The cyclic interaction between daytime behavior and the sleep behavior of laboratory dogs.

Abstract

Sleep deprivation has been found to negatively afect an individual ́s physical and psychological health. Sleep loss afects activity patterns, increases anxiety-like behaviors, decreases cognitive performance and is associated with depressive states. The activity/rest cycle of dogs has been investigated before, but little is known about the efects of sleep loss on the behavior of the species. Dogs are polyphasic sleepers, meaning the behavior is most observed at night, but bouts are also present during the day. However, sleep can vary with ecological and biological factors, such as age, sex, ftness, and even human presence. In this study, kennelled laboratory adult dogs’ sleep and diurnal behavior were recorded during 24-h, fve-day assessment periods to investigate sleep quality and its efect on daily behavior. In total, 1560 h of data were analyzed, and sleep metrics and diurnal behavior were quantifed. The relationship between sleeping patterns and behavior and the efect of age and sex were evaluated using non-parametric statistical tests and GLMM modelling. Dogs in our study slept substantially less than previously reported and presented a modifed sleep architecture with fewer awakenings during the night and almost no sleep during the day. Sleep loss increased inactivity, decreased play and alert behaviors, while increased time spent eating during the day. Males appeared to be more afected by sleep fragmentation than females. Diferent age groups also experienced diferent efects of sleep loss. Overall, dogs appear to compensate for the lack of sleep during the night by remaining inactive during the day. With further investigations, the relationship between sleep loss and behavior has the potential to be used as a measure of animal welfare.