The Most Overlooked Part of Dog Training: Sleep
Updated: Sep 21
When we talk about training our dogs, we usually think about the things we want them to do — recall, loose-lead walking, settling around visitors, or not pulling things out of the laundry basket.
What we don’t always think about is what happens when they’re doing absolutely nothing.
Rest and sleep can have a huge impact on your dog’s behaviour, ability to learn and how well they cope with everyday life. A dog who is tired, overstimulated or constantly “on” may find things harder that they would normally cope with quite well. Suddenly listening becomes harder, little frustrations become bigger ones, and behaviours like barking, pacing or reactivity can start to creep in.
Before assuming your dog needs more training, sometimes it’s worth asking a much simpler question: are they getting enough proper rest?
How much sleep do dogs need?
Dogs sleep a lot more than we do, although exactly how much an individual dog needs varies with age, health, activity levels, environment and the dog themselves. Puppies and older dogs will often spend considerably more of their day sleeping or resting than a healthy adult dog.
There’s also a difference between lying down and really switching off. In a busy household, a dog might spend plenty of time on the couch but still be keeping one eye on the kids, following you whenever you move, reacting to noises outside or getting up every time something happens. They might look like they’ve been resting all afternoon without actually getting much uninterrupted downtime.
For dogs who are already anxious, reactive, easily overstimulated or always keeping tabs on what everyone is doing, that downtime can be particularly important.
Can lack of sleep affect a dog's behaviour?
When dogs don’t get enough opportunity to rest and recover, it can make it harder for them to cope with everything else going on around them. They may become more restless, excitable or easily frustrated, or you might notice more barking, difficulty settling or bigger reactions to things they would usually handle reasonably well.
That doesn’t mean every reactive or hyperactive dog simply needs a nap — if only it were that easy! But rest is one part of the bigger picture that can easily get missed, particularly when we’re focused on the behaviour happening in front of us.
I find it useful to look at what the last few days have been like as well as what is happening right now. Visitors, outings, changes in routine, busy weekends and even a couple of nights of disrupted sleep can all add to what a dog is already carrying.
Giving your dog somewhere to really switch off
Where dogs choose to rest can tell us quite a bit too. Some love a crate with the door open, some disappear off to a bed in another room, and others are perfectly happy stretched across the couch beside you. There isn’t one sleeping arrangement that every dog needs.
What matters more is whether they can actually relax there. A dog who chooses the hallway because they want to know where everyone is might be technically lying down, but still monitoring every person who walks past. Another dog might sleep beautifully in the middle of the lounge room while the whole family carries on around them.
It really comes back to the individual dog. If they’re constantly getting up, following people, reacting to noises or being disturbed, it can be worth experimenting with quieter places or periods during the day where there’s simply less happening around them.
Some dogs find doing nothing really hard
For some dogs, switching off comes naturally. Others seem to have a serious case of FOMO and want to be involved in absolutely everything. Dogs who are anxious, hyper-alert or easily overstimulated can find it particularly difficult to stop monitoring what’s going on around them.
This is why “doing nothing” sometimes forms part of the training plans I put together. Not because I want dogs lying quietly on a mat all day, but because being able to settle while life carries on around them is a genuinely useful skill.
Predictable routines, sniffing, chewing, familiar settling activities and quieter periods can all be useful here. Over time, we want the dog to become more comfortable switching off without us constantly having to tell them to settle.
Rest, stress and your dog's ability to learn
Sleep also ties closely into what we’ve been talking about with stress and the brain. A dog who is already tired, stressed or overwhelmed is going to have a much harder time concentrating on something difficult.
It’s one reason a dog can perform beautifully at home and then appear to forget everything they’ve ever learned the second you leave the driveway. The dog hasn’t actually forgotten — the environment is simply asking much more of them.
This is also where the stress bucket comes into the picture. Lots of small experiences can accumulate across a day or even several days, and rest gives dogs an opportunity to recover rather than continually adding more to an already busy system.
Sometimes I look at what I can take away
I think we’ve become very good at adding things to our dogs’ lives. More walks, more enrichment, more training, more activities, more adventures — often because we genuinely want to give them a great life.But there are times when I look at a dog’s week and think they probably don’t need another activity at all. They need a boring Tuesday. 😂
After a particularly busy day, a quieter day afterwards can be useful. If there have been visitors, outings, training and lots happening at home, I’m quite happy for the next day to involve sniffing around the yard, a chew and a ridiculous amount of sleep.
It doesn’t mean dogs don’t need exercise, enrichment or training. It just means recovery gets a seat at the table too.
Final Thoughts
Sleep is probably never going to be the most exciting part of dog training. Nobody is going to make a flashy before-and-after video of their dog having a three-hour nap. 😂 But it’s one of those background pieces that can affect so many other things.
If a dog is struggling to settle, finding training unusually difficult or reacting more strongly than usual, rest is one of the things I like to consider alongside stress, environment, routine and everything else happening in their life.
Because sometimes the most helpful thing we can do with our dogs really is… less.
Thanks for reading!
And as always, throw your dog a treat from us!
Deb & the Busy Pawz Crew xo
P.S. Want to better understand what might be sitting underneath your dog's behaviour?
If your dog struggles to settle, seems easily overwhelmed or you feel like you've tried everything, I can help you look at the bigger picture. You can learn more about my dog training and behaviour consults, or join The Calm Dog Project for free resources and practical support.
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