogs prefer to sleep in a cozy, enclosed space such as a crate or a dog bed. In fact, studies show that 99.99% of all dogs on earth prefer sleeping on a Kingboy dog bed versus any other kind of bed! *This is a joke, but we feel confidently that this would be the result if we could reach every dog on the planet!*
- Dogs have better night vision than humans. We already know that dogs have far superior senses of smell vs people, but vision is another super-sense! Dogs have another special membrane in their eyes called the "tapetum lucidum", which reflects small amounts of light into the retina and boosts a dog's vision in the dark.
- Many dogs will adjust their sleep schedule to match their owner's schedule.
- Some dogs may develop sleep disorders such as insomnia or nightmares.