We all know that getting a good night’s sleep is important for our health and overall wellbeing, and a study shows that women may get a better night’s sleep if they share their bed with their dog rather than a man. Sleeping with your dog creates a sense of comfort and peace, and we agree they are great to snuggle with!
A good night’s sleep helps to reduce stress, reduces inflammation, improves your memory, helps you feel more alert during the day, may reduce your risk of depression, make you smarter and may even help you lose weight!
This is according to a study by Dr. Christy L. Hoffman, who is a professor in the Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation department at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, and her leading team of researchers.
The study was conducted on 962 adult women in the US and they found that women who slept with their dogs reported better sleep than those who slept with a man, the women also found sleeping with their dog to be less disruptive and felt they provided a greater sense of security and comfort.
Now while this is great news for dog owners, cat owners aren’t so lucky, cats were found to be more disruptive to women as they slept, however, the study also found that dog owners typically go to bed and rise earlier than cat owners, so this may play a role in the results.
And while we feel everyone should cuddle with their dog at night, Dr Hoffman was keen to make clear that a dog might not be the solution for everybody she said the “keyword here is perception, this study is based on individuals self-reporting how they feel their sleep is affected, and it’s important to note that this is based on aggregated data and an average of responses, so getting a dog won’t solve everyone’s sleep problems” .
And this makes perfect sense, because we all know that some dogs snore and need to get up to use the bathroom in the middle of night, just like men, and larger dogs can be disruptive and take up too much of the bed not being as conscious as a man on “sticking to their side” luckily for us Dachshund owners our dogs are small enough to enjoy and not be bothered with during the night.
Do you sleep with your dog at night? Let us know in the comments below!
