How much sleep do puppies need?

Learn how much puppies need to sleep and what the best bedtime routines are for puppies that can help them into healthy sleeping habits.

Just like human babies, puppies need the most sleep when they’re very young and they gradually require less as they get older. Of course, sleep can be influenced from day to day by things like physical activity levels, feeding, and human factors, such as play or training.

Dogs are diurnal, polyphasic sleepers, meaning they get most of their sleep during the night but take at least two naps during the day.

Adult dogs sleep on average for 10-12 hours per 24-hour period. Growing puppies require more sleep than most adult dogs do and, when they’re very young, their sleep is strongly polyphasic – they alternate short periods of feeding and activity with sleep throughout the day.

Surprisingly little is known about puppies’ sleeping habits and few studies exist that help us to understand it well. We do know, however, from experiments that were carried out in the past, that getting enough sleep is absolutely vital to growing puppies.

What is a good bedtime routine for puppies?

Puppies and dogs can follow routines well and, for many, predictability helps to reduce stress and anxiety. It can help your puppy to relax and go to sleep if you begin to teach them a puppy bedtime routine as soon as possible.  Get to know your own puppy and don’t try to insist they go to bed when they’ve only been awake for a short time and are still whizzing around and feeling playful. Other things that might prevent a puppy from wanting to settle down when you ask them to include needing to go to the toilet, feeling hungry, not having a comfortable, safe-feeling bed, and lots of other activities going on around them.

Provide your puppy with a comfortable bed, either in a puppy crate or somewhere that feels secure and from where they can still hear or see you. Toys that provide comfort, such as puppy-safe soft toys or chew-toys can help your puppy to self-settle when you leave them. Check toys and chews regularly to make sure they don’t present a choking hazard. If your puppy is in a crate or a puppy pen, a non-spill water bowl must be available inside.

It’s down to personal choice where your puppy sleeps. Many owners settle their puppies in a room on their own or at least separated from the human family. This can help to avoid sleep disturbance during the night. Others have their puppies sleeping in their bedroom with them to begin with, so that they can respond if the puppy wakes up during the night and needs to be let out for the toilet. Moving home from the breeder to a new environment can be stressful for a puppy, so you may like to provide them with reassurance during the night if they wake, either by having them close to you or, if they are safely in a crate, near to other dogs.

Feeding close to bedtime can make a puppy unsettled, so make sure your puppy has had some activity time and has been to the toilet between feeding and bedtime. Puppies often have a ‘crazy five minutes’, when they’re about to go to bed for the night, so you’ll need to let them get that out of their system before you try to settle them.

Wherever you put them to bed, if you use the same sleeping routine for your puppy and perhaps even a ‘bedtime word’ or phrase, they will soon learn what bedtime is all about. If you need to get up in the night to take your puppy to the toilet, it can be best to do this with as little fuss as possible, so they don’t begin to think of it as an opportunity for a midnight play-session!

As you get to know your puppy, you’ll start to recognise when they need to sleep. Make sure they get as much sleep as they need and don’t worry if this seems like a lot, especially for the first few weeks! As long as your puppy seems lively and happy when they are awake, you shouldn’t need to have any concerns and you can work on that puppy bedtime routine to set them up for life!