Some (senior) residents are getting disturbed by the dogs barking at night. In winters dogs regulate their body temperature by moving around more at night and sometimes barking incessively at intervals. Sleep deprivation not only makes people more irritable during the day, also our community dogs may become more reactive to triggers which they would otherwise be fine with. Dogs naturally tend to rest/sleep about 14-18 hours per day as scientific research. The activity budget of street dogs shows that sleeping and being curled-up are by far the most frequent activities of free living dogs.

Lives of Streeties: A study on the activity budget of free-ranging dogs By Sindhoor Pangal (BHARCS)

Our community dogs may be constantly alert if they don’t have a place to sleep. They may be uncomfortable or cold and (old) dogs may be in pain, especially in winter. We don’t want to let them get sleep deprived, bothering people in their night rest, because both people and dogs will suffer in that way. Sleep is a major factor that can easily be influenced by caregivers and other residents to make coexistence possible. By placing bori beds (filled jute bags) or old blankets or mattresses we can make sure that our community dogs have a safe and comfortable place to rest and that our residents can also sleep undisturbed. #BeKind #BeCompassionate