December 18th, 2019 by Chris Chapman

The relationship we have with our dogs is a special one. If you’re a dog person, chances are your dog never wants to leave your side, even when it’s time to sleep! However, the question of whether you should share your bedroom – or even your bed itself – with your pet is one that’s split dog owners for decades. But what’s the right choice? We did some investigating and looked at the science behind whether you should allow your dog into your bedroom!

The Arguments

In this particular argument, both sides have strong arguments. The argument for sharing your bedroom with a dog is that both dogs and people are naturally social animals. We enjoy each other’s company, so it’s a great way to reduce stress in anxious dogs and it can help us sleep a little better, too. The argument against it is that even small dogs can take up quite a bit of space in the bedroom (especially if you choose to share your bed with them), and they can disturb your sleep.

So, what’s the truth? As with most things, there isn’t a black-and-white answer. Our sleep patterns are complex things, and bunking up with a dog can affect different people in different ways. Even though we sleep through the night, there are lots of different stages to sleep. Through the night, we cycle through these stages, dropping into a deep sleep and being lifted into a lighter sleep again several times. If your natural sleep cycle is disrupted in any way, it can make you feel groggy and unrested when you wake up, even if you don’t remember waking up through the night. This means the important question for dog owners is: can my dog disturb my sleep?

Does Sharing Your Bedroom with a Dog Disturb Your Sleep?

There are a lot of conflicting studies on sharing a bed with your dog which we’ll go into later, but we’ll start with the one thing they all agree on; generally, sharing your bedroom with a dog can be beneficial to your sleep! Provided the dog is well-behaved and doesn’t wake you up for a fuss in the night, the relaxing effect of having your best friend close by can help you get a better sleep. Research has shown that sleeping with a dog in the room gives an average sleep efficiency of 83% – normally, you only need 80% sleep efficiency to feel rested in a morning.

One important point to note is that having multiple dogs in your bedroom multiplies the chance that your sleep will be disturbed. The study linked above was only carried out with single dogs, so if you have several dogs, this is something to bear in mind – the more dogs you have, the more likely it is one of them will want something in the night.

Does Sharing Your Bed with a Dog Disturb Your Sleep?

On this issue, the studies are less cut-and-dry. Sleeping with a dog in your bed leads to a slightly less restful sleep than simply sharing your bedroom, but it doesn’t always result in a worse sleep than normal. In fact, studies showed that sharing your bed with a dog resulted in an 80% sleep efficiency – bang on for a restful sleep.

Everyone is different, though; for people who experience anxiety or chronic pain, sleeping with a dog on the bed can be beneficial. Physical contact with a dog before bed helps distract from feelings of pain, anxiety, or loneliness, all of which can stop people from drifting off to sleep. However, light sleepers might find themselves getting disturbed by their dog through the night, especially if it’s a large dog. Even small dogs can take up a surprising amount of space on your bed, and they toss and turn at night just like we do! This will either wake you up or at least disrupt your sleep cycle if you’re easily disturbed, so bear this in mind.

Things to Consider for Dog Owners

It’s not just your quality of sleep that you should consider, though – there’s a lot of other stuff to think about if you’re thinking about letting your dog into the bedroom. We’ll break down a few of them below.

Hygiene

Even if you pamper your pooch and keep them hygienic, there are still some hygiene issues to be aware of when you share a bedroom with them, especially if you plan on letting them on your bed. There are a few dog diseases that can actually pass from dogs to people (such as salmonella), as well as parasites and fungal infections. If you think your dog may have any of these health issues, you shouldn’t let them on your bed until they’re treated.

You should be even more careful if you have health issues such as asthma. If you have allergies, you probably won’t have a dog anyway, but if you have any condition that affects your breathing, you shouldn’t allow your dog in your bed or your bedroom.

How Big Will Your Dog Grow?

Once your puppy is house trained and well-behaved, you might want to wait until they’re fully grown before you let them on your bed. If your dog is a crossbreed, you don’t always know how big they’re going to get, so if you teach your dog that it’s ok to jump on the bed as a puppy, they’ll still think it’s ok even if they grow up to be a giant hound that takes up half your bed! It’s difficult to train a dog to stop sleeping on a bed if it’s all they can remember, so bear this in mind if you’re not sure how big they might grow.

Dogs and Electric Blankets

Electric blankets are a great way to help you feel extra-cosy in bed and they’ll help you get a more restful night’s sleep through the winter. However, it’s not advised to let your dog on the bed if you plan on using an electric blanket. A good quality electric blanket with a thermostat and overheat protection will never get hot enough to burn a dog, but there is still a risk that your pet could damage the blanket.

There’s always a slight risk that your dog could have an accident in bed, which is the last thing you want on an electric blanket. More likely, though, is that your dog will ‘dig’ into your bedding to try and get comfortable, which can damage the heating element inside your blanket.

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