The Average Sleep for Dogs

Dog owners know that dogs have a fancy for sleeping the day away without a care in the world. The average hours of sleep may seem high, but knowing your dog's sleep hours and patterns can give signs of whether your pet is healthy or not.

  1. Average Sleep for Healthy Dogs

    • On average, healthy dogs sleep up to 16 hours a day--twice as much as a human. The main reason that dogs sleep so much is boredom. Pet dogs tend to sleep longer than outdoor and stray dogs, due to their lack of responsibilities, such as finding food.

    Sleep Patterns

    • Although dogs sleep more than humans, they also wake more. However, they do have the same sleep patterns as humans; a dog enters the rapid-eye-movement or active stage of sleep after about 10 minutes.

    Age Influences

    • Middle-aged dogs require the full 16 hours of sleep daily. Older dogs may sleep much longer than this.

    Health Influences

    • Dogs that suffer from diseases or illnesses tend to sleep longer than healthy dogs. These illnesses or diseases may include hypothyroidism, depression or senility.

    Size Influences

    • Larger dogs, such as Saint Bernards, Newfoundlands and mastiffs, usually tend to sleep more than smaller dogs. These large-sized dogs may sleep up to 18 hours a day.