Sleep

By Minou Tpain

Sleep

Can sleep aid us in training our dogs? The answer is YES! Most dogs require around 12-14 hours of sleep each day (this may vary depending on age, size & breed).

A dog that doesn’t get the proper amount of sleep will undoubtedly be tired and grumpy; both of which do not make a good candidate for learning. But did you know that sleep can also help our dogs retain the information learned?

Their sleep patterns are not exactly like ours but one thing that is similar is what is known as “sleep-spindles”. Sleep spindles are bursts of brain activity that occur while asleep. They play a major role in the process of learning and integrating new memories! They typically occur early on in the sleep cycle, so that means they occur during nap time too!

During a sleep spindle, the awareness of external stimuli is shutdown, preventing the sleeper from waking up. Scientist believe that sleep spindles are responsible for memory processing and converting learned information to long-term memory.

Sleep spindles have been linked to how well a dog can retain new information. Higher density sleep spindles are indicators of intelligence because an animal with dense sleep spindles is receiving quality sleep with little to no interruptions from outside stimuli; therefore dogs with more frequent sleep spindles are known to be better learners!

So never underestimate the power of rest time after training. It may be just what your dog needs to consolidate his memories and retain newly learned information.

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