Proactive Pain Management - Promoting Good Sleep Hygiene

The quantity & quality of your dog's sleep can make or break your pain management plan.

Poor quality or a lack of sleep causes…
• Pain neurons to fire more readily, leading to increase sensitivity.
• Negative emotional states & increase in perceiving stimuli as aversive.
• Increases appetite, leading to weight gain & eating foreign objects.
• Decrease in serotonin - the primary feel good brain chemical.
• Vulnerability to pain further decreases sleep quality & quantity.

Promoting healthy sleep hygiene for our dogs is an affordable & accessible way to improve pain management.

• Offer opportunities to sleep near you - dogs are social sleepers.

• Since joint disease is the leading cause of chronic pain for dogs, a sleeping space that is physically accessible is essential:
> A firm, flat mat or raised bed is ideal.
> Edges, blankets, and soft surfaces can make moving painful &
potentially dangerous.
> They need to be able to lay flat out to get proper sleep.
> Continue to offer a softer or blanket filled bed so they can choose what need they want to fulfill.

• Use an activity tracker, because it's unrealistic to monitor their sleep manually.
> Dogs sleep mostly when we're not home or sleeping ourselves.
> Resting while awake is species typical behavior & can be difficult
to discern from sleeping.
> It collects & organizes data - an important, but boring task.
> Basic trackers have become more affordable.

"Klarissa, my dog sleeps fine!"

How do you know? Sleep is as necessary for life as breathing. Your dog's body will force them to sleep to survive. This does not mean they are getting health promoting & pain reducing sleep.

​Batson, A., & Capon, H. (2021a, April 22). Cam live: Sleep quality and chronic pain part 1 with Amber Batson. Facebook. https://fb.watch/n2UEPD1SWE/

Batson, A., & Capon, H. (2021, May 5). Cam live: Sleep quality and chronic pain part 2 with Amber Batson. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2DTNOggwSA

Canine Arthritis Management. (2017, July 18). In silence by canine arthritis management. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5_FeWt4T_I

https://caninearthritis.co.uk/managing-arthritis/what-can-be-done/

Kinsman, R., Owczarczak-Garstecka, S., Casey, R., Knowles, T., Tasker, S., Woodward, J., Da Costa, R., et al. (2020). Sleep Duration and Behaviours: A Descriptive Analysis of a Cohort of Dogs up to 12 Months of Age. Animals, 10(7), 1172. MDPI AG. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani10071172

Lautenbacher, S., Kundermann, B., & Krieg, J. C. (2006). Sleep deprivation and pain perception. Sleep medicine reviews, 10(5), 357-369.

Weir, M., Williams , K., & Downing, R. (n.d.). Helping your dog with osteoarthritis: VCA Canada Animal Hospitals. VCA Canada. https://vcacanada.com/know-your-pet/helping-your-dog-with-osteoarthritis.