Why Do Dogs Circle Before Lying Down?: An Experimental Test
Experimental data suggests that it may all be about comfort.
Posted April 28, 2026 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch
I recently got an email from a journalist interested in the question of why dogs often turn in circles before they lay down. This triggered a bit of déjà vu for me because about a decade ago a phone call from another journalist about the same issue led me to do an experiment to look into this question. However, in the subsequent 10 years or so I hadn’t followed up on the topic in any systematic way. In her email the journalist wanted to know my opinion about the “new data on the inherited, evolutionary reasons behind this behavior." Since I had not come across any recent data on this subject, I did a literature search and could find no experimental data looking into this question, so I phoned her to find out where this “new data” was coming from.
When I spoke to her, she informed me that she had been speaking with an “expert on canine behavior” who told her that the newest data indicated that the circling behavior was an instinctual safety-related behavior in dogs from the evolutionary past of canines. Dogs are simply taking a final turn around to survey the surroundings for predators or other potential dangers before lying down (since it placed them in a more vulnerable position). Unfortunately, her expert had not provided her with a journal reference for the experimental study, but she said that she checked with an online AI and it listed that that survival reason “so it must be true that the data is there."
Suggested Answers to This Question
I had heard of this survival-based scanning hypothesis years ago when I investigated the issue. It was offered along with a number of alternative answers. To me the most logical explanation of the circling behavior seemed to be simply that dogs were creating a more comfortable “nest-like” surface to lie down on. Certainly, for wild canines turning around would help to flatten tall grass or leaves into a smooth, more comfortable space, with perhaps a side benefit of chasing away any unwanted pests like large insects.
Other ideas as to why dogs circle include marking their territory. Dogs have scent glands on their paws and circling can be a way to leave their scent to claim a specific bit of turf.
Another idea is that dogs circle to position themselves with the wind. This is another safety-related hypothesis suggesting that sleeping with their nose to the wind allows dogs to pick up the scent of an approaching threat.
Finally, there is the idea that circling allows wild canines to achieve a bit of temperature control, by brushing away the topsoil to reach cooler dirt in the summer, or brushing away wet snow in the winter.
Are Any of These Suggestions Backed by Data?
Unfortunately, there is no experimental data on any of these hypotheses, except for the possibility of creating a smooth comfortable “nest." Since I had collected that latter bit of data, I briefly explained my study to her.
The concept is really very simple: If the dogs are circling to make an uneven surface more comfortable, then they should be less motivated to do this if the surface has no lumps or bumps. To test this notion, we set up a wire rectangular exercise pen about 4 feet by 6 feet in size, and placed it in a corner of a large open room adjacent to an ongoing dog show (from which we solicited our volunteer participants). The floor of the exercise pen could be covered by a flat densely woven piece of carpet fabric which should need no additional trampling down. Alternatively, to mimic an uneven surface in the wild we used a piece of loosely woven shag carpet which was placed into the pen with no attempt at smoothing out lumps or wrinkles.
Over the 3 days that the dog show ran, 62 dogs were tested (31 for each of the surfaces). The participants were simply brought into the room and spent a few minutes to allow the dog to sniff around and familiarize itself with the area. Next, participants placed their dog in the exercise pen without comment. The dog owners then turned and walked to the far side of the room where a coffee urn was available along with a chair for them. There they could sit and drink coffee or browse a magazine for up to 15 minutes. The experimenter sat on a chair next to the owner and observed the dog, noting its behavior when it decided to lay down. Whether the dog turned a full circle before lying down was recorded, as well as those instances where more than one rotation occurred.
The Results of an Experimental Test
The surface clearly affected circling behavior. When it was smooth, roughly one out of every 5 dogs (19%) turned at least one full circle before laying down. On the uneven (shag) surface, more than half of the dogs (55%) turned at least one full circle before they finally rested. This means that the dogs were nearly 3 times more likely to circle before laying down on the uneven surface than on the smooth surface. This large difference is statistically significant [z=2.89, p<0.01].
As further confirmation of the effect of the surface we looked at the number of dogs who circled more than once before laying down; there was only one who did so on the smooth surface. Compare that to 19% of the dogs that circled more than one full rotation before lying down on the uneven surface. Casual observation noted that several dogs on the uneven shag carpet also occasionally poked or dug at the surface before circling, a behavior that was never observed for the dogs on the smooth surface.
These data show that when dogs are presented with an uneven surface, they are more likely to turn in circles before they lie down, simply for the sake of comfort. This is a less flashy outcome than something associated with inherited survival instincts, but at least it has some empirical support. Of course, this study can’t conclude that nesting or trying to make a more comfortable bed is the only reason that dogs turn in circles before resting, but it suggests one answer.
[Postscript: As a retired university professor I couldn’t resist gently pointing out to the journalist that answers provided by AI often do not make the distinction between tested facts and mere speculations that have been discussed on the Internet.]
Copyright SC Psychological Enterprises Ltd. May not be reprinted or reposted without permission
Coren, S. (2006). Why does my dog act that way? New York: Free Press.
Coren, S. (2004). How dogs think: Understanding the canine mind. New York: Free Press.
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Stanley Coren, Ph.D., FRSC. , is a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.