A new study has come out that proves something that, in our subconscious, we were almost sure of: for women, sleeping with a dog ensures a much quieter and more restful night than sleeping with a man or a cat. The reason? The latter two are selfish, disrespectful and unempathetic, and interrupt our sleep repeatedly.
Do you want to buy a dog, but HE will not let you? Do you, for various and obvious reasons, suffer from insomnia? Even though you sleep 8 hours a night, you always wake up tired?
The solution is obvious: it has four paws, it wags its tail happily every time it sees you, it fills your life with unforgettable moments and, according to recent research, it helps you to have a calm sleep and wake up well rested in the morning.
Christy L. Hoffman, doctor and professor at the Department of Behavior, Ecology and Conservation at Canisius College, Buffalo, New York, studied with his team the effect of pets on human sleep. The study involved 962 women from the United States. 55% of the subjects shared their bed with at least one dog and 31% of them shared their bed with at least one cat. Also, 57% of the 962 participants in the study share their bed with a human partner.
And the conclusions of the study? Women who share their bed with a dog have reported better, more restful sleep. Also, according to their statements, dogs were less likely to disturb their sleep than their human partners and gave them a stronger feeling of comfort and safety.
Participants in the study said that cats that slept in bed with them were just as disruptive as men and provided them weaker feelings of comfort and security than either dogs or human partners.
Therefore, dog owners went to bed and woke up earlier than those who only have cats, and yet they felt much better in the morning.
Hoffman said that she would not stop research here, so we should expect more detailed conclusions on the same topic in the future.