Study Says Sharing Your Bed With A Dog Helps You Sleep

Some new research suggests that if you sleep with your dog on the bed with you, you’re getting a better night’s sleep and waking up more refreshed.

By nowproducerdave on November 27, 2018
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

But only if you’re a woman, apparently. Researchers have been looking into the matter, and they’ve pretty much figured it out that sleeping with dogs will help women sleep better at night. No, not like that you sicko, literally just sleeping in the same bed. Ahem.

There’s a lot of words and data in the research findings here, but we’ll summarize everything here. So, after interviewing almost 1,000 women, the researchers found that sleeping with a dog by your side helps you to sleep better. There are a lot of theories about this, and one of them is based on a feeling of safety. Your dog is like an alarm, and if you don’t have even that slight bit of anxiety about being home alone, we’re sure that helps the Zs flow. Another theory is having the warm breathing body next to you is relaxing, which can contribute to sleep as well.

Now, what about cats? Well, cats didn’t seem to improve anyone’s sleep. In fact, it was found that people who sleep with cats tend to wake up more during the night, and get a much worse quality of sleep. Much the same as sleeping with a human partner – we’re a little more disturbed and awake a little more easily. Also found in the study – people who sleep with dogs tend to wake up a little earlier than those without a dog in the bed. So, it looks like you have to decide – is the dirty bed worth the extra sleep? Those four-paws say yes, but that’s really up to you.

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