Dog Sleeping Positions When Sick: What Changes Can Mean and When to Call the Vet

Dog science for dog moms (and some dads)

What a curled-up, sprawled or restless sleeper can and cannot tell you, which changes vets look for, and how to check your dog's breathing while asleep.

Last updated: November 2, 2026 · By the MrFluffyFriend Dog Science Team · 16 studies, all linked · How we researched this · 9 min read

✓Based on peer-reviewed science

This article is general information and does not replace advice from your vet.

The small blue numbers in the text (like ¹) link to the study behind that sentence. Tap a number to open the source. Every claim in this guide is based on peer-reviewed research.

Key takeaways

• No study shows that a specific sleeping position means a specific illness.
• Pain scales used by vets include posture, mobility, activity and attention to a painful area ².
• Owners can count breaths while the dog sleeps: in 51 dogs with well-controlled heart failure, the median was 20 breaths per minute ³.
• Flat-faced breeds and dogs carrying extra weight are more likely to have breathing problems during sleep ⁷.
• Lying on one side puts the most pressure on the shoulder, hip and last rib, especially in thin dogs ⁸.

Most of the internet's position guides are guesswork. Here is what research actually supports:

• Curled in a ball. Curling up and tucking the head are typical ways warm-blooded animals conserve heat before sleep ¹. In a cool room, a curled dog may simply be keeping warm. In farm dogs, a coat at night increased sleep time, most clearly in the cooler evening hours ⁴.
• Head up, eyes open. Researchers call lying with the head up and eyes open "inactive wakefulness", not sleep. Head down with eyes mostly closed is classed as resting ⁵.
• On the side or sprawled out. No study has linked this to illness. Stretching out to lose heat makes sense as the reverse of curling up, but it has not been tested in dogs.
• Always the same side. Dogs have side preferences, and one EEG study linked them to differences between the brain halves during sleep ⁹. A favorite side alone is not a warning sign.

There is no single "pain position", but posture is part of how vets measure pain. A behavior-based pain scale, built from 279 words and expressions suggested by 69 vets, sorts pain behavior into seven groups: demeanor, posture, mobility, activity, response to touch, attention to the painful area, and vocalization ².

Chronic pain shows up in small details. A questionnaire on quality of life in dogs with long-term joint pain ended up with 109 everyday terms, most of them describing subtle behavior that owners noticed ¹¹. Every dog is different: in dogs with five common joint conditions, chronic pain scores varied widely from dog to dog ¹².

• A dog that keeps getting up, turning and lying down again without settling.
• Sleeping in a hunched or tucked posture that is new for your dog.
• Licking, looking at or guarding one area of the body ².
• Avoiding a favorite spot or no longer lying on one side.
• Whining or groaning when lying down or getting up ².

These signs come from the categories vets score; the list itself is our practical summary, not the output of one study.

Sleep is the best moment to count breaths, because activity and excitement are out of the way. Vets use the sleeping respiratory rate to monitor dogs with heart disease, and dogs with heart disease but no heart failure have mean sleeping rates below 30 breaths per minute ³.

1. Wait until your dog is fast asleep and calm, not dreaming.
2. Count one breath each time the chest rises, for 30 seconds, then multiply by two.
3. Repeat on a few different days and write the numbers down.
4. In 51 dogs with stable, well-controlled heart failure, the median sleeping rate was 20 breaths per minute, and only one dog averaged 30 or more ³. A rate that is regularly higher than your dog's usual, or labored breathing, is worth a call to your vet.

Snoring and breathing pauses are a separate topic. In 63 pet dogs recorded at home for one night, flat-faced breeds had a 5.6 times higher index of obstructive breathing events and dogs with excess weight 3.5 times higher, while age was not a risk factor ⁷.

In a pressure test, three deceased dogs were placed on their side on four different surfaces for four hours. The shoulder, the hip (greater trochanter) and the last rib were the pressure hot spots on every surface. Pressure-relieving mattresses gave lower pressures than a standard mat or a blanket on the floor, and thin dogs had the highest pressures ⁸.

The researchers still recommended changing position often, because even good mats did not keep pressures safe in the hot spots ⁸. A dog that is too sore or weak to shift position by itself needs a vet's plan.

Sleep responds to the day a dog has had. In 16 family dogs, an active day was followed by more sleep and more time in NREM and REM, and sleeping away from home made REM after the first NREM phase less likely ¹³.

Company matters too. In a small study of 9 dogs, sleeping without the owner in the room led to longer time to fall asleep, worse sleep efficiency and considerably less non-REM sleep ¹⁴. Most dogs choose to be near people at night: of dogs with overnight access to people, 86.7% at 16 weeks and 86.8% at 12 months chose to be around them ¹⁵. A dog that suddenly avoids you or hides to sleep is showing a change worth noting.

• Now: labored or very fast breathing at rest, blue or pale gums, collapse, or repeated failed attempts to lie down.
• Soon: a regularly raised sleeping breathing rate ³, new snoring with pauses in a flat-faced or overweight dog ⁷, or guarding part of the body ².
• At the next visit: a slow change in how your dog lies, gets up or settles. Small changes are easy to miss ¹¹.

This triage list is general practical guidance, not a study result. When in doubt, call.

Your questions, answered

NREM sleep

Non-rapid eye movement sleep, the main restful sleep stage ¹³.

Sleeping respiratory rate

Breaths per minute while asleep, used by vets to monitor heart disease ³.

Inactive wakefulness

Lying with head up and eyes open: resting, but awake ⁵.

Related reading

• Why do dogs twitch in their sleep?
• How many hours do dogs sleep?
• Why does my senior dog sleep all day?

Every source is a peer-reviewed paper. Tap a link to open the abstract (PubMed) or the publisher's page (DOI). Labels show the study type; amber labels mark weaker or indirect evidence.

1. 1

   Harding EC, Franks NP, Wisden W. Sleep and thermoregulation. Curr Opin Physiol. 2020.

   Review, warm-blooded animals in general (not dog-specific) PubMed 32617439 DOI 10.1016/j.cophys.2019.11.008

2. 2

   Holton L, Reid J, Scott EM et al. Development of a behaviour-based scale to measure acute pain in dogs. Vet Rec. 2001.

   Pain scale development PubMed 11354645 DOI 10.1136/vr.148.17.525

3. 3

   Porciello F, Rishniw M, Ljungvall I et al. Sleeping and resting respiratory rates in dogs and cats with medically-controlled left-sided congestive heart failure. Vet J. 2016.

   Clinical study, 51 dogs with heart disease PubMed 26639825 DOI 10.1016/j.tvjl.2015.08.017

4. 4

   Wang T, Smit M, Cai X et al. Accelerometry-Based Assessment of Overnight Coat Use on Dog Sleep and Activity Patterns: Implications for Farm Dog Welfare. Animals (Basel). 2026.

   Experiment, 8 dogs PubMed 42450742 DOI 10.3390/ani16132035

5. 5

   Kortekaas K, Kotrschal K. Does socio-ecology drive differences in alertness between wolves and dogs when resting?. Behav Processes. 2019.

   Behavior study, dogs and wolves (preliminary) PubMed 31153928 DOI 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.05.024

6. 6

   Isparta S, Ocklenburg S, Siniscalchi M et al. Lateralized sleeping positions in domestic cats. Curr Biol. 2025.

   Study in cats, not dogs PubMed 40555180 DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.043

7. 7

   Niinikoski I, Himanen SL, Tenhunen M et al. Evaluation of risk factors for sleep-disordered breathing in dogs. J Vet Intern Med. 2024.

   Cross-sectional study, 63 dogs PubMed 38358051 DOI 10.1111/jvim.17019

8. 8

   Caraty J, De Vreught L, Cachon T et al. Comparison of the different supports used in veterinary medicine for pressure sore prevention. J Small Anim Pract. 2019.

   Pressure test on 3 deceased dogs PubMed 31364781 DOI 10.1111/jsap.13061

9. 9

   Bolló H, Gácsi M, Gombos F et al. The relationship between behavioural and hemispheric sleep laterality in dogs. Laterality. 2025.

   Lab sleep study, 33 dogs PubMed 41129347 DOI 10.1080/1357650X.2025.2577892

10. 10

    Varga B, Gergely A, Galambos Á et al. Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability during Sleep in Family Dogs (Canis familiaris). Moderate Effect of Pre-Sleep Emotions. Animals (Basel). 2018.

    Lab sleep study, 12 dogs PubMed 30004461 DOI 10.3390/ani8070107

11. 11

    Wiseman-Orr ML, Nolan AM, Reid J et al. Development of a questionnaire to measure the effects of chronic pain on health-related quality of life in dogs. Am J Vet Res. 2004.

    Pain scale development PubMed 15334841 DOI 10.2460/ajvr.2004.65.1077

12. 12

    Dorlis C, Clements DN, Ryan JM. Prospective comparison of chronic pain and quality of life in dogs presenting with five common orthopaedic conditions. Vet Rec. 2026.

    Cohort study PubMed 42104917 DOI 10.1002/vetr.70743

13. 13

    Bunford N, Reicher V, Kis A et al. Differences in pre-sleep activity and sleep location are associated with variability in daytime/nighttime sleep electrophysiology in the domestic dog. Sci Rep. 2018.

    Lab sleep study, 16 dogs PubMed 29740040 DOI 10.1038/s41598-018-25546-x

14. 14

    Baranyai L, Iotchev I, Gombos F et al. Family Dogs' Sleep Macrostructure Reflects Worsened Sleep Quality When Sleeping in the Absence of Their Owners: A Non-Invasive Polysomnography Study. Animals (Basel). 2025.

    Lab sleep study, 9 dogs PubMed 41227510 DOI 10.3390/ani15213182

15. 15

    Kinsman R, Owczarczak-Garstecka S, Casey R et al. Sleep Duration and Behaviours: A Descriptive Analysis of a Cohort of Dogs up to 12 Months of Age. Animals (Basel). 2020.

    Owner survey, 2,332 dogs PubMed 32664232 DOI 10.3390/ani10071172

16. 16

    Knazovicky D, Tomas A, Motsinger-Reif A et al. Initial evaluation of nighttime restlessness in a naturally occurring canine model of osteoarthritis pain. PeerJ. 2015.

    Placebo-controlled study, dogs with arthritis PubMed 25722957 DOI 10.7717/peerj.772

MrFluffyFriend Dog Science Team

We read the research so you can make calm, informed choices for your dog. Every number in this guide was checked against the original study, and every study is linked above.

Last updated: November 2, 2026

This article is general information, not veterinary advice. If your dog breathes fast at rest, cannot settle, hunches or guards part of the body, or seems unwell in any other way, call your vet.