The shape of dogs' heads affects their sleep
Flat-faced dog breeds are popular all over the world. In the USA and in Hungary, the French Bulldog is currently the most common breed. However, their popularity comes at a high cost in terms of health: shortened skulls are associated with deteriorative brain morphology changes, breathing difficulties and sleep problems. According to recent findings by Hungarian researchers, flat-faced dogs sleep more because their breed-specific sleep apnea increases daytime sleepiness, their REM sleep phase is longer than non-REM sleep, and their sleep EEG patterns show signs of white matter loss.
A short snout predisposes dogs to sleep apnea
University of Helsinki researchers tested a new method of diagnosing sleep-disordered breathing in dogs using a neckband developed for human sleep apnoea diagnostics. The study revealed that sleep-disordered breathing is more prevalent among short-snouted dogs than those with longer snouts.