Your dog's disruptive sleep
A man's best friend is a dog”. Everybody is familiar with this old saying. And, it is undeniable because dogs are the most loyal and reliable creatures. Like humans, they also suffer from sleep disorders. Remaining disturbed all night long and being unable to sleep negatively affects dogs' health, well-being, and behavior.
REM behavior disorder
Dogs do not sleepwalk as humans do. During sleep, while dreaming, the breathing
of the dog becomes irregular, and its muscles start shivering. Its eyes move
beyond the shut lids and move about as if it's gazing at something. In the
course of REM sleep, dogs dream visions like humans during their sleep.
They shake their body jerkily or paddle their legs like they are running in a
dream. Or, at most, maybe they stumble to some distance before they fall. They
may also hit out their teeth and claws, strike lifeless things, or
runabout.
In such a situation, you need to wake up your dog. But, make sure to be very
careful to keep yourself safe and protected from a possible attack. Likely, your
dog will be confused and baffled for some time but will get to normal soon.
Narcolepsy Disorder
Mostly young dogs and puppies go through Narcolepsy disorder. It could be
dangerous depending on what your dog is up to when it falls asleep.
Nevertheless, it must be sorted out as early as possible to avert it from having
a crucially adverse reaction to your dog's life.
A dog suffering from narcolepsy will collapse on one side and abruptly fall
asleep. Its body will remain to relax, but the eyelids will flutter, coming
across a deep REM cycle of sleep. If you produce any loud sound, a dog suffering
from narcolepsy will suddenly wake up. Nearly all events of this disorder go
with acute eagerness or a physical activity session.
Insomnia
Usually, dogs rarely go through insomnia. And if they do, this is a sign of
another health issue. It could be due to a physical or painful health problem,
such as injury or joint pain. Besides, it could be an itchy feeling, because of
fleas or repeated urination (due to diabetes/kidney disease). Other than that,
restlessness, fatigue, Anxiety, suppressed energy, and stress is also symptoms
of insomnia.
To be able to treat a sleep disorder, firstly, it is essential to find and
understand the cause of its occurrence. The treatment will depend upon the type
of sleep disorder the dog is undergoing.
Dogs, like other animals, have a multiphasic sleep cycle. They take numerous
naps in a day. With a combination of naps during the day and sleep at night, an
average adult dog sleeps around 12 to 14 hours. Sleep is vital for a dog's
overall health. It elevates its mood and energy. On average, dogs have around 23
sleep and wake intervals during 8 hours. The sleep and wake cycle that has been
observed in dogs is an average of 16 minutes being asleep and 5 minutes awake.