This is why dogs go home from boarding exhausted. At the kennel they can run in and out and bark all day long...for 12 hrs. All except the hunting dogs...some of them get an hour run before going home 'cause being pent up in the kennel is not enough exercise. 90% of the dogs I board get next to no exercise really and go home and sleep a couple days after boarding.

I've often wondered how Iditarod dogs manage to stay awake. Almost every musher who is somewhat serious about racing starts hallucinating/singing out loud to stay awake/falling asleep on the runners towards the end of the race (day 8, 9 or 10). Somehow the dogs, who normally sleep a lot more than humans, manage to keep going with very little rest. In Gary Paulson's book about running the Iditarod he did talk about one of his dogs falling asleep while running. He had to keep calling out the dog's name to keep him awake.

My dogs always seem to sleep extra after a long weekend of hiking when they were awake and moving sun-up to sun-down. On a normal week day they sleep probably 16 hours. They get plenty of exercise and seem very content.

Wild carnivores also sleep a lot. Lion prides sleep the heat of the day away (and lions never work much anyway, the lionesses do the 'lions share' of the work).

Perfect timing on this subject, and I feel better after reading the responses! Falcon also sleeps about 16 hours a day except on weekends when we are outside a lot more. I was beginning to wonder if I wasn't keeping him occupied enough! (Funny... when he was younger I couldn't wait till he calmed down a bit more and now he has calmed down and I was worried! LOL!) Needless to say, the heat has a huge effect on his energy level as well... (deep sigh...) How many days till autumn?

I have a year old terrier. Sometimes it seems as if she never sleeps. LOL

Ollie sleeps...until I move. Then it's,

"Where ya goin?!? Am I goin too?!?!?"

Up until recently, Vince (shepherd) was crated for approx. 9 hours during work days. He seemed to enjoy the routine (no complaints from him anyway). 2 mile bike run before and 3 hr hikes in the evening. He’s since earned the right/privilege of enjoying the yard throughout the work days – with a very watchful neighbor and web cams. That exercise routine hasn’t changed.

He’s been with us almost 2 years and he certainly relaxes but as Connie mentioned, he, as well, is one of those dogs that doesn’t seem to sleep. Someone here (sorry, can’t remember who it was) had an incredibly accurate description, “They wait”. As you can see in my sig pic, if he’s not engaged in some sort of activity, this is him 24/7. His head goes down at night but I don’t see his eyes close. I’m sure they do, he doesn’t stir or fidget but if I move, he’s staring right at me.

The husky will easily sleep 20 out of 24 hours, only gets up for meals and hikes and then flat out in his bed or spot on the lawn. He’s special though.

Baby Echo is still young and totally snores through the night (about 9-10 pm – 4:30 am – a bit longer on the weekend). He likes his morning run but then needs stimulation as well. He has a tire, a couple of logs and a kiddy pool that keep him entertained when his everlasting treat ball is done. He generally naps between 10 am – 4 pm if he’s not playing with the magpies (hate those birds). So he sleeps solidly about 12 – 14 hours.

Gosh, I'm so wordy, I need some lessons in those one liners too Barbara.

 Quote: Barbara Schuler

Needless to say, the heat has a huge effect on his energy level as well... (deep sigh...) How many days till autumn?

This is very true... Due to our sleeping time I end up working with Zuki at 12-1 in the morning. If I try working with her in the day she is very slow and unmotivated. Unless we are in the shade and I have something REALLY good. But otherwise she will sleep most of daylight until evening.