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As all the animals the dog needs to sleep...During the two first weeks of his life the puppy sleeps around 95% of his time...From the third week he will sleeps around 35%.

During the sleep there is cerebral reorganization as well as the nervous system.

It is during this period that:

the growth hormone is developed,
there is minerals fixation,
the wounds heal up,
the body is irrigated in full thanks to the position adopted,
etc.

All the nervous and musculars activities, the variations of respiration rate or the heart rate, etc., are of course influenced by mental or physical fatigue, particulary of emotional nature, but also by external stimulations.

The influence of the external and inner stimulations is not to be neglectful: acoustics, visuals, chemicals, olfactories, temperature, etc.

...the dog is sensitive to signals and...the environment act on his nervous equilibrium. Then to give way to sleep when you are anxious, it is difficult.

The dog can dream as well as his master, this function is a necessity of life and if someone prevents him to sleep during a long time, serious psychologicals disorders will appear and may cause the death in two weeks.

It is during the REM sleep that last for about 20% of the whole sleep, that he will dream. We notice it because of the fast movements of the eyes as well as his behaviour: groan, movements of the paws, the ears, cattering, to wap his tail, to yelp, to tremble, etc.

The REM sleep is a very important thing in the process of acquisition after training, it is the memorization. Dogs that sleeps a lot are mostly gifted and the one that have to be educated need a place to sleep quietly.

A young dog will sleep better if he is safe, by example in a cardboard boxe,...No matter his size, a dog will always be well in a boxe that you can bring everywhere (car, hotel...). The place you choice to put it must be always the same, shelter the draught (not near the radiators) isolated from the ground, enough large to allow him to change position, off busy areas...A soft/hard bed easy to wash, made in a material that the dog wont chew.

Attention if you have children or if hierarchy is not well established, when the dog takes place under the desk or the bed, he may considers these places as his inviolable territory. Children have to learn that they don't have to wake up suddenly a dog asleep because the instinct of survival may cause a bite. "If you have several dogs each one must have his place.f"

These informations comes from the article of Docteur L. GEISER in the french review SANS-LAISSE.

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