Dogs have long been touted as “man’s best friend” but thanks to a recent study, it turns out these furry family members are the best friend of women as well, at least when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep.

A study that was conducted in 2018 was published in the journal Anthrozoös, a publication that features multidisciplinary studies that focus on the interaction between people and animals. The study, called “An Examination of Adult Women’s Sleep Quality and Sleep Routines in Relation to Pet Ownership and Bedsharing,” was conducted by Christy L. Hoffman, Kaylee Stutz, and Terrie Vasilopoulos.

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The research team looked at 962 women in the United States and asked them to fill out a questionnaire about their sleeping habits and choice of bed partners.point 269 |

Of the women who were questioned for the study, about half slept with at least one dog, 1/3 slept with cats, while over half had a human partner in bed with them at night.point 138 | 1

Those who answered that they slept with a dog said they were more comfortable and felt more secure. There are a couple of reasons why this might be so.

In terms of feeling more secure, dogs are known to have the capability of protecting their beloved owners. When alerted, their tendency to bark serves to warn their owners about possible danger quickly and effectively.

As to comfort, dogs are not as nocturnal as cats, spending about 75% of the night just sleeping. This means that dog owners have a better chance of getting uninterrupted sleep at night.

It’s probably quite telling that cats were at the bottom of the list when it came to feeling secure and comfortable (and if you ever slept with a cat at night, you know this to be true).

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One reason why women may also get better sleep with a dog is that men are more apt to snore, get up at night, or move around the bed, and this could result in the woman waking up.point 144 | Add to that the fact that there are times that men are in the mood for some lovemaking (when the woman is not) and you can see how that would impact sleep patterns.point 276 | 1

But before you think of kicking out your husband or boyfriend from the bed, another study found out that both men and women did tend to get more quality sleep if they had a dog with them in the room.

So if you’re a woman and have been debating whether or not to get a dog, this may help you decide in favor of it!

 

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