Owners' broken sleep disturbs dogs more than the reverse

CP24 reported that University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) researchers found that people’s interrupted sleep disturbed their dogs more than the reverse. The paper, by anthropology students Ming Fei Li and Lavania Nagendran, appeared in PLOS One, a scientific journal. Ming Fei Li said that just having dogs on the bed did not affect sleep at all.

Participants and their dogs wore actigraphy sensors, research-grade health monitors similar to a fitbit. The study lasted one month, and the humans then completed a questionnaire. It covered 25 people and 38 dogs, as some people had more than one.

Only owners of huskies or malamutes, breeds closely related to wolves, took part. The researchers say results could differ with other breeds. The data did not examine what disrupted sleep; Lavania Nagendran said that could be a follow-up study.

Sources: CP24