- [Narrator] Dogs, doggos,
puppers, woofers, frens. Whatever you call them, they're one of the most beloved
animals in the whole world. But even though roughly a third of us own at least one of the cute canines, many of us don't realize just how much their sleeping positions
can tell us about them. And it's not just dogs that
reveal all in their sleep. So, grab your pooch and snuggle up tight, because it's time to find out what your dog's sleeping
position reveals about them, and look at some other animals with crazy sleeping habits too. (bright inquisitive music) Dozing Doggos. Dogs have the uncanny ability to sleep in the wildest of positions. If you've got a pooped-out
pup of your own, there's a good chance you've
seen them on their back before, legs in the air like a drunken loon. As uncomfortable as this
position looks though, it's actually a sign that your
pooch is feeling laidback. They're very vulnerable like this, with their tum completely exposed and all their vital organs in it. So, well done. Your dog trusts you not to
slay them in their sleep. Another common position is the pancake. Again, they're leaving
their tums open to attack, so it's a trusting, care-free pose that often indicates a strong bond with their family, AKA, you. Your doggo might adopt this position more often if it's older, as
it alleviates stiff joints, but dogs of all ages
love to sleep like this. And they'll adopt the position anywhere, even in the most annoying of places. Keep an eye on your doggo if
you see them in this pose. They're much more likely to sleep run, and doggy dreams can be
pretty hilarious to witness. (gentle upbeat music) Maybe that pupper would've been better off if they weren't sleeping so deeply. (transition whooshes) But in that case, they might've looked a
little more like this. If your dog's sleeping on their tummy with their front paws tucked backwards, they're probably sleeping pretty lightly. Despite looking incredibly comfy, this position is actually
quite tightly wound and doesn't allow the
little tyke's muscles to relax enough to enter deep sleep. It can indicate that your
dog has a shy, gentle nature, though still quite adventurous. I guarantee you'll have
a fantastic sleep though if you hit those Like
and Subscribe buttons. That's because you can
rest safe in the knowledge that you'll never miss another incredible, informative video of mine ever again. Anyway, where were we? A doggo sleeping in a curled-up position, which we call the snowball, is also pretty tightly wound, but it has a very different meaning to the last position we saw. Most of the time, it
just means they're cold and trying to get as warm as possible. By covering their belly they're probably just
trying to keep toasty. However, it could mean they're
apprehensive about something. Being in a new environment
around different people will often cause a dog to sleep like this, as it's comforting for them, so you're more likely to see
it in a new or stray animal. (transition whooshes) A much stranger position to
catch your dog snoozing in is stood or sat up. This can look pretty comical, but it might just be the
way your pooch is wired. Centuries of breeding and training has led some breeds of
dog, like German Shepherds, to be able to sleep upright so they're always ready for action. Military pups especially
will grab sleep like this wherever they can. But it's not just working dogs. Puppies often fall asleep
while standing too, because cute little fluffballs can't handle being left out of the fun. However, a stand-up sleeper could be a sign of
something altogether darker. As well as being a
potential sign of anxiety, sleeping in this way could,
sadly, indicate your pup has previously been a victim of abuse. A Florida couple that adopted
a dog from a rescue home reported that despite giving her a bed, the poor pup ignored it and would only sleep standing upright. It turns out her previous owners had forced her to sleep
this way every night, and the behavior had become so ingrained that the dog couldn't
sleep any differently. Another heartbreaking
story comes from Georgia, where a woman rescued this precious poodle from a supposedly licensed breeder. But it turned out they'd
been running a puppy farm. With the dogs kept in cramped cages, this poor pooch had
never slept lying down, and so fell asleep standing up next to this brand-new dog bed. These are unusual, albeit
soul-destroying, stories, but if you see your own dog doing this it's worth checking in
with a dog behaviorist if you're suspicious at all. A much more common and,
thankfully, positive sleeping pose is what's known as the lion's pose. Dogs sleeping in a lion's pose with their head on top of their paws are positioned so they can easily shift to an upright stance. As well as being ready to play, they're also ready to jump to
attention if a threat appears, so you're much more likely
to see them adopt this stance by your feet or the front door. (transition whooshes) While the lion's pose is pretty common, this pose isn't quite so much. It's called splooting or The Superman. No, your pupper isn't going
to suddenly rise into the air and shoot lasers out of its eyes. I wish. The position only makes the dog look like the Man of Steel mid-flight. Dogs can easily jump to their
feet when lying like this, just like in the lion's pose, so it's popular in young, playful puppies. It's also quite similar to how I look after having had a few too many drinks. However, it could signify
some pretty serious issues. Younger puppers are probably fine, but if your older dog
starts splooting one day, it may mean they're uncomfortable and splaying their legs
out is easing their pain. Osteoarthritis is a prevalent
condition in aging dogs, where the protective cartilage cushioning the ends of their
bones rubs together painfully. By adopting the splooting position, a dog in pain can ease its suffering. An injury that hasn't fully healed could also cause your dog to sploot, so if they take a nasty tumble, keep an eye on how they sleep afterwards. That being said, if your friendly fido's always enjoyed some quality sploot time, don't get too worried. They probably just love it. Me and you both, doggos. (transition whooshes) The reality is, you'll
have a pretty ruff time trying to tell if there's anything wrong with your pampered pooch from their sleeping positions alone. Generally, dogs can and will sleep in the most bizarre of poses. Although a splooting dog may
be showing signs of illness, your dog might choose to sleep like this purely because it's comfy. And if you think that's weird, just take a look at this crazy canine. In fact, the more
outlandishly your dog sleeps, the more likely it is
they're completely fine. Any time you catch them
dozing on their backs means they're comfortable
and may just be a little hot, even when they're lying in the most ridiculous
positions imaginable. I mean, this guy looks
suspiciously like my grandpa. Exposing their belly isn't
just a sign of trust, but also a great way for
doggos to cool themselves down, as their tums are the least
furry part of their body. One adorably freaky Shih
Tzu from the Philippines called Paningning loves
sleeping on her back so much, it's the only way she sleeps. Kind of like an opposite sploot. But Paningning also
loves a nap time snuggle, which is another sign that
your dog is happy and healthy. Puppers that are comfortable cuddling up to either
you or your other pets show that they feel close to
whoever they're snuggling with and want to spend some
quality time together. Of course, it could also just mean they're using you for your warmth. Those sly dogs. (transition whooshes) On the other hand, if you notice your usually social dog is sleeping away from you in quiet corners of the house
or underneath furniture, this might be a bad sign. Dogs that are anxious or
scared about something will often hide away,
much like us humans do. Most of the time, this is due to a stressful
change in the environment, like a new house or fireworks going off. However, if you can't see any
obvious environmental changes, then it's possible your dog
is hiding because it's ill. In this case, a trip to the
vets is never a bad idea. (transition whooshes) All in all, dogs are known as man's
best friend for a reason: we love the hilarious
hounds, and they love us. But doggos aren't the only animals that we can learn a lot about
from their sleeping habits. (transition whooshes) Conked Out Kitties. Cats are so notorious for sleeping that they've even
inspired the term catnap. And deservedly so. The furry felines are known for sleeping up to 20 hours a day. Many of their sleeping positions give away the same tell-tale truths as their canine counterparts. However, there are some key differences. You've probably noticed
cats absolutely love squeezing themselves into tight positions. If they feel like it, they can fit into even
the smallest of nooks. Sometimes to their detriment. (woman laughing) The reason for this obsession? The cramped spaces make
them feel more secure. While a dog hides away when it's anxious, a cat will hide away even
if it's in a good mood. Despite what you might expect, cats that do this often are more likely to be
the bold, feisty ones. They look for secure places to sleep because they expect
others to pounce on them, as they would to you. (transition whooshes) If you own a puss, you might also be (clears throat) fur-miliar with the oh-so-glamorous
eyes-half-open look. If their eyes aren't properly shut and their ears are outstretched, they're resting but not completely asleep. Often, newly adopted kitties who aren't adjusted to their
surroundings yet will do this. This behavior evolved as a way to catch prey that ventures too close, or to jump out of the way of danger, almost like a sixth sense. So don't worry, your cat
might look like the undead, but it's actually on high alert. Yep, the zombie apawcalypse
can wait for another day. (transition whooshes) Sleepy Sea Otters. Now, you probably don't
own one of these as a pet, but sea otters have some of the cutest sleeping habits going. Their thick fur traps a
layer of air around them which makes them incredibly buoyant, allowing them to chillax
to the max on the waves. Aww. However, they're in
danger of floating away when it's time to catch some Z's. To solve this problem, the creative creatures wrap
themselves up in seaweed, which anchors them to the ocean floor and stops them drifting off. Sometimes, up to 100 of
the floating furballs can be seen sleeping together in this way. You know what's even cuter though? If there's no seaweed around, the adorable little
critters will hold hands so that they don't float
apart when they sleep. (people chattering) That's a whole lotter cuteness. (transition whooshes) Giraffes In Jeopardy. Remember how cats can sleep
for up to 20 hours a day? Well, if you told a giraffe
that, they'd probably cry. That's because the
tall-necked tree-munchers only get around half an
hour's sleep a night, which is the shortest sleep requirement in the entire animal kingdom. They live in the vast,
open plains of Africa, and unfortunately there
are a ton of animals living alongside them that
love the taste of giraffe. So sleeping for any long period of time would be a certified death sentence. To avoid a sticky end, giraffes don't just sleep
for half an hour a night, they do it in stints of
a few minutes at a time. Jeez, I can't get enough
sleep within an hour, let alone a minute. What's more, due to
the animals' long legs, it takes them a really long time to get up once they've sat down. So long in fact that if a lion saw them in this vulnerable position, the poor giraffe wouldn't
have a chance to run away before becoming big-cat food. This means most of the time they don't bother lying down at all. Instead, they sleep
standing firmly upright. Sometimes, if they're lucky, they'll get to rest their
heads on each other's behinds, because let's be honest,
butts are hella comfy. When they're foals, they can actually afford the luxury of lying down like this as they sleep, with their necks twisted around and their heads on their haunches. Their mothers keep watch
for any unwanted predators. But as soon as they're old enough, this extravagance has to end. Imagine sleeping in a
bed until the age of 10, then your mom coming in
one day and telling you you've got to start
standing up every night. I'm getting grouchy
just thinking about it. (transition whooshes) Dreaming Dolphins. Just like every other animal
we've looked at so far, dolphins can't breathe underwater
because they're mammals. Unlike any other animal
we've looked at though, dolphins live underwater. So how on earth do they
sleep without drowning? The answer's pretty crazy. When it's time to rest,
dolphins keep their breath held, but only shut down one
half of their brain. That's right, they can put one
side of their brain to sleep but keep the other awake, with the conscious side's eye open. We call this amazing phenomenon
unihemispheric sleeping. By sleeping in this way, dolphins can stay alert
enough to avoid predators, and also know when they need to swim up to the water's
surface to breathe. Doesn't exactly sound
relaxing though, does it? (transition whooshes) The Fantastic Frigatebird. For years, scientists couldn't understand the perplexing mystery
of the great frigatebird. These majestic creatures can stay in flight for
up to two whole months without touching down even once. How do they not get tired
and fall from the sky like big, black and orange snowballs? Well, to find out, a group of researchers captured some of the birds from their home on the
Galapagos Islands and implanted, (clears throat) let's
see if I can say this, electroencephalographs, or EEGs, into their brains. These nifty bits of tech
can read electrical activity and detect when an animal
is asleep or awake. After releasing them
back into their habitat, the researchers found out that, crazily, frigatebirds actually sleep while flying. They have to, because despite going on
long excursions over water, they can't swim. Nice one, evolution. Fortunately, the birds can use the same technique as
dolphins, unihemispheric sleep, to complete their long journeys. By shutting off half of their brain and keeping just one eye open, they can still circle
upwards on air currents and avoid colliding into other birds. The really crazy thing is they do this for just 45 minutes in a whole day of flying, and only sleep in 10-second bursts. Considering that when they're on land the birds sleep for a solid 12 hours, it's pretty incredible that
they can function at all on less than a twelfth of this. Never mind the great frigatebird, I'd be the irate frigatebird
with that little shut eye. (transition whooshes) The Snail Celeb. Snails have a pretty justified
reputation for being slow. However, the Egyptian desert snail has earned a rather
different name for itself as one of the weirdest
sleepers in the animal kingdom. Way back in March 1846, a small, extraordinary
snail was brought from Egypt and added to the British Museum's natural history collection. Assumed to be dead, it was glued to a board and placed inside a glass display case, where it stayed for four years. Then, one day in March 1850, the museum's curator noticed
an odd smudge of dirt and some slime in the display cabinet. Curious, he removed
the snail from its case and plopped it into a small bowl of water. Amazingly, two little tentacles popped right out of the shell, followed quickly by the rest
of the miraculous mollusc. Word spread fast of the snail
that rose from the dead, and before long it had become
something of a celebrity. I mean, it even got
its own portrait drawn. So when the snail eventually did die, it was mourned almost
as if it'd been human. What the shell had happened then? Well, in spite of being
thought dead for four years, the snail was actually
in a state of torpor, which is similar to hibernation, but over a far longer period of time. Its body temperature lowered,
its metabolic rate slowed, and because of this it was able to survive an unbelievable amount of
time without food or water. You see, if desert snails go
without moisture for too long, they'll eventually fall
into this deep sleep for years if they have to. So, when the little guy was eventually dipped into
that sweet, sweet water, it must've felt like the
most incredible spa day ever. I bet he had the slime of his life. (transition whooshes) Bizarre Bats. It's pretty well known that
bats sleep upside down. Could you tell me why though? It's actually because their wings aren't strong enough to take off from an upright position on the ground. And even if they were, the furry critters can't run fast enough to build up the momentum
to take off anyway. By hanging upside down, when they drop they can use gravity to give themselves that extra oomph and propel upwards into the air. Okay, so that wasn't such a hard one. But considering bats sleep
for around 19 hours a day, do you know how they manage
to remain hanging upside down all the time without falling? I reckon I've got you now. It's because bats' talons work the opposite way to most muscles. Their knees face backwards. This means that when they relax, special tendons lock the
toes and talons in place so that while they're hanging, their body weight and gravity
keep them firmly in position. Bats have to physically
flex their leg muscles to release their grip and
fly from their perches, meaning there's no chance of
them accidentally dropping off. That's why bats never skip a leg day. (transition whooshes) Protected Parrotfish. You know how when you have a nasty cold it can be pretty tough to get to sleep? Well, next time maybe you should try getting a great big load of snot and wiping it all over yourself. Okay, maybe don't go that far, but something similar
works for the parrotfish. Some species of this reef-dwelling fish have special, mucus-secreting
glands in their gills. Before they go to sleep for the evening, the fish use these gills to
blow up a big, mucusy bubble that surrounds their entire body. For a long time, scientists had no idea what the giant snot ball was all about. Do you have any ideas? Well, it turns out that the bubble actually works as a type of
shield against these things. Believe it or not, they're not aliens, but actually a species of tiny underwater
parasite called Gnathiids, the larvae of which feed on fish blood. Understandably, the parrotfish
aren't so keen on them. The nasty gnathiids prowl
the coral reefs at all hours, but during the day any
parrotfish that get infected can seek out cleaner fish
to gobble up the parasites. At nighttime however, the
fish are much more vulnerable. Or at least they would be if they didn't use
their super mucus powers to protect themselves. Not only does the snot shield physically block the gnathiids, but it also blocks the scent of the fish, which the parasites use to track them. Like a mosquito net on steroids. Man, I'd gill for that power. (transition whooshes) Wacky Walruses. If I'm really tired, I've been known to pass out
in some pretty unusual places. The backyard, the kitchen floor,
your mom's bed, all sorts. But that's nothing on the walrus. This semi-aquatic animal is probably the least fussy
sleeper in the whole world. They'll sleep floating
along the water's surface, lying on the bottom, while clinging onto ice
floes with their tusks, and they sleep on land too. If they're completely submerged, they'll employ unihemispheric sleep, because much like dolphins
they can't breathe underwater. However, to get a longer snooze, they'll keep their head above water and bob around like a buoy. This is made possible by a
couple of expandable skin pockets either side of the walrus's esophagus called pharyngeal pouches. These pouches can hold
up to 13 gallons of air, and when they're filled, they let the walrus chill
upright in the water without drowning. Furthermore, due to a lack of predators, they're usually completely safe like this. Which means when they're on land they can sleep for a solid
19 hours without a care. Don't go thinking they're lazy though. They only need this much rest because they'll sometimes swim non-stop for almost four days. As of November 2021, the longest time any human has
spent swimming without pause is just over 52 hours, set by former Olympic swimmer Neil Agius. And as impressive as this is, it's still 32 hours less
than the walruses' record. I'm sure Neil's in no
walrush to beat that, then. (transition whooshes) Whimsical Whales. Back in 2008, a team of
scientists were on a boat looking for sperm whales when they caught onto
a very strange sight. A group of the water-dwelling mammals were drifting vertically near
the surface of the water, motionless other than
the movement of the sea. Like these whales that
were captured in 2020 doing the same thing. Up until then, people thought
whales only slept horizontally in a unihemispheric
fashion, which they do, but the strange, mystical
sight of the upright whales changed everything. Now we know sperm whales can
also get some proper shut eye, albeit in a very weird fashion. When they get dozy, the whales
swim downwards head-first and drift into a deep sleep. Once asleep, their heads flip up due to being more buoyant
than the rest of their bodies, and they float like this, unconscious, for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. They'll only sleep for a
measly 7% of their day though, similar to a giraffe. Unlike giraffes however, it's not predators that prevent whales from long, uninterrupted
sleep, but their own bodies. You see, whales need to almost
constantly be on the move, or they risk losing too much
of their core body heat. Therefore, they can't afford to sleep for longer than a few minutes at a time, or they'll put themselves
in danger of hypothermia. And trust me, that would be whaley bad. (upbeat music) Do you know any other bizarre
animal sleeping habits? And have you noticed your pet sleeping in any strange
positions recently? Let me know down in the comments,
and thanks for watching.
