In Bed with A Small Dog

Posted on Feb 19 in The Small Dog-Human Bondby Jeff K.Print

If you are like me and millions of other people, you do not sleep very well at night. The reasons for sleep disruption are many. Environmental noises; changes in lighting; an uncomfortable bed; variations in bedroom temperature and humidity; snoring and bed movement from a spouse or partner; diet; and daytime stress can all prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep. You may also add your snoring and restless dog to the list of factors. In an article titled “Dog Tired? It Could Be Your Pooch” (Science Daily, February 15, 2002, John Shepard, M.D., medical director of the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorders Center, describes his study to determine whether pets may be a factor in sleep loss. Here is an excerpt from that article.

…..

“Dr. Shepard became interested in how pets can disrupt people’s sleep after one patient reported that she frequently got up in the middle of the night to let the dog out and waited up to 15 minutes before returning to bed with her pet.

“’After hearing that anecdote, I began to wonder how many of my patients were sleeping with pets and how much the pet interrupted sleep,’ he says.

“Between February and September 2001, Dr. Shepard surveyed 300 patients seen at the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorders Center to determine the frequency and severity of sleep disruption that may result from family pets. He found the following:

* 157 of 300 patients (52 percent) had one or more pets, primarily cats and dogs.

* Nearly 60 percent of the patients with pets slept with their pets in the bedroom. When a dog was permitted to sleep in the bedroom, it had a 57 percent chance of being allowed to sleep on the bed.

* Of the pet owners, 53 percent considered their sleep to be disrupted to some extent every night, but only one percent felt that their sleep was disrupted for more than 20 minutes per night on average.

* Snoring was reported in 21 percent of dogs and seven percent of cats.

* Cats were more likely to be allowed in the bedroom and on the bed.

“I suspect that the degree of sleep disruption experienced may be significantly greater than the owners admit, but I have no objective data,” says Dr. Shepard. “Every patient has to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of sleeping with pets and make a personal decision about the sleeping arrangements in the household. Some people are very attached to their pets and will tolerate poorer sleep in order to be near them at night.” (The entire article can be found here.)

As a side thought, many animal behaviorists believe it is not advisable to let your dog sleep in your bed. They say a dog should not have a carte blanche access to your private space. They believe sharing a bed with your dog sends a message to that dog that it is on equal footing with its owner—but that is a discussion for another time.

Right now, I have got to go take a nap. My dog Kelsey got up 2 times last night, once for a drink of water and once because she had to go out and get rid of that water. In between, she snored all night. Sweet dreams.

P.S. Please let me know if your small dog sleeps in bed with you by voting in the quickie poll to the right of this column. JK

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