How Dogs Sleep: The Science of Canine Sleep Cycles and Why Their Bed Matters

At East Perry, we talk a lot about what's inside a dog bed. The materials. The chemicals. The certifications. But we don't talk enough about why all of that matters at a physiological level—what's actually happening in your dog's body during those 12–14 hours they spend sleeping.

Understanding how dogs sleep changes the way you evaluate their bed. It's not just about comfort. It's about whether the bed enables or disrupts the biological processes that keep your dog healthy.

Dogs Don't Sleep Like Humans

The most important thing to understand about canine sleep is that it's structurally different from human sleep.

Humans typically sleep in one long consolidated block of 7–9 hours. We cycle through sleep stages—light sleep, deep sleep, REM—in roughly 90-minute cycles, getting 4–5 cycles per night.

Dogs are polyphasic sleepers. They sleep in many short bouts throughout the day and night. A typical dog might have 20–30 sleep episodes in a 24-hour period, with each episode lasting anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours. Their sleep cycles are shorter too—roughly 20 minutes compared to our 90.

This means dogs enter and exit sleep far more frequently than humans. Every time they transition between sleep stages, environmental factors—temperature, comfort, chemical irritation, noise—can disrupt the cycle and prevent them from reaching the deeper, restorative stages of sleep.

The bed is the single constant in every one of those 20–30 sleep episodes. It's the environmental factor your dog encounters most consistently during sleep. Getting it right has a compounding effect across every sleep cycle, every day.

The Sleep Stages Your Dog Needs

NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep

This is where physical restoration happens. During NREM sleep:

• Growth hormone is released, supporting tissue repair and muscle recovery
• The immune system strengthens through increased production of cytokines
• Heart rate and breathing slow, allowing cardiovascular recovery
• Metabolic waste products are cleared from the brain

For dogs recovering from exercise, illness, or injury, NREM sleep is when the body does its repair work. Disrupted NREM sleep means slower healing, reduced immune function, and accumulated metabolic waste in the brain.

REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep

REM is where cognitive processing happens. You've seen your dog in REM sleep—the twitching paws, the muffled barks, the rapid eye movements under closed lids. They're processing the day's experiences, consolidating learning, and maintaining neural pathways.

Dogs spend approximately 10–12% of their sleep time in REM. Puppies spend more—their developing brains need more processing time. Senior dogs often spend less, which may contribute to age-related cognitive decline.

Here's what matters for bed selection: dogs are most physiologically vulnerable during REM sleep. Muscle tone decreases (they can't easily reposition themselves), and their sensory awareness drops. If the bed is causing discomfort—heat buildup from foam, chemical irritation from fabric treatments, pressure points from inadequate support—the dog's body must choose between staying in restorative REM or waking to address the discomfort.

Most of the time, the discomfort wins. The dog wakes, repositions, and has to cycle back through NREM before reaching REM again. Over days and weeks, this fragmented sleep accumulates into chronic sleep debt.

How Bed Material Directly Affects Sleep Quality

Temperature and Sleep Regulation

Body temperature drops naturally during sleep. This temperature decline is a biological trigger that signals deeper sleep stages. If the sleeping surface traps heat and prevents this natural cooling, it disrupts the body's sleep signaling.

Memory foam is a heat trap. Polyurethane has poor thermal conductivity—it absorbs body heat and holds it against the dog's surface. Studies on human sleep have consistently shown that heat-trapping mattress materials reduce time spent in deep sleep. The same principle applies to dogs, whose core temperature regulation during sleep follows similar patterns.

Wool is a natural thermoregulator. As we covered in our best materials guide, wool fibers create air pockets that facilitate heat exchange. The surface stays close to ambient temperature rather than accumulating body heat. This supports the natural temperature drop that the body needs to enter deeper sleep stages.

Chemical Irritation and Sleep Disruption

VOCs from foam off-gassing create low-level respiratory irritation. Your dog may not sneeze or cough—the effect is subtler than that. Mild irritation of the nasal passages and airways can increase breathing rate slightly, which keeps the nervous system in a more aroused state and makes the transition to deep sleep harder.

Think of it like trying to sleep in a room with a faint chemical smell. You might not consciously notice it. But your body does. Your sleep is lighter, your transitions between stages are disrupted, and you wake feeling less rested than you should.

Your dog can't tell you they slept poorly. But the signs show up: daytime lethargy beyond normal rest, irritability, slower recovery from exercise, increased anxiety. These are all consistent with chronic sleep fragmentation. Our toxic chemicals guide covers the specific compounds most likely to cause these low-level effects.

Pressure and Sleep Position Changes

Dogs change sleeping positions an average of 15–25 times per night. Each position change is a micro-waking event. The fewer forced position changes, the more consolidated the sleep.

Beds that create pressure points force more position changes. When weight concentrates on the hips or shoulders, discomfort builds until the dog shifts. Foam beds that have lost their loft (which happens quickly under daily use) create more pressure points, which means more position changes, which means more fragmented sleep.

Materials that distribute weight evenly—like dense wool or sheepskin—reduce the pressure buildup that triggers position changes. The dog can stay in restorative sleep stages longer between natural transitions.

What to Watch For: Signs Your Dog Isn't Sleeping Well

Poor sleep in dogs is often misattributed to behavioral issues, aging, or "just being lazy." In reality, many common issues have a sleep quality component:

Excessive daytime sleeping. Counterintuitive, but a dog who seems to sleep all day may actually be getting poor-quality sleep. They're sleeping more because each sleep episode is less restorative.

Restlessness at night. Frequent repositioning, pacing, or leaving the bed entirely can indicate temperature discomfort or pressure point issues—both directly related to bed material.

Increased irritability or anxiety. Sleep-deprived dogs, like sleep-deprived humans, show mood and behavioral changes. If your dog has become more reactive or anxious without an obvious cause, evaluate their sleep environment.

Slow recovery from physical activity. NREM sleep is when physical repair happens. If your active dog seems to take longer to bounce back from exercise or play, disrupted deep sleep may be a factor.

Nesting Behavior: What It Tells You About Your Dog's Bed

The circling, digging, and pawing your dog does before lying down isn't random—it's an instinctive nesting behavior inherited from wild canine ancestors who needed to create a safe, comfortable sleeping spot.

When a dog digs excessively at their bed before settling, they're trying to shape the surface to their body. On a firm, unyielding surface, this behavior intensifies because the surface isn't conforming. On a responsive surface like sheepskin—where the fibers adjust naturally around the dog's body—nesting behavior is typically shorter and calmer. The dog settles faster because the material is already doing what the digging is trying to achieve.

Prolonged, frustrated nesting behavior is often a sign that the bed surface isn't right. If your dog circles five or six times, digs aggressively, and then either settles reluctantly or leaves entirely, the bed material likely isn't providing what their instincts are looking for.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many hours should my dog sleep per day?

Most adult dogs sleep 12–14 hours per day. Puppies sleep 18–20 hours. Senior dogs often sleep 14–18 hours. What matters more than total hours is sleep quality—whether those hours include adequate deep sleep and REM cycles.

Does my dog dream?

Yes. Dogs experience REM sleep, which is when dreaming occurs. The twitching, vocalizing, and eye movements you see during sleep are signs of active REM. Disrupted REM sleep reduces your dog's cognitive processing time.

Can a dog bed actually improve my dog's health?

Yes. Sleep is the single most restorative physiological process. A bed that supports uninterrupted sleep cycles—through proper temperature regulation, pressure distribution, and chemical-free materials—directly supports immune function, tissue repair, cognitive processing, and emotional regulation. The bed is a health intervention, not just a comfort purchase.

Bottom Line

Sleep isn't just rest—it's the biological process that maintains your dog's physical and cognitive health. Every disruption to the sleep cycle has a downstream effect on recovery, immunity, mood, and long-term wellness.

The bed is the constant variable across every sleep episode. A bed that traps heat, off-gasses chemicals, or creates pressure points doesn't just affect comfort—it systematically degrades the quality of every sleep cycle your dog has. Natural materials that regulate temperature, eliminate chemical irritation, and distribute weight evenly don't just feel better. They enable the sleep physiology your dog's body needs to function.