Mary Allen
A US study confirmed what dog owners have always suspected: women sleep better when a dog is in bed next to them – as opposed to a cat or a partner. The presence of four-legged friends next to us is very comforting, especially when we are asleep.
A study by the Mayo Sleep Clinic in the USA in 2015 proved that we two-legged friends generally sleep better when a furry friend snuggles up in the sheets next to us. Single people, in particular, benefited greatly from their four-legged bedmates in terms of sleep quality. They stated that as long as you know another living being by your side, you can stay deeper and better in the land of dreams. A few years later, a study by Canisius College published in the USA further interesting findings from human-animal sleep research. Women sleep better with a dog by their side than with a human partner. Many dog owners, in particular, will now think to themselves: I’ve always known it! But the reasons for this are not necessarily the annoying snoring of the partner.
Do You Prefer a Dog to a Man?
Animal behaviorist Christy L. Hoffmann and her team collected data from 962 adult women as part of their scientific study. Based on their sleeping situation, the women were divided into three groups: women with one or more dogs in bed, women with a cat(s) in bed, and women with a human partner on the pillow next door. The test participants were then asked to provide information on their sleep quality. The result surprised me. Women with a human partner or at least one cat in their feathers slept significantly worse than dog owners who shared the bed with their furry friends. People and cats in bed were perceived as more of a nuisance. And the sense of security was also lower than that of dog owners. Because these women sleep better and deeper with a dog by their side and feel a high degree of safety and security. Dog owners also tended to go to bed and get up earlier than cat owners or couples.
There are many possible reasons for these results. However, further studies are needed to explore speculation further. For example, it is possible that fixed bedtimes and not staying up late into the night ensure a more stable sleep rhythm. Also, cats tend to be more active at night than dogs, which can be bothersome to humans. After all, every velvet paw fan probably knows how excited some cats freak out in the early hours of the morning! Dogs, instead, the women in the study described as being calmer and more comfortable during sleep.