Why is Sleep Important for a Puppy?

Sleep is important for all dogs, but puppies need more of it. 

An adult dog thrives on about 14-17 hours per day good quality rest, a puppy needs about 20 hours in a 24 hour time period.

A dog can die from sleep deprivation just as easy as from lack of food or water.

Sleep contributes to development.  Sleep is important for a puppy’s growth; their brain, immune system, muscles and central nervous system.

A puppy that is not getting enough good quality sleep will be grumpy, more likely to bite, will make other poor decisions. 

A puppy is experiencing and learning lots of new things every day.  Dogs, like humans’, process and consolidate learning during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep, so good quality sleep is extremely important to a developing pup.

Dogs have the same sleep patterns as we do; slow wave sleep (SWS) followed by rapid eye movement (REM), followed by (SWS), but dogs have shorter sleep patterns and more of them.  Quality sleep is achieved during REM, and it’s when the day’s experiences and learning are formed as memories.

How to achieve REM?

The trunk of the body, in both humans and dogs, is paralysed during REM.  This is so that we can’t enact our dreams 😀.  A dog is best able to achieve REM if they can stretch out flat, so a rectangular bed is better than a doughnut bed.

Dogs are ‘social sleepers’ which means that they prefer to sleep in close proximity to living creatures – this is particularly important for a puppy who won’t have developed any independence yet.

Dogs prefer to sleep in elevated positions.  This is a throwback from when they had to fend for themselves – if they were woken suddenly they’d have a better view of their surroundings and would be quicker to see danger.

The puppy’s sleep area should be neither too warm or too cold, free of draughts, away from noisy household appliances and away from areas of heavy footfall.  The sleep area should be a safe haven – some dogs like a den type area such as a crate covered by a blanket.

Consider the puppy’s toileting schedule – they won’t get good quality sleep if they’re feeling unconformable because they need to toilet.

Give your puppy something to lick or chew on.  Licking and chewing are calming activities, it’s a bit like giving a baby a dummy.  Limit the pups choices.  If the puppy has a Kong is their crate, their more likely to fall asleep once the Kong is finished as there isn’t a great deal else that they can do in the crate.