Have you ever wondered if your dog is capable of perceiving time? It’s always been said that dogs don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve left home. What is true in here? Do dogs have a notion of time similar to ours?
The truth is that dogs do have a notion of time, although they measure it very differently from us. Rather than wearing a watch or orienting yourself in sunlight, dogs use circadian circles, routines we mark for them, and sensory perception.
Index of contents
- 1 Time perception: Circadian circles
- 2 Time perception: Routines
- 2.1 Waiting times and separation anxiety
- 3 Time perception: Senses
- 3.1 Smell and canine memory
Time perception: Circadian circles
Temporalization, as we humans know it, does not exist for the rest of living beings. They don’t count hours, months, and years, for example, but they do have their own rhythms of time, called circadian circles.
These circles guide dogs when carrying out their activities, such as drinking, eating, playing, mating, etc. Their internal schedules, related to temperature and daylight hours, direct their instincts to repeat the same actions and sensations daily.
So, your dog’s biological clock will guide you and it will mark different needs, such as waking up during the day, feeling higher blood pressure and temperature in the morning and being hungry afterwards for the same cause. So on.
Time perception: Routines
However, not only do these circles govern the hours of the puppies, but so does the routine that we set for them. This is why your furry friend often draws your attention to take him out for a walk or feed him at a specific time.
We repeat actions daily and set times for our canine friends. We get dressed, walk the dog, leave the house, come back, make food, etc. All these actions usually occur more or less routinely, which helps dogs know “what time it is.”
Waiting times and separation anxiety
These routines also allow them to determine the time their owner will return home. In fact, to demonstrate the awareness of dogs of the passage of time, you just have to observe our dog’s reaction when we got home.
The illusion and joy of our pet will be much greater the more hours have passed since our departure. Although the dog does not count these hours, it will need more attention the more time passes, such as the need for activity, eating or just love.
Especially for those dogs that suffer separation anxietyThe difference between spending an hour or four alone can mean the difference between feeling a slight state of nervousness until suffer a distressing panic attack.
This behavior is very common in dogs and requires various methods to reduce the stress it causes our pets.
Time perception: Senses
Although the dogs are not able to speak, the owners can communicate with our pets with actions, gestures, guidelines and even with the senses. The dogs are related to their environment, congeners and us using their sensory perceptions.
Thus, your puppy can relate the time of day he is in according to what his senses confirm. The temperature, the sunlight that enters the house and the smell of the beings that live there can indicate a great variety of things, such as the daily schedules of its owner.
Smell and canine memory
For example, if you keep the same schedules regularly, your dog can predict the time left for you to return home. according to the odor concentration what’s left of you in the environment. This sense is also key to recognize and remember the people they know.
The simple personal smell, in addition to the appearance and tonality of the voice, allows dogs remember people, although they hardly knew them a few hours in the past.