The Importance of Sleep for your DOG.

I don't know who came up with the saying 'A tired dog is a good dog'. I think it does a disservice to a lot of dogs and owners. The reason I say that is because I believe a lot of people don't actually know how many hours a dog is supposed to sleep. And we feel guilty that our dog is 'bored' just 'lying on the couch'.. so we stuff their days full with playdates, doggy daycare, enrichment activity after enrichment activity, 3 walks, and 6 play sessions.. and my dog is STILL not tired.

But INSTEAD what happens is you're creating an overtired dog. And overtired dogs can get a bit like overtired children. They suddenly are hyper and run around like crazy. They cry about everything. They get tantrums over nothing.

Dogs. Need. Sleep. There is NOTHING wrong with imposing forced naptime on them during the day especially for pups. Even older dogs that always are on the go. The crate isn't just for night time. They can also sleep in there during the day time for at least an hour or two.

Give it a try this week. Give your dog some 'forced' nap time as an activity and see what happens. With that I mean somewhere secluded and undisturbed to sleep (different room or a crate) so they don't get up the moment you get up.

Dogs need sleep. I can't say if often enough.

Ways to increase your dogs sleep: - Stop constantly doing activities with them - Use the crate or a quiet room during the day for rest periods - Teach a settle or a place command (they often fall asleep) - Do not let them follow you around the house every time you get up - Do not pet them awake or acknowledge them if they're sleeping, just let them sleep.