Benefits Behind Sleeping With Your Dog

Getting the right amount of sleep and rest is important for a person’s overall well being. Pets have been found to be important companions as several people are also recommended for emotional support.

Findings of a new study bring attention to the benefits of having furry friends by revealing that women sleep better next to dogs. Researchers also added that they get better rest with canines than they get with cats and even their partners.

They found that women who sleep next to their dog; sleep earlier, get up early and have better sleep quality. Earlier Japanese researchers had revealed that levels of the love neurochemical called oxytocin go up significantly when dogs and humans stare into each other’s eyes.

Women who had at least one cat weren’t found to get the same feeling from their felines. Researchers suggest this may be because humans never meant to get to close to cats.

Of the 962 women living in the U.S. interviewed by the school, 55 percent of them shared the bed with at least one dog and 31 percent of them shared the bed with at least one cat. The study found 57 percent of the women shared the bed with a human partner. Dogs were less likely to wake their owners in the middle of the night than cats and humans, results revealed.

The study found that both cats and humans were equally disruptive to women’s sleep and provided them with fewer feelings of comfort and security than dogs.

Dog owners also reported earlier sleep and wake times than cat owners and participants without pets.

“Dog ownership and its associated responsibilities may cause individuals to adhere to a stricter routine,” researchers said. “Keeping to a consistent sleep schedule may be beneficial to dog owners.”