My Cockapoo Sleeps All Day – Are They Ok?

While I’m writing this article my dog is next to me on the sofa. Fast asleep.

I sometimes worry that she sleeps too much and is she ok.

Its 9 am, and we only got up at 8 am, went outside and she’s fallen back asleep.

However, I am here to tell you that it’s perfectly normal. 

Why do dogs sleep so much?

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It’s quite normal for your cockapoo to spend up to 18 hours a day just sleeping. The rest is being active (walks etc) or just pottering around the house or garden….. or getting up to mischief! 

Dog have been bred from wild dogs thousands of years ago. Those wild dogs (just like wild cats such as Lions) will just sleep when they are not hunting or nothing else is going on. They can’t just turn on the TV like we do, or read a book or go to a day job etc. Can you imagine a Cockapoo doing a day job haha? So when nothing is going on, they are likely just going to close their eyes and go to sleep. My wife often says “I’d love to swap my life with Luna’s for one day and just sleep all day”.

Their age will be a factor

When Luna was a puppy she would have a mad half hour, then sleep a lot. Then another mad crazy period, then back to sleep. When she was 1 year old etc she was definitely very active for more of the day. We would often struggle in the evening. If we wanted to try and watch a TV program all the way through we had no chance as there was a dog zooming about all over the place.

As your dog gets older, they will sleep more.

Luna is now 4 and although that is not old she is a lot more chilled out and sleeps a lot more. I work from home and we can go into my home office at 9am and she will happily snooze until midday. We will then take a break, play ball or go for a walk. After the walk shes happy to go back into my office again and snooze the afternoon away.

I imagine as Luna gets older she will only sleep more.

Other Factors

There are a few other factors you should look out for that might determine if your cockapoo is sleeping more than usual.

Are they overweight?

I haven’t seen a lot of overweight cockapoos when you compare them to Labradors which are very prone to becoming overweight easily. Maybe its just because cockapoos are really active at certain periods of the day. However, it’s worth looking at their weight as this will affect how much sleep they have. Maybe you just need to cut back giving them as many treats for a small period of time.

Are they sick?

When we are sick, we usually just want to lie on the sofa or spend the day in bed. It’s no different with dogs. If they are sleeping more and have gone off their food, or just don’t seem their usual self then it could be worth a quick visit to the vet just to get them checked out.

Make Your Cockapoos Day More Exciting

If you feel like your dog should be awake more than they are then there are various things you could try and do.

You could look at getting some interactive dog toys for them to play with during the day. These won’t take hours of the day for them, but it will help break up their sleep.

If you are out a lot of the day then maybe you could employ a dog walker that comes in and takes them out. I am sure they would absolutely love this.

Final thoughts

D0gs sleep a lot. Don’t worry about it. However, if its a sudden change and their behaviour also seem a bit off then it’s definitely worth a quick trip the vets.