Dog Owners Blamed Their Pets for Poor Sleep, but a New Study Found a Twist

Your dog may be getting too much blame for a restless night. A study published October 7 in PLOS One found that sharing a bed with a dog did not significantly reduce owners' measured sleep duration or efficiency.

The more surprising finding: Among owner-dog pairs whose nighttime movements were linked, humans more often stirred first. For anyone debating whether to evict a beloved bedtime companion, the new research offers reassurance—with limits.

Next:

Your Dog May Be Following Your Lead

Researchers tracked 25 Canadian adults and 38 dogs for four weeks using wrist monitors for people and collar monitors for dogs, according to PLOS's research announcement . They compared nighttime activity with owners' accounts of their sleep.

The team wrote in the study : "Overall, co-sleeping (i.e., bedsharing) had no effect on sleep duration or efficiency in humans or nighttime activity in dogs."

The authors cautioned: "the question of 'Who is disrupting whom?' remains inconclusive, as we found evidence of human activity preceding dog activity more often than dog activity preceded human activity."

Moving first does not prove one sleeper woke the other.

Next: You Can Train Hard and Still Lose Strength if You Make This Sleep Mistake

More Dogs Changed How Owners Felt

There was one wrinkle for households with multiple dogs.

"Humans who had more than one dog reported worse sleep quality based on PSQI scores than those with only one dog," the researchers wrote, referring to a sleep-quality questionnaire.

That difference appeared in owners' perceptions, rather than the monitor-based sleep measures. How rested you feel and what a tracker records can differ.

Nor does the study prove that adding a dog improves sleep. There was no dogless control group, and the dogs were exclusively huskies and malamutes.

The authors acknowledged: "As such, our findings may not be generalizable to other demographic and geographic groups."

Next: What Sleep Doctors Want You to Know About 3 A.M. Wake-Ups and How to Fix Them

Let Your Morning Decide

Before changing the sleeping arrangement, consider whether you regularly wake feeling refreshed.

The CDC identifies "Feeling sleepy or tired even after getting enough sleep" as a sign of poor sleep quality. It recommends consistent bedtimes, a quiet, cool bedroom and discussing recurring sleep problems with a healthcare provider.

A sleep diary can help record awakenings and daytime fatigue. Include your dog's sleeping location as an additional observation rather than assuming it explains every bad night.

Related: How to Fall Asleep Faster and Stay Asleep, According to Sleep Experts

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Oct 8, 2026, where it first appeared in the Health section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.