Content
- The feeling of time for dogs
- Circadian rhythms in dogs
- So are dogs aware of the weather?
- The routines we share with our dogs
- separation anxiety
- The importance of smell in dogs and the concept of time
Many people wonder if the dogs are aware of time, that is, if the dog will miss the owners when he is aware of their prolonged absence. Especially when they need to be away for a considerable number of hours, for example when they go out to work.
In this Animal Expert article, we'll share available data on the sense of time dogs seem to have. Although our dogs don't wear watches, they are not oblivious to the passing of hours. Read on and find out all about dog time.
The feeling of time for dogs
The time sequence as we know and use human beings is a creation of our species. Counting time in seconds, minutes, hours or organizing it into weeks, months and years is a foreign structure for our dogs, which does not mean that they live completely outside temporalization, as all living organisms are governed by their own circadian rhythms.
Circadian rhythms in dogs
circadian rhythms direct the daily activities based on the internal schedules of living things. Thus, if we observe our dog, we will see that he repeats routines such as sleeping or feeding, and these actions will be performed normally at the same hours and during the same period. So, in this respect, dogs have a sense of time, and we'll see how dogs perceive time in the following sections.
So are dogs aware of the weather?
Sometimes we have the feeling that our dog has a sense of time because he seems to know when we leave or when we get home, as if he has the possibility to consult a clock. However, we don't pay attention to the language we display, regardless of verbal communication.
We attach great importance to language, we prioritize communication through words so much that we are not aware that we constantly produce a non verbal comunication, which, of course, our dogs collect and interpret. They, without verbal language, relate to the environment and to other animals through resources such as smell or hearing.
The routines we share with our dogs
Almost without realizing it, we repeat actions and schedule routines. We prepare to leave the house, put on the coat, get the keys, etc., so that our dog associate all these actions with our departure and so, without saying a word, he knows it's time for our departure. But that doesn't explain how they can know when we'll be back home, as we'll see in the following sections.
separation anxiety
Separation anxiety is a behavioral disorder that some dogs usually manifest when they are alone. These dogs can cry, bark, howl or break any object while your caregivers are away. Although some dogs with anxiety start exhibiting the behavior as soon as they are left alone, others can experience greater or lesser loneliness without manifesting anxiety and it is only after this period that they begin to experience the disorder.
In addition, professionals who deal with the behavior of our dogs, such as the ethologists, can set the times at which the dog is progressively getting used to spending more time alone. This conveys the feeling that dogs have a sense of time, as some have the symptomatic characteristic of separation anxiety only when they spend many hours alone. So how can dogs control the weather? We will respond in the following section.
The importance of smell in dogs and the concept of time
We have already mentioned that humans base their communication on spoken language, while dogs have more developed senses, such as smell or hearing. It is through them that the dog captures the non-verbal information that we emit without noticing. But if the dog doesn't handle the clock and doesn't see it, How do you know it's time to go home? Does this mean that dogs are aware of time?
To resolve this issue, an experiment was carried out in which the aim was to relate the perception of time and smell. It was concluded that the absence of the caregiver made the dog realize that his smell in the house decreased until reaching a minimum value that the dog related to the time its owner would return. Thus, the sense of smell, as well as circadian rhythms and established routines allow us to think that dogs are aware of the passage of time, although their perception is not the same as ours.