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It's off to Dreamland for Fido

I'M amazed at how a 95-pound dog can possess the stealth like qualities of a panther. He sneaks onto the bed some time during the night without the slightest jiggle of the mattress or misstep on human body parts.

I'M amazed at how a 95-pound dog can possess the stealth like qualities of a panther.

He sneaks onto the bed some time during the night without the slightest jiggle of the mattress or misstep on human body parts. Yet when the smallest ray of daylight beams through a crack in the blinds at 4: 40 a.m., said stealthdog manages to stretch his legs into the middle of my back with enough force to rattle the headboard and shove me clear across the other side of the bed.

In other words: "Time to get up mom!"

Sleep is a precious commodity around my house these days. Between work schedules, family schedules and animal schedules getting in eight hours is a luxury that doesn't come around all that often. Dogs on the other hand, well they live the life of luxury around here.

A young dog, on average, sleeps 13-16 hours a day. Older dogs sleep more and young active dogs much less. Dogs don't sleep the full 16 hours in one go - as humans tend to do. Instead they wake up frequently during that time, change position, stretch then curl back into slumber land.

The amount of time a dog spends catching Zs and when varies greatly depending on the social, physical environment, age and breed of a dog. A dog living as an only pet in an apartment that is left alone during the day while their owner is away at work may sleep much more than a herding dog working on a ranch. Dogs will often adjust their sleep and wake cycles so that they can be active when people and other animals are around for them to be social and interactive with.

Many people fret that their dog is bored when left at home, and paces back and forth looking for something to do. You needn't worry - as soon as you close the door they will be fast asleep and not concerned about what you are doing and why they are not a part of it. When you are home Fido will most likely be awake and willing to engage in some level of activity with you at that time. Dogs who destroy things when their owners are not home suffer from separation anxiety, which requires the help of a professional canine trainer to overcome properly.

While observing a dog in sleep you may have seen them moving their paws as if they are running, eyes blinking, skin twitching and maybe the occasional growl or quiet bark and you may have asked yourself if your dog is dreaming. Anecdotal evidence suggests, yes, since their behaviours mimic those of people who are in a deep REM sleep. Many people believe that dogs do dream. According to Stanley Coren, professor of psychology at UBC and noted dog enthusiast: "At the structural level, the brains of dogs are similar to those of humans. Also, during sleep the brain wave patterns of dogs are similar to that of people, and go through the same stages of electrical activity observed in humans, all of which is consistent with the idea that dogs are dreaming."

What do dogs dream about? Research suggests that dogs typically dream about the experiences they had during the day. When experiments were done on rats (which are less intelligent than dogs), their behaviours during sleep mimicked the behaviours they exhibited during the day when exposed to controlled stimuli. So yes, chances are Fido is dreaming of chasing the squirrel or play fighting with his best friend at the dog park or eating the yummy raw bone.

One human year is equivalent to seven dog years, so we can postulate that one human day equals seven dog days. Averaging things out, they sleep less than we do! Which is why I don't mind sharing my precious sleep time with my dogs. The more time I can spend with them, the better.