Women Sleep Better With Dogs Than With Humans

Led by associate professor Christy L. Hoffman ― aself-professed dog person (sure, go ahead, call outher blatant canine bias) ― the researcherssurveyed 962 women living across the UnitedStates.

Of this sample, 55 percent reported sharingtheir bed with at least one dog and 31 percent withat least one cat. Of those women, 57 percent alsoslept with a partner.

The participants filled out a questionnaire abouttheir quality of sleep and how safe they felt as aresult of their dog or cat’s presence.

Those withpartners were asked how the other person affectedtheir sleep and their feelings of security at night.After analyzing the data, Hoffman and her teamfound that human partners and cats were equallydisruptive to a woman’s sleep, whereas dogs wereless likely to wake their owners up.Why’s that?

Hoffman told HuffPost it might bebecause dog owners tend to have better sleephabits and stricter daily routines than than peoplewho don’t have dogs: On the whole, dog ownershad earlier bedtimes and wake-up times thanwomen with cats.

“Dog owners have to adjust to their dogs’ needs totoilet each morning, and this helps keep dogowners on a relatively strict wake-up routine,” shesaid. “And dogs’ major sleep periods tend tocoincide more closely with humans’ than do cats.”

Plus, Hoffman said, dogs as bed partners mayadapt a bit more to their owners’ schedules thanhuman partners do. (Such good boys.)Pups also may provide women with a greater senseof safety than a cat would when sleeping. “Some dog owners may take comfort in thethought that their dog will alert them in the case ofan intruder or other type of emergency,” Hoffmansaid.

“A cat is less likely to take on this role.”Right. Good luck trying to train your kitty to meowaggressively if a stranger barges in.If you’re scratching your head as to why womenfelt more safe with a dog on watch than a humanpartner, you’re not alone: It surprised Hoffman,too.

“I had thought participants would have rated theirdogs and human partners similarly in terms of thecomfort and security they provide, butsurprisingly, the women rated their dog bedpartners as better sources of comfort and securitythan human partners.”Why focus on women alone for thisstudy? A previous study conducted by the MayoClinic in Arizona already found that all people whoslept with a dog generally got better sleep. 4