Help! Why Does My Dog Sleep So Much?
A consistent sleep schedule and restful slumber are essential for your dog’s overall health and wellbeing and disruptions to the quality of their sleep could provide clues about potential illnesses or injuries.
Your Whistle Health, Health & GPS and Health & GPS+ will detect changes to your dog’s sleep duration and quality, alerting you that something might be amiss.
Why Does My Dog Sleep So Much?
Your dog will sleep more (or less) depending on their age. Puppies and senior dogs sleep more than adult dogs but changes in sleep patterns could be linked to changes in health.
Conditions ranging from parvovirus and kennel cough to diabetes and heart disease could cause excessive sleepiness. Pain from injuries or chronic conditions like arthritis could make it harder for your dog get comfortable, causing them to sleep less than normal—and too little sleep can lead to sleep deprivation and symptoms like whining, pacing, restlessness and trouble concentrating.
Dogs are also sensitive to changes in their environment, which means a new home, new sibling or schedule changes could also cause sleep disruptions.
Whistle Health, Health & GPS and Health & GPS+ will create a baseline of your dog’s normal sleep behavior and alert you if their sleep patterns change. Repeated periods of too much or too little sleep are reason to call your veterinarian or schedule a phone, video or email chat through the Ask a Vet feature.
Is it OK if My Dog Sleeps All Day?
Dogs spend about 50 percent of their lives sleeping, so a dog sleeping all day is probably no reason to panic. It’s more important to pay attention to changes to their sleep patterns.
It might be normal for your dog to wake up for breakfast and a quick sniff around the yard and then crawl back into bed to sleep for a three hours; Whistle Health, Health & GPS and Health & GPS+ will note that pattern. It’s cause for concern if your dog starts sleeping much later in the morning and sleeping for six hours after breakfast.
Why is My Dog Up All Night?
Most dogs sleep when their owners sleep, which means your dog should spend most of the night in blissful slumber. There are several reasons that dogs become restless and spend more time awake at night.
Stress could cause sleep disruptions. A new environment or strange noises (like fireworks) could make it hard for dogs to sleep at night. Your dog might also sleep less during boarding or on vacation. Once the noises stop, their new environment becomes familiar or their schedule returns to normal, your dog should go back to sleeping through the night.
Sleep patterns can also change with age. Senior dogs might wake up more often to use the bathroom. Consider setting out a pee pad or installing a dog door to make it easier to accommodate their middle-of-the-night potty breaks.
Canine cognitive disorder can cause changes to the sleep/wake cycle in senior dogs.
If you notice your dog sleeping more during the day, sleeping less at night or receive alerts from your Whistle Health, Health & GPS and Health & GPS+ device about other sleep changes, use the Ask a Vet feature to talk to a veterinarian who can identify the root cause and offer treatment to restore your dog’s sleep schedule.
