Is your dog getting enough rest? It turns out, dogs really need a lot of downtime but many don’t get enough. Did you know, the average dog needs twelve to fourteen hours of sleep a day? Puppies, large breeds, older dogs, and ill dogs need even more sleep than that! At our house, we all love to sleep, and we spend a lot of time snoozing, especially when Mom is working in our home office.
We dogs love routines and especially the ones with sleep time built in. Humans these days are in the busy mode. They schedule themselves, kids, and now even their dogs for every minute of every day. The problem is, most dogs don’t want to be constantly busy and it isn’t good for them. Sure, there are some dogs that never settle down. They need something to do all the time, but they are the minority. If you have a dog like this, try some mental challenges to wear her out a bit mentally. You’d be surprised how easily mental work tires out a dog!
At our house, we do a lot of activities, and our sports, but we spend a lot of time resting in between. We do our big walks and runs in the early morning, eat breakfast, and sleep for a few hours. Some days we have a class, or we practice our sports but just for an hour or so and then we sleep some more. Our yard is another place for fun, but when we come back inside, we usually take a nap. All of us learned as tiny pups to rest a lot. Constantly being on the go isn’t the way most dogs are supposed to be.
When we work, we work hard, but then we crash hard too. Dogs don’t need play dates or daycare every day. We are happy to just hang out and do nothing around the house with our humans. Sure we enjoy going places and traveling but we also love to just be home and hang out. Like small children, too much busy time and not enough sleep will make us cranky. Dogs need the right balance to be happy and healthy. Teach your dog to relax, hang out, do nothing and make sure your dog is getting enough rest.
My GBGV Life is joining Brian’s Home Blog in the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!
the mama said yes, but we think we need more resting time… but we have to walk our humans every day….
We do lots of walking plus our sports, but we rest a lot in between.
Ooh Boy, You said it! I try to set an example for my mom, I curl up and sleep near her so she can see by my example. I think she is an old dog – she needs to sleep a LOT because of her injured brain. When she follows my example, we BOTH are happier and healthier.
Chablis
That sounds like an awesome plan for both of you!
My Alex will be 14 this year (we think – he was a stray so the vet guesstimated his age) and loves his naps. He also loves his walkies and still does his zoomies around the house. In the evenings he snuggles next to me in my (his) chair.
Awww, he is a super old man pup who still has puppy in his blood! We too love our walks, sports, and classes, but we do a lot of napping during the day!
As an older lady I am enjoying naps more and more. In fact, I go upstairs and nap in mom’s room for much of the day — away from everyone. It makes mom smile when she tip toes upstairs and sees me crashed on my bed she says I look so peaceful and restful. I don’t hear quite as well anymore so mom can walk all the way up to me and then I hear her and we say hi to each other. My baby brother likes to be busy and then to crash. He actually goes to day care on some days — which mom and he love. On the days he is home … it is big nap day for him. We like your post because we agree completely!! We love routine–being busy and then napping! have a good day your friend LIlly
Your schedules are a bit like ours. We all love fun things but we also totally enjoy napping. Sometimes Bailie goes upstairs and sleeps in Mom’s bed in the evenings if she is tired. The younger ones do more, but they also need some rest in between playdates and sports stuff. Happy napping!
I am semi napping in my mommy’s lap right now, but I always keep one ear open to address any sounds I hear. I really am tired on the days I go to the spa. Yawn! XOXO Sparkle
We sleep a lot when we are home and our routine is happening. If we are traveling, we never sleep as well as when we are home as we don’t know what is next.
Clover loves napping especially after a long walk in her wheels. I love napping also.
Naps are just the best, almost better than sleeping at night. Sometimes Mom naps with Bailie, puts her head on Bailie’s bed and takes a ten minute power nap.
I love my naps. Gotta rest up for our next adventure, right?!
We nap when we can because who knows what Mom has planned for us next!
You can count us cats in on the rest thing too, it’s pretty important for most species! Thanks for joining our Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!
Cats are the real champs at resting. You kitties can sleep and sleep and sleep!
Yes you do need a lot of downtime and we always made sure our Angel Little Bit had that time. I always love coming here and seeing you precious pups. I also know that you work hard too. Your mom rocks.
Have a fabulous Thankful Thursday. ♥
We exercise and work hard but we rest hard in between. It is so sad Little Bit isn’t here anymore. We’d love to me that pup 🙂
thanks so much for this post! I was never aware that dogs actually NEED a large amount of sleep!
We think many people don’t know that. Cats everyone knows sleep a lot but we dogs need rest too and not the busy, busy life constantly.
We sleep a lot – our mom works on tiring us out early in the day, saying something about a tired dog is a well behaved dog……
We have our morning walk or run to wear us out at the start followed by breakfast and a nap! The rest of the day is on and off with resting, sports, or a class. Glad you all rest a lot too.
We LOVE your sleeping poses…they are furry similar to ours (well, Cinnamon and Marv’s) But you guys have much nicer beds and blankets! We LOVE our downtime – especially when Mom has an afternoon nap and we can snuggle with her.
Bailie loves it when Mom lies on the floor with her head on Bailie’s bed and does a 10 min power nap! Napping is good for everyone!
Thank you for the information! Now i don’t feel so guilty that i am at work for a good chunk of the day and Coda is resting.
It is your routine and Coda’s too which makes it good and Coda can use quiet time. Mom works from home so she is with us all day, but we just sleep around the home office while she works. Sometimes we get up and go out to play for a break, but overall, we enjoy just hanging out.