Dogs: woman’s best friend.

Cue cuddle time. A new report from the Journal of the International Society of Anthrozoology suggests that you should not only allow your dogs on the bed, but make hubby sleep on the floor. That is, if you ladies want to get a good night’s sleep. [Featured image: @o.bynevern]

A new report conducted by Christy L. Hoffman, Kaylee Stutz, and Terrie Vasilopoulos, finds that women’s quality of sleep is improved when accompanied by their cuddle buddies — canine cuddle buddies, that is.

The study surveyed 962 adult women in the United States to analyze how their sleeping patterns are affected by canine, feline, and/or human partners. Of the participants, 57% shared their bed with a human, 55% with at least one dog, and 31% with at least one cat.

While sleeping with another human can make you feel comfortable and secure, the report shows that it can also have a host of negative effects on a woman’s sleep. I’m sure most of you can figure out why, but some reasons include coughing, snoring, and waking the other up in the middle of the night. This as you can imagine, is not good for a woman’s beauty rest.

Cats are in the same bed.Felines were found to have equally disruptive impacts on a female’s sleep as other humans. Could be because of their sleeping patterns. Could be because at 3 am your face offers the ideal scratching post. Ultimately, sleeping with cats results in “weaker feelings of comfort and security than both human and dog bed partners.”

Hounds, on the other hand, were found to be the best bed buddies.The report finds that “dogs who slept in the owner’s bed were perceived to disturb sleep less and were associated with stronger feelings of comfort and security.”

While the specific reasons have yet to be determined, the report’s authors cite dogs’ ability to reduce the frequency and severity of nightmares. Additionally, dogs can warn the owners of threats and intrusions; plus, when sleeping with their owners, they are less likely to bark for attention elsewhere in the house.

Thus, in the age-old argument of cats vs. dogs, this one has gone to the dogs.

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