Why Is My Dog Sleeping on Their Back?

Dogs can sometimes sleep in some pretty silly positions. Your pup's sleeping style isn't just a personal preference, though. How your dog sleeps can reveal a lot about their health and personality. Learn more about what a dog sleeping on his back means, and if (or when) you should be concerned.

Laying on Their Back as a Cool-Down Tactic

Dogs only have sweat glands in their paw pads. They can't regulate their body temperature like humans can by sweating. Iin the hot, humid months of summer when dogs can easily overheat, your dog has to get creative with how he cools down. Most dogs have a thinner hair coat on their belly. By sleeping on his back and exposing his sparsely furred abdomen, in combination with vasodilation (dilation of the blood vessels) allows for your dog's blood to flow towards his skin where it is cooler and away from his inner body where it is warmer.

By sleeping on their back, your dog is also allowing for maximum paw pad exposure. Again, dogs only sweat through their paw pads, so exposing those paw pads to the air can actually allow for thermoregulation via sweating.

Any dog can overheat in hot, muggy weather, but some breeds and age groups are more at risk than others. Puppies and older dogs can't thermoregulate as well as a healthy adult dogs, so they are more at risk for overheating. Additionally, brachycephalic breeds, that is flat-nosed or short-nosed breeds (pugs, bulldogs, Boston terriers, pekingese, boxers, shih-tzus, etc.) are more prone to overheating. Dogs that have a concurrent illness, especially related to their heart and/or lungs can be at a higher risk for overheating as well. Obese and overweight dogs can also be more prone to overheating because of their extra weight. Fat tissue typically isn't very vascular, so your dog can't cool off as effectively with vasodilation when they have all that extra fluff in the way.

If you see your dog sleeping on their back more in the hotter months or if your dog happens to be a dog that is predisposed to overheating, providing gel-cooled beds can help them cool off. As with any bed, though, use with caution if your pup also enjoys shredding and eating his bed. The gel inside these specially made beds can cause gastrointestinal upset and also be a potential for a foreign body obstruction.

Showing Comfort

Back sleeping allows your dog to completely relax their muscles and prevent them from putting any extra tension or pressure on their muscles and joints. This lets them sleep deeply without aggravating any arthritic joints. If your pup is a bit long in the tooth or if they have any early onset arthritis from orthopedic injury or surgery, investing in an orthopedic, memory foam bed can be beneficial. These special beds allow your pup to sleep without putting pressure on their achy joints and without them having to sleep on their back all the time.

When your dog sleeps on his back he is also telling you that he is completely and totally safe and secure in his surroundings. The abdominal organs are not protected like the lungs and heart are, so laying on the back can be an incredibly vulnerable position. In fact, back sleeping is rarely seen in wild dogs or 'outside' dogs because of how exposed and defenseless it is. The susceptibility of a dog laying on his back also lends itself to being a submissive posture. Dogs will roll on their back in social situations to show that they aren't a threat.