How Much Do Dogs Sleep? What Is Normal, and When a Change Matters

The best UK data puts a healthy young dog at around 11 hours of sleep a day, mostly at night, and older dogs sleep more than that. The number matters less than the pattern: a dog who is sleeping far more than usual, or has started waking and pacing at night, is telling you something.

Most of the figures you will see online, like "12 to 14 hours for adults" or "18 to 20 hours for puppies", are not taken from any study. Here is what has actually been measured.

What the Research Shows

Puppies and young dogs

The largest study of sleep in young pet dogs comes from Generation Pup, a long-running Dogs Trust project following thousands of UK puppies. In a 2020 paper, researchers asked owners how long their dogs slept at 16 weeks and again at 12 months.

Age	Average total sleep in 24 hours	Night	Day (typical)
16 weeks	11.2 hours	7.0 hours	3.5 hours
12 months	10.8 hours	7.3 hours	3.0 hours

Two things to keep in mind. These are owners' estimates, not measurements, and many owners could not say how long their dog napped in the day. And the spread was wide: individual dogs were commonly two to three hours either side of the average. A healthy dog sleeping 9 hours or 13 is not unusual.

As puppies grew up, they napped less in the day and slept a little longer at night.

There is no comparable study of very young puppies, at eight to twelve weeks. It is widely said that they sleep 18 to 20 hours a day, and young puppies certainly sleep a lot, but that figure is a rule of thumb.

Adult dogs

Studies that tracked adult dogs over 18 months old, summarised in the same paper, found they slept for 60 to 80% of the night, taking the night as 8pm to 8am, and between 3% and 28% of the day.

Older dogs

The research agrees that older dogs sleep more, both day and night, with shorter and more frequent naps in the day. There is no reliable figure to aim for. The useful comparison is your own dog a few months ago.

What Affects How Much a Dog Sleeps

• Age. More naps in puppies, more sleep overall in old age.
• What their day holds. Dogs left alone with little to do often sleep through it. A dog with a busy day of walks, training and play will sleep well afterwards.
• Where they sleep. In Generation Pup, the most common sleeping place at 16 weeks was a crate, and a dog bed by 12 months. Of the dogs who could get to their owners at night, about 87% chose to sleep near people.
• Health. Pain, itchy skin, needing to wee and breathing problems all disrupt sleep. In the same study, owners of pugs and French bulldogs very often reported loud snoring.

Sleep and Training in Puppies

Sleep does real work in a young dog's brain. In a 2017 study in Scientific Reports, dogs taught new commands performed better after a sleep than before it, and the researchers found evidence that sleep helps dogs consolidate what they have just learned.

For a puppy, that means:

• Short training sessions, then rest. A few minutes of practice followed by a nap is better than a long session.
• Protect nap time. Children and visitors will want to play with a sleeping puppy. A crate or pen in a quiet corner gives them somewhere to be left alone. Our crate training guide covers setting one up.

Our puppy's first year timeline covers what else to expect month by month.

When a Change in Sleep Is a Worry

Sleeping much more, or lethargy

A sleepy dog wakes up bright. A lethargic dog is slow to get up, not interested in walks or play, and may be off their food. PDSA advises contacting your vet whenever a dog seems lethargic or not quite right, and lists infection, pain, anaemia and hormone problems among the causes. It adds that sudden weakness and lethargy in a young dog, especially one not eating or drinking, may point to something more serious.

One hormone problem worth knowing about is an underactive thyroid. PDSA lists low energy, weight gain without eating more, fur loss (especially on the neck, sides and tail) and feeling the cold as typical signs. It comes on gradually, so it is easy to put down to age.

Restless nights in older dogs

An older dog who used to sleep through and now wakes, pants or paces at night could be in pain, needing to go out more often, or showing signs of canine cognitive dysfunction, the dog version of dementia. Owners of affected dogs often describe difficulty sleeping, pacing and vocalising at night, and more sleeping in the day. A 2023 study at North Carolina State University recorded the brain activity of senior dogs during naps and found that those with higher dementia scores took longer to fall asleep and spent less time in deep sleep and dream sleep.

Do not assume it is dementia. Arthritis pain is common and treatable, and a vet will want to rule it out first, along with anything that makes a dog need to wee more often. If your dog is also drinking more, read our guide to why dogs drink a lot of water.

See a vet today if your dog:

• Cannot be properly woken, or is confused or wobbly on waking.
• Collapses, or is suddenly too weak to stand.
• Is breathing fast or with effort while asleep or at rest.
• Is lethargic and vomiting, has diarrhoea, or has stopped eating or drinking.
• Stiffens, paddles, drools or wets themselves in their sleep and cannot be roused: this may be a seizure.
• Is a young puppy who is suddenly flat and not interested in food.

Out of hours, find your nearest emergency clinic through Vets Now. Our dog first aid guide covers what to do on the way.

For gradual changes, such as sleeping a bit more over a few months or starting to wake in the night, book a normal appointment. A week of rough notes on when your dog sleeps, wakes and seems unsettled will help your vet more than a general impression.

Floofers is not a veterinary practice and nothing here is a diagnosis. If your dog is suddenly lethargic, hard to wake or unwell, ring your vet.