After I finished recording this, I recalled something that I’ve seen my dogs and cats do sometimes when they sleep during the day that may provide another clue about the half-brain sleep phenomenon in companion animals. At these times, the cats will keep one ear in the normal sleeping position, and the other pointed towards the area or person of interest. The display is more subtle in dogs and, in my experience, more noticeable in flop-eared ones. One ear is in the normal sleep position whereas the possibly “awake” one is slightly elevated, but also directed toward the area or person of interest.
Typically they do it when something different is going outdoors that they want to keep track of but don’t consider worth the effort to actively monitor. Road crews fall into this category as do vehicles that chirp or and beep when they back into my driveway to turn around. They also do it when one of my neighbors’ dogs bark. And, finally, they do it when I’m getting ready to leave at a time when I’m most likely heading to the clinic but they’re not quite sure…
The half-brain sleep ear placement isn’t the same as that of the adorable Scout’s wake up look after a very long, 2-day road trip.
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