The cyclic interaction between daytime behavior and the sleep behavior of laboratory dogs

Schork, IG; Manzo, IA; De Oliveira, MRB; da Costa, FV; Young, RJ; de Azevedo, CS

Abstract

Sleep deprivation has been found to negatively affect an individual´s physical and psychological health. Sleep loss affects activity patterns, increases anxiety-like behaviors, decreases cognitive performance and is associated with depressive states. The activity/rest cycle of dogs has been investigated before, but little is known about the effects of sleep loss on the behavior of the species. Dogs are polyphasic sleepers, meaning the behavior is most observed at night, but bouts are also present during the day. However, sleep can vary with ecological and biological factors, such as age, sex, fitness, and even human presence. In this study, kennelled laboratory adult dogs’ sleep and diurnal behavior were recorded during 24-h, five-day assessment periods to investigate sleep quality and its effect on daily behavior. In total, 1560 h of data were analyzed, and sleep metrics and diurnal behavior were quantified. The relationship between sleeping patterns and behavior and the effect of age and sex were evaluated using non-parametric statistical tests and GLMM modelling. Dogs in our study slept substantially less than previously reported and presented a modified sleep architecture with fewer awakenings during the night and almost no sleep during the day. Sleep loss increased inactivity, decreased play and alert behaviors, while increased time spent eating during the day. Males appeared to be more affected by sleep fragmentation than females. Different age groups also experienced different effects of sleep loss. Overall, dogs appear to compensate for the lack of sleep during the night by remaining inactive during the day. With further investigations, the relationship between sleep loss and behavior has the potential to be used as a measure of animal welfare.

Citation

Schork, I., Manzo, I., De Oliveira, M., da Costa, F., Young, R., & de Azevedo, C. (2022). The cyclic interaction between daytime behavior and the sleep behavior of laboratory dogs. Scientific reports, 12(1), 478. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04502-2

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 23, 2021
• Publication Date: Jan 10, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jan 11, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 11, 2022
• Journal: Scientific Reports
• Print ISSN: 2045-2322
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 478
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04502-2
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04502-2
• Related Public URLs: http://www.nature.com/srep/index.html
• Additional Information: Additional Information : ** From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications Router ** Licence for this article: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ **Journal IDs: eissn 2045-2322 **Article IDs: publisher-id: s41598-021-04502-2; manuscript: 4502 **History: collection 12-2022; online 10-01-2022; published 10-01-2022; registration 24-12-2021; accepted 23-12-2021; submitted 15-07-2021; Funders : Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq);Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico; Projects : 202351/2015-7.; Grant Number: 202351/2015-7