Who doesn’t love having their dog in bed with them, snuggled under the covers? The closeness is a sure sign of just how much your furry friend loves you! There’s always the elusive person who is disgusted by the idea of letting your dog sleep in bed with you. Unfortunately, it turns out those people may be onto something. A new study claims that having your dog sleep in bed with you may be detrimental to your sleep.
Mayo Clinic, a nonprofit medical practice and medical research group based in Rochester, Minnesota, conducted the new study. The purpose of the study was, “to objectively assess whether a dog in the bedroom or bed disturbs sleep.” The study monitored the sleeping habits of 40 healthy adults without sleeping disorders over the course of seven nights. Both the humans and dogs wore accelerometers to measure sleep.
Is Sleeping With Your Dog Good For You?
Vice summarized the May Clinic study and noted that humans sleeping with their dog on the bed scored a sleep efficiency rating of 80 percent; humans that slept with their dog in the room, but off the bed scored a sleep efficiency rating of 83 percent. The report concluded, “Humans with a single dog in their bedroom maintained good sleep efficiency; however, the dog’s position on/off the bed made a difference.”
While disappointing for those who love to sleep with their dog, the difference in sleep is not massive. Vice noted that, “Experts agree that 80 percent is considered an ‘okay’ night’s rest-while anything between 85 and 89 percent is normal.” So, when you think about it, neither group of people got a ‘normal’ night’s rest! With that said, the difference does make sense; your dog probably moves around at night; if on your bed, this may wake you up and disrupt your sleep. The report did highlight that those who sleep with their dog on their bed tend to wake up more frequently.
