Techniques to Get a Dog to Sleep

Those of us who share our lives with a fur baby know that sometimes its energy is simply endless. But that doesn't mean it doesn't need to rest — it's simply that its eagerness to play gets the better of it.

Let's look at a few simple tips that will help us get our dog to sleep naturally, so it can rest peacefully and regain its strength.

How to Get a Dog to Sleep at Home

Sometimes our dog or puppy has a strong urge to play or so much energy that it won't even stop to sleep... or we simply need our dog to be calm in its little bed for various reasons.

We need to follow certain routines so our dog gets used to resting, if it doesn't do so naturally already. By following these tips, we'll get our dog to sleep or be calm in its bed.

It's important for our dog to have burned off its energy and be calm — for this, we should take it for a long walk a few hours before bedtime. Likewise, when it's time to go to sleep, we should take it out again to relieve itself.

A dog that needs to pee or poop gets restless and can't sleep well. That's why it's important for it to have relieved itself beforehand. Once these steps are done, we'll put our dog in its bed in a quiet spot, without excessive noise or distractions, and pet it so it relaxes until it falls asleep.

If our dog doesn't fall asleep, we can give it something to chew on, like a piece of bread (as long as it agrees with it) or a bit of food hidden inside a toy (a Kong), so it plays quietly for a while until it drifts off from tiredness or boredom.

There are no magic tricks or home remedies for getting a dog to sleep — the right way to do it is by burning off its energy and putting it in a calm, comfortable spot. We can feed it before bedtime if it happens to line up with nap time — in fact, it's even advisable for it to take a nap after each meal.

How to Get a Dog to Sleep for a Long Car Trip or Other Journey

Car trips with a dog don't always go well — some dogs get carsick, bored, or simply overwhelmed by the situation. For a short trip, there's no need to put them to sleep, whatever the case — but for a long trip.... getting them to sleep is an excellent option.

It's important to follow a few simple tips that will help our dog sleep peacefully, which we'll go over below. But first we should know that the best way to get a dog to sleep for a trip is to sedate it with pills provided by the vet.

We should never give a dog relaxation or sleep pills on our own, since they'll just get slightly sedated and feel like they're losing control, without actually falling fully asleep (it will stress them out more).

The process before a trip is to take our dog for a walk for a while, so it can relieve itself and burn off some energy. We shouldn't give it any food, although we should always leave water available to it.

We'll let our dog be relaxed (they can sense our nervousness during trips, so we need to relax them a bit) so the pills can take effect. When we're about to leave, we'll put our dog somewhere comfortable and spacious, so it can sleep peacefully throughout the whole trip.

If we're traveling by car we need to be especially careful with the temperature and avoid direct sunlight on it, since it could suffer heatstroke with terrible consequences. When we make a stop along the way, we'll offer it water in case it wants to drink.

How to Get a Puppy to Sleep

Puppies are known for sleeping in short stretches many times a day, so you could say they spend the day sleeping and waking up to eat and play. We shouldn't force a puppy to go to sleep, since it will do so naturally when it needs to.

Although we can put a few tricks into practice to tire it out so it sleeps peacefully. This consists of playing with it to burn off its energy — we can throw the ball a bit, take it for a walk, or play tug with dog toys.

A puppy has a small energy capacity, so even though they're very energetic, the truth is they barely have any stamina. After a while of playing or walking, we can give it its portion of food and take it to its bed, where we'll pet it to help it relax.

It's important to remember that puppies often wake up in the middle of the night and start crying to get our attention. We shouldn't go to them, since then they would do it every night — we need to let them get used to it, and within a few days they won't cry even if they wake up.