Think your dog is ruining your sleep? Science says it might be you

Can sleeping with your dog help you get a better night's sleep? New research suggests it might.

There's nothing better than waking up with a pup curled up next to you.

And that's not just a dog lover's opinion. A new study suggests sharing your sleeping space with a dog may not be as disruptive as many people think.

Researchers examined the sleep patterns of 25 people and 38 dogs over four weeks. Humans wore activity monitors on their wrists while dogs wore similar devices on their collars.

The data showed that sharing a bed with a dog did not significantly affect sleep duration or sleep quality. Researchers also found that owners and their dogs were often active at the same times during the night.

Participants who slept with multiple dogs reported poorer sleep quality. However, the number of dogs in the household was not associated with perceived sleep quality overall, though it was linked to greater insomnia severity.

"Similar to our human sleep models, our dog nighttime activity model showed no significant effects for the presence of other dogs, the presence of other humans, and the dogs' sleeping location on nighttime activity," the researchers wrote.

The study also found that while owners and dogs often became active around the same time, humans were more likely to move first.

"One potential reason for why human activity occurred prior to dog activity could be that human nighttime activity is indicative of poorer sleep, characterized by sleep disruption," the researchers explained.

Researchers also found some evidence that dogs sleeping farther away from their owners were more likely to trigger owners' nighttime activity, while dogs sharing the bed were more often reacting to their owners' movements.

The authors cautioned that the study involved a relatively small sample size and said future research involving dogs of different breeds and age groups could provide additional insight.

"As such, 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; we emphasize that both parties impact the nighttime activity of one another, demonstrating our species' close bond," the paper concluded.