A recent study from researchers at the University of Toronto has revealed that sleeping next to dogs may not disrupt human sleep as previously thought. The findings, published in the journal PLOS One, suggest that humans are more likely to disturb their dogs' sleep than the other way around.
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Conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic in southern Ontario, the study monitored the nighttime activities of 25 human participants and their 38 dogs using activity trackers. The trackers, similar to Fitbits, recorded data over a four-week period to assess the potential impact on sleep quality and duration. Anthropology researcher and study author Lavania Nagendran noted that the devices measured objective sleep metrics, while the participants also provided subjective accounts of their sleep experiences through surveys.
Most dogs in the study either shared a bed with their owners or slept in the same room, though some were housed in separate spaces. Approximately half of the participants reported experiencing interrupted sleep when sleeping alongside multiple dogs. However, the data from the trackers did not support these claims, indicating that sharing a bed did not negatively affect either party's sleep.
Nagendran explained to NBC News that while people perceived their sleep as disrupted with multiple dogs, the objective data did not confirm this. The current study challenges a 2020 study, which found that dogs significantly influenced human nocturnal movement patterns. In this new research, it became evident that both humans and dogs tended to awaken around the same time; however, humans were responsible for initiating movement 45% of the time, leading to disturbances for the dogs, while dogs caused disturbances only 18% of the time.
The researchers acknowledged limitations in the study, including a small sample size predominantly comprised of women and a lack of diversity in dog breeds, as all dogs involved were healthy huskies or malamutes.