Many Pets Aren't Getting Enough Rest

According to the experts, dogs might need up to 17 hours of sleep every day.  Those who don't get enough rest might experience behavioral or medical issues.  So try not to worry about your pup when you leave him/her alone.  The time alone might be the down time that Rex or Fifi need to rejuvenate.



From the experts:

From Behavior Problems in Dogs by William E. Campbell
..was probably not getting any rapid eye movement sleep, which can cause irritability, among other emotional problems.

From Chill Out Fido!: How to Calm Your Dog (Dogwise Training Manual) by Nan Kene Arthur

Dogs that spend most or all of their lives in yards can fall into sleep-deprivation cycles, since they tend to live with constant stimulation of sounds, sights, and smells from the regular activity in neighborhoods or from wildlife. These dogs are usually more stressed and are at risk for more behavior problems, including jumping, barking, digging, and aggression. 

From Chill Out Fido!: How to Calm Your Dog (Dogwise Training Manual) by Nan Kene Arthur

Rest and Sleep Factors.  Martina Scholz and Clarissa von Reinhardt, authors of the book Stress in Dogs, have found that many dogs are living with erratic sleep cycles in near states of exhaustion. Simply stated, they are not getting enough rest and sleep. The most stable dogs are found to rest and sleep seventeen or more hours per day, something that is not always possible for dogs living in busy, active homes.If your household is continually buzzing with activity, which might be the case in homes with small children or several energetic dogs, your dog may not be getting enough rest. It's important...

From Karen Pryor's Clickertraining website 

Like kids, when dogs don't get the recovery time their bodies need, they may be more cranky, more irrational, and not as cognitively alert as they need to be for working through impulse issues. 

From Stress in Dogs - Learn how dogs show stress and what you can do to help by Martina Scholz, Clarissa von Reinhardt

Dogs that sleep or rest fewer than 17 hours per day have a much higher stress point value than the overall average. We must therefore draw from this that every dog should have the opportunity to sleep or rest 17 hours daily. As the stress point total rises with every hour less of sleep, lack of rest can be seen as a stress symptom. In other words, if the dog owner encourages excessive activity, this can trigger stress problems in the dog. For this reason, every dog owner should make sure that days of heightened activity should be followed by a generous resting phase.

Read more about stress reduction here.