How long does your dog sleep?

[OffMyCocker]

Hi everyone, how muxh do your cockers sleep? Mine is a 2-year-old American Cocker who we've had for 1 month. She gets up at 6.30 when DH lets her out of her crate, toilets, then gives her breakfast. Then I appear around 7.15, doggo mooches about while I have breakfast, then short walk and training, until I go to the home office to start work at 9am.

She'll basically just doze until I get up for lunch at 1pm. A bit more mooching while I have lunch, potty in the garden, bit of training. Back to work at 2pm but she might have a stuffed kong or ball, or a snuffle mat for about 10 mins (!) then back to dozing until I finish work at 5.30pm. Then it's her dinner time, and maybe a bit more kong/trying to get her to play/mooching around. She'll be asleep again on the sofa at 7.30pm, get up only to go to the loo, then in her crate 10pm ish until 6.30am. Is she tired out? Is she bored? Or do other cockers just sleep literally all day?

[ejp]

Over the last month I have been working from home full time, and Daisy is now my office mate.  Our routine sounds very like yours.  Up out of bed, bombs downstairs, cuddles on the couch, then off to the garden while I stick the kettle on and get her breakfast.  Bite to eat for both of us, shower and dressed for me, stepping over a daft cocker.  Computer on and she pops into her bed at the side of my desk.  Snores her way through the morning, and has a break for a cuppa mid morning.  Lunch is a walk, quick bite and back to work.  Daisy might come back upstairs or she might lie on the back of the armchair and woof at nothing.  Finish time and then it's the usual post work routine, minus the commute, bliss!  After dinner and tidying up, she will settle in the living room with us, and snooze the evening away.  Daisy is not the most energetic cocker we have had, but when the notion takes her, she can go for it!

[phoenix]

If it’s hot and sunny, never!  Cold and wet, as long as they can!

[IonaD]

Bella is a super sleepy cocker too!! She gets up when I do at 6.30 for brekkie, then goes for post food sleep. We walk the morning for an hour or more (less at the moment due to current circumstances) then when we get home she’ll sleep for a couple of hours. If I’m up and about she’ll follow me from room to room but it’s only from one bed to another.

We have a lunch time play in the small garden, she has dinner around 4, then afternoon walks, more napping, evening walk then bed.

She could sleep all day or run all day. She’ll take her cue off the humans!!

[bizzylizzy]

I‘ve found this really reassuring! I‘m always thinking its such a pity that Humphrey seems to sleep his life away but then I suppose, if I’m not actively engaging with him, there‘s not an awful lot else he can do, - (in the wild they‘d be either be on the search for food, on the search for mates or sleeping! ). I don‘t think many dogs really play on their own and cockers especially just seem to be content being where their people are and, judging by the yapping and paw twitching while he is asleep, I assume he‘s having fun in the land of nod anyway! 

[Barry H]

Seeming to sleep/doze his life away has always been a worry at the back of my mind with Jack.  He's at the prime of life (now 5) and could happily go for day long walks every day.  Sadly, I have arthritis in right knee so walks are limited to an hour at a time but we're out twice a day.  Have a large back garden but he spends very little time out there on his own - only out for a few mins for a quick wee before he's scared of missing something and comes back in.  If I had a ten acre wood outside the back door I don't think he'd be out much longer!  I'm retired though so we do get to spend every day together.  He's quick to learn and I ran out of training ideas ages ago - and I don't want a circus dog!  He's also not interested in toys either though we do 'hunt the treats' and occassional game of fetch (but he gets fed up with that after 5 minutes).

It's easy and natural to anthropomorphise.  I'm no animal behaviourist but I do not think that dogs get bored in the way we get bored.  There are times when somthing's happening and times when there's nothing happening, so they're content to doze in a Zen-like way until something else interesting happens.  I console myself somewhat with the fact that if Jack wants something he'll come and ask in his own way and his own time (which he does).  I also think that the idea that dogs are 'man's best friend' in part because they are so eager to please and supremely adaptable so are happy if you're happy.  You wanna go out?  OK, let's go!  You wanna do nothin'?  OK, I'm off for a snooze... 

[Mari]

When my dog was younger she would almost never sleep during the day. But I think she was the exception/stressed, dogs are supposed to sleep more than people. I think most well-adjusted dogs doze if nothing is happening around them. My cocker does that now. If I am working in my home office she will sleep all day. But if I am doing stuff around the house she will be more active, either following me around or carry toys and socks from room to room. You know, being helpful 

I guess they are like people, some of us like to chill on the sofa all day, others need to do stuff. I think the important thing to be aware of is sudden changes. If they start to sleep more than they used to, then something medical could be in the background. But unless you can ask previous owners I suppose you wouldn't know. Could always do a general checkup at the vets when circumstances allow for it. Just to get an idea of her baselines and make sure everything is good.

It does sound like she feels comfortable and at home with you. Clearly not stressing inside the house, and that's a good thing    From what I have gathered, bored and frustrated dogs eat furniture or get destructive in other ways. A dog that gets regular walks, cuddles, some training and sleeps in the hours between is probably content!