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14th Apr 2022

Sharing a bed with your pet is good for your health, science says

HerFamily

Time to make room for your furry friends!

We’re always on the lookout for tips that will improve our sleep. If we don’t get our usual 8 hours then we transform into Miss Trunchbull and nobody wants to deal with that first thing in the morning.

A new study has revealed quite a simple solution to our sleeping woes and it involves your furry friend.

According to science, women sleep better with a dog in their bed rather than a man.

Surprised? Neither are we.

A team of researchers at Canisius College analyzed the sleeping patterns of 962 women in the USA. Over half of the participants slept with a dog on their bed, followed by 31% who let their cat snooze in their bed.

57 percent shared their bed with their human partner, but it turns out they disrupt our sleep more than our pets.

“Compared with human bed partners, dogs who slept in the owner’s bed were perceived to disturb sleep less and were associated with stronger feelings of comfort and security,” the study authors shared.

Unfortunately, as many cat owners know their feline friends tend to disrupt sleep more than dogs. Cats are more likely to wake their owners up in the middle of the night. We’re all too aware of the 3am wake up calls.

“Cats who slept in their owner’s bed were reported to be equally as disruptive as human partners, and were associated with weaker feelings of comfort and security than both human and dog bed partners.”

Dog owners also benefit from sharing a similar daily schedule with their pet. They go to bed earlier and tend to enjoy a deeper sleep than people who share their bed with a cat or their other half.

Science is basically advising us to let the dogs curl up at the end of your bed and let himself doze off on the sofa, right?