Dog’s life are full of enjoyable moment – playing around, chasing some flying creature, and walking once a day with their beloved owner – it is their life – it is their adventure! That’s why – our dog need a proper and good bedtime every day, to recharge their energy and to make sure their ready to welcome the new adventure on the next beautiful day.
Perhaps this is something that would surprise many first-time dog owners – make them thought, why my dog sleep all day? It is normal or might be something happened to them? Is it dangerous to let your dog sleeps all day every day? To answer all those questions, first – we need to understand our dog schedule and their regular bedtime habit, so we’re not gonna misunderstood of our dog’s sleep habit.
Some habit of dog’s that we’re as a human can’t do is – our dog can sleep as much as they want (if we – human – try doing that, we are gonna end up with pain in our whole body , plus some bad headache), but all of these are completely normal for dogs to spend all their day sleeping on their warm and comfortable bed. Because sleep is one of critical aspect of your dog health – just like us – human.
So, now in this article – is it dangerous to let your dog sleeps all day – we are going to learn about our dog bedtime schedule routine – the normal sleep’s time period and unusual sleep’s time period that perhaps would might be a sign of something is out of place. To be sure that your dog is given all their need and continue being happy and healthy as they become the part of your life and your family.
How Much Do My Dog Sleep?
A Veterinarian named Dr. Evan Antin from Conejo Valley Veterinary Hospital, Thousand Oaks, California says that the normal time period dog’s needed every day is about 12 to 14 hours a day – that is a lot of time compare to a human which is maximum is 8 hours a day. Dr. Antin continue that these time of period is depended on the age, breed, and the level of the activity that have been done through a day.
Dr. Antin says that some dogs such bulldogs, Shih Tzu, Great Dane, Chow Chow, and Saint Bernard – known as a sleepier breeds – they could sleep easily and love to lounge all the day. And for dogs that more active like the working dogs breed such Akita, Alaskan Malamute, Bernese Mountain, Black Russian Terrier, Rottweiler, and a lot more, these dogs could sleep less because of their busy day.
Age also influence the sleep time period that dogs needed. For example puppies tends to sleep about 16 to 18 hours per-day – because they still on their growth period. The older or senior dogs also needed the same period of time like the puppies. Why? Because the senior or the older dogs usually are often less active than the younger one – their energy is decrease as they grow older – impact their joints and caused some pain if they move too much.
Your Dog Sleep All Day?
Dr. Evan Antin also says, that our dogs might sleep more than they need because they have less stressors and stimulation that would give them no reasons to be active. Yes – it simply because we did not given them a good and active lifestyles – so, there’s nothing else they could do. This could be trigger the boredom to your dog – make them sleep just because there’s nothing they could do – you could ask yourself as an owner do sleeping out of boredom is that healthy for your dog?
Dr. Evan Antin also compare dogs with their wild cousins such coyotes and wolves – he says that those wild dogs are being so active because they have to hunt to get food, they have to find their own mate in order to survive. But our pet dog is under our cares, we handed to them such food, and water. So, it is completely needed to give your dogs routine activities that make them move and not only sleep caused by the boredom.
Some Health Issues
Health issues also might the reason behind you dog sleeps all day problem. It could be a hard thing to recognize do your dog is crosses the normal line of the sleep time period. But, still there are some signs that could be manifest forms of the hormonal imbalances and disease that you could recognize:
- The Breathing Problem
If you noticed some breathing problem during their sleeps such snoring, and apneas (the lapse in breathing), that could be indication of some health issue.
- The Lethargy
If you noticed that your dog is sleep longer more than normal and carry the symptom such lack of energy even when in they are awake. This would be a symptom of something bigger.
- Some Changes On Habits
When the sleep time period time increased accompanies with some changes on their behavior and daily routine habit such loss appetite and bowel habit at the same times accompany with the sleep habit – you need to raise your concern. Just like human – a dog changes of some variance of habits – sleep more or less than usual, it could be influenced by something that disturb they regular metabolism inside their body. It it the best move to bring your dog to the vet if there is nothing improvement during days.
There is also so may things that caused changes on your dog’s sleep time period more than they usual did. Here’s some the potential causes that might catch your dog:
- Â Your Dog Get Depressed
Likes us, dogs also can get depressed. Your dog might feel some pressure that you might not notice from inside or outside their environment. This could lead them to withdrawal and lethargy – it is important that nothing is scares and threaten your dog mentally and physically.
- Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism is the condition where your dog is not getting enough of hormones which is made by the thyroid gland. This could happen to all breeds, ages of dogs – if not taken care quickly this could lead your beloved dogs to sluggishness. Hypothyroidism caused your dog sleep more.