Dog owners pay close attention to everything that can interfere with their canine friend’s life. When it comes to sleep, many questions arise, among them a significant one which is:
Should I buy a dog bed or not? Is it Worth it? And what are the benefits?
Dog Beds offer a feeling of security and relief and help the dog to keep discipline, besides guaranteeing a place of refuge and an adequate environment for rest. Also, it helps your dog enjoy a night cozier and a better sleep.
1. More Hygiene
Studies carried out on the presence of bacteria in our homes have shown that the kitchen floor has twice as many bacteria as the trash can.
Our shoes can transfer germs to the flooring of the house. The same applies to your pets’ paws when they come home from a walk.
By resting directly in contact with the floor, there is a big possibility that these bacteria will end up lodging throughout the body, in the hair, on the legs, in the genital region and the saliva.
Pets contain amounts and types of bacteria that can be highly harmful in contact with human mucous membranes.
Our relationship with pets is a beautiful thing. But it cannot be denied that there are also some negative aspects of this type of relationship.
Currently, pets are increasingly humanized and dependent on their owners, and many of them find it cute to let them sleep in the bed. However, this is not a recommended habit.
Remember that your friend, when sleeping with you, will be an allergic epicenter, and you will end up inspiring these dangerous particles eight hours a night.
Whether you have allergy problems or not, it can be a pump for your immune system.
Numerous Health Problems
Don’t let your pet sleep in your bed, which can cause the risk to get respiratory or other problems such as tonsillitis, otitis, sinusitis and pneumonia, in addition to promoting the transmission of diseases such as ringworm, fleas and ticks. We should avoid close contact at all costs.
Unfortunately, some diseases are transmitted by dogs to humans. Some of them can present serious health risks when left untreated. Find out what they are:
Giardiasis
It is a disease that damages the dog’s intestine, leaving it very weak. Symptoms range from stomach pains to vomiting combined with severe diarrhea.
Other dogs, contaminated water or food are the transmission channels of this disease. It is necessary to be careful with contagion, as it can infect human beings.
Leptospirosis
The disease is transmitted through contaminated water or the urine of an infected animal. It is complicated to diagnose at its early stage, but it can lead to kidney failure when left untreated.
Staph Infection
This disease can cause a series of infections in the skin and the respiratory and urinary tracts. They can spread through the bloodstream, lungs and even lead to death.
Toxoplasmosis
It transmits to people and animals through contaminated soil, water, meat, or even by direct contact with feces.
Difficult to detect symptoms in people who contract this parasite. Pregnant women and people with low immunity may be subject to more severe complications.
Getting a good bed for your dog will make him prefer always to lie there, and this will help to reduce significant contact with the floor of the house.
There will be no cause for concern if you pay more attention to your pet’s hygiene and health. He and his whole family will be protected.
2. More Health For Your Dog
The flooring is never an excellent resting alternative for your pet, especially since it can cause problems like arthritis and others.
As we have already seen, contact with the animal directly with the ground will help in the spread of unwanted diseases.
In winter, cold and damp floors will increase the chances that he may have problems such as the flu and even pneumonia.
In summer, on the contrary, it may overheat and cause burns and skin wounds.
Another common problem is calluses. This problem appears mainly in the dogs’ elbows and is one of the main concerns of the owners.
This type of pathology affects mostly large dog breeds, short-haired dogs and elderly or convalescent dogs.
The main factors that cause the appearance of this problem are the floor and the weight of the animal.
It is mainly caused by skin contact with the hard floor, appearing more in areas such as the knees, elbows and feet.
Calluses appear due to the pressure of the weight of the dog on the ends of the bones. This can even happen to us if it is the case.
If we walk barefoot for a long time, our skin will also do the same, and it tends to thicken to protect that area.
The bed will not only help the dog establish a routine, but also contribute to healthy psychological well-being.
Letting it stay on the floor, on cold surfaces and for a long time will not only bring you discomfort but will be harmful in the future.
It will help the difficulty that the dog has to lie down and get up due to age and weight.
Also, it will help to maintain his body temperature, protecting you from the cold and moisture of the floor, a common problem among breeds of dogs that suffer from the cold.
3. Better Resting
It is crucial to understand how your dog’s sleep works. This way, you can understand what good rest means for your pet’s life and health.
Sleep is essential for them to have a healthy life, both physical and psychological. It is normal to have to sleep for a long time, between 14 to 18h a day.
During the act of sleeping, the entire biological and emotional system of the dog works towards restoring a hormonal balance in the body.
And this will allow the dog to recover from the stressful periods it has experienced throughout the day.
While the dog is having a qualitative rest, the brain produces a hormone called melatonin, which affects improving sleep quality.
Melatonin also plays a vital role in protecting body cells, as well as in strengthening the immune system.
In some moments, brain activity decreases. In others, the musculature relaxes. But only about 10% of sleep time is for relaxation and deep rest.
Dogs have polyphasic sleep; that is, they sleep several times a day. We can divide this sleep into 2 phases:
Non-REM phase
During this phase, the dog begins to fall asleep. Your body remains immobile, which will decrease your heart and respiratory rate.
If not disturbed at this stage, the dog will fall into a deep sleep, and brain activity will reduce, and the dog will achieve complete relaxation and full rest.
REM phase
It is the essential phase of a dog’s sleep.
During this phase, the body is relaxed, but there is brain activity, in which the dog relieves and processes the learning and experiences that it experienced during the day.
During the REM phase, we have an increase in heart rate, eyes blink, legs can move, and even the dog can bark, growl or yelp.
The estimates say that REM occupies about 10 to 20% of a dog’s sleep.
With this in mind, a good sleep, in a quiet and comfortable place, without the need to worry about the environment, can help prevent behavioral problems.
4. Easy Cleaning And Maintenance
Getting a bed for your pet will help a lot in cleaning your home. Your little friend’s hair will accumulate in one place and not throughout the house and make it easier to keep the house clean.
Thus the bed becomes a multifunctional environment. In it, scratches himself, shakes the hair, licks himself, bites the toys and is much more at ease.
It will leave all traces and odors of your activities in one place. When buying, prefer a bed model that allows machine washing.
Nowadays, most of the beds and their accessories can be machine-washed easily.
In addition to being more manageable, it provides more thorough cleaning and is a more hygienic method than doing it by hand, which will make your life much more comfortable.
Maintaining a regular cleaning of the pet’s bed is the golden rule in the home care list.
Cleaning the bed and accessories is something that can easily add to your weekly task list.
Ideally, at least once a month, your pet’s bed should be washed, along with covers, blankets or any fabric object that the dog uses daily.
In addition to this more thorough cleaning, it is necessary to sanitize the place all week, removing dust and excess hair.
For your dog’s comfort, the bed must always be clean.
5. Safety And Comfort
The sooner you get used to sleeping in his bed, the better. Whenever he wants or rests, he will go there.
The bed is the place where he will associate security, rest and the moments he wants to be quiet and alone – a place of privacy and intimacy, where they can relax without being disturbed.
It will prevent them from looking for another place to sleep, our bed, for example, or the sofa in the house.
If your dog is elderly or sick, it is also good because it will make him comfortable and prevent him from feeling pain.
When choosing the best bed for them, we cannot think about our preferences, but rather the choices of pets.
So, it is essential to take the following advice into account:
- Suitable size
- Way to sleep
- Seasons
- Location Dog
- Habits Bed types
Our dogs are practically like members of our family.
Reserving a corner just for them is essential to ensure that they develop happiness and health.
