Dogs and time

[Elizabeth77]

I often wonder what is a dogs perception of time. I mean does a dog know whether it is left for an hour or two hours and so on. Has anybody got ideas or experience of this. Just curious

[mbc1963]

People "say" that dogs don't have an understanding of time, but I don't buy it. Mine obviously has an internal clock. On weekends, even if he's had a huge walk in the a.m., he gets all antsy around 3 p.m., which is the time when I always come home from work and take him for a walk.

 

If I go away for 5 minutes, it's definitely a different greeting when I get back than it is when I'm gone a really long time, or if I'm late coming home in the evening.

 

So, I do think they have a feeling for time, just as humans had before we invented clocks and such. Do they worry a whole lot about being home for 4 hours vs. 6 hours? Mine doesn't seem to.

 

Mary

[beachdogz]

I believe that dogs have an INCREDIBLE sense of perception of time.

 

I could site example after example, starting with my Chihuahua when I was growing up. My dad got home at 3:25 every day. At 3:20 like clockwork, my dog was up on the top of the couch looking out the window for him.

 

We have all witnessed it in obedience when you train your dog for a 1 minute sit or a 3 minute down, and going past that makes the dog start to get up, until you learn to train past that time.

 

So yes, I believe that dogs do know "time" if the same time is done on a continuing basis. When it is random, well, maybe not.

 

B

[Sophinator]

I agree with Mary. Dogs may not be able to tell the difference between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM but they have a pretty good sense of "Mom gets home right before dark" or "There's the school bus. My kids should be coming in any minute now." It's all about routine and they probably notice time clues that we'd ignore, whether it's the angle of the sun and shadow or that the neighbor comes home shortly before you do.

 

My Sophia could care less when I say "Mommy's going to work now" because that's a routine. She knows what to expect. But weekend outings are a tad different. If I say "I'm going to the nursery (funeral home, whatever)" she has no concept of how long I'll be gone and she gets a little antsy. She always hopes until the last minute that I'm going somewhere and she'll be coming along.

 

Luckily for me, routine or not, in the long run she's content to stay home alone with no separation anxiety issues.

[Laurae]

But can they tell if, say, two months has gone by?

[MaryP]

But can they tell if, say, two months has gone by?

 

Good question. I've often thought that they have much less perception of duration of time than they do of time of day. My dogs have a very good understanding of time of day, but I don't know that they really understand if I've been gone for two days or two weeks (though I've never left them for two weeks before). I've had to board foster dogs many times. They don't seem to be any more stressed or happy to see me when I've boarded them for a week versus just a night or two.

[Root Beer]

I am sure they do know when a "long time" has passed, as opposed to a "short time".

 

When I took Speedy and Dean with me up to Glen Highland Farm, where I taught Freestyle, this past summer, they were WILD with excitement when we got there. But when I went back with them again to teach just a week and a half later, they were very matter of fact as we arrived and did not go crazy with excitement like they did when a whole year had gone by since we were there. It was clear that they knew were had just been there, and while they were happy to be there, it wasn't a big deal.

 

I guess they do have some sense of "a long time has gone by" but it's hard to say how they perceive that exactly.

[sweet_ceana]

I agree that they seem to know what time of day it is. Ceana will go to her crate at the exact time (give or take 2 miuntes) every morning without being asked. She just knows we have to go to work and it is time for her crate. She also gives me death glares if I am up past 10:30. OUR bed time is between 10 and 10:30 and SHE needs her beauty sleep.

 

However, I do not think dogs can quantify hours and minutes (on a larger scale). Ceana and Poke don't seem to care about the amount of time we may leave the house, but they do care about the number of times. If we run all of our errands in one trip, those two are content to be in their crates once. If we run our errands a little bit here, come home eat lunch play frisbee and then go run some more they are not happy. Ceana gets pissed (honestly if you saw her reaction that is the best word for it ) and can quantify we are leaving again. She would not be upset over a single 3 hour trip, but she would be upset if we left twice for 25 minutes at a time.

[Bo Peep]

I think dogs know time. Usher goes to bed at 10 PM. Even with the time change, he knew. He just goes in his crate and that's his bedtime. I don't know about long periods of time. If I'm gone 10 minutes I'm greeted by the same happy tail wag as if I had been gone 5 hours. When I left him for a few days, I got the "ignore-I hate you" type of thing.

 

What about knowing where they are going? WOW. Do mine know where they we are headed to!!

[Root Beer]

What about knowing where they are going? WOW. Do mine know where they we are headed to!!

 

I think that if they go to certain places on a regular basis, they do learn the signs that mean that they are going there - what you are wearing, what you are taking along with you, the direction that you drive, etc. Speedy used to know whether he was going to sheep herding lessons or to a regular training class by the time we reached a certain point on the drive.

 

The Border Collies always seem to pay attention to where we are going and I am pretty sure they have routes memorized and they expect to go certain places depending on where we are going.

 

Dean has an idea of whether he is going somewhere with me or not by what I put on. If I am wearing a skirt, he knows he's not going. If I put on jeans or pick up a jacket, he's at the door. He's not always correct in his assumption, but it is plain that he expects to go somewhere.

[Dixie_Girl]

I think they learn routines. They are much more in-tune to that. If every day at 5 you gave your dog a yummy treat, he will soon be waiting anxiously for that treat at 5. But at 4, he wouldn't be thinking, "oh, boy, I get a treat in an hour!". They just know routines, but not the perception of coming events. IMHO

[Bo Peep]

I always wear jeans- but when those shoes go on and the keys come out, it used to be havoc around here. So, I'd put the shoes on and sit around for awhile. Carry the keys with me, then it was no biggie.

 

After one sheep herding lesson, the 2nd one, Usher started whining about 1/2 way there. He knew where he was going and he was going to have FUN. He also loves the dog park, so we drive by and he looks at me and BF with that "hey guys you missed it"

 

The doggie bar is his fav. My, oh so well behaved dog (LOL) will jump out of the window there. We go into watch a BSU game or the races (thankfully over) and he is the walmart greater. He knows where everyone sits, takes them to their chair and of course, they buy him and Bliss pepperoni sticks. Then, he'll settle down and lay by my feet. But yes, he knows the fun spots.

 

He also knows when I slap that vest on that he's working-totally different dog. He knows when he's wearing a pinch collar we are doing obedience, when he's wearing a flat collar, he's free to walk wherever he wants and can lag. How smart is this breed?

[airbear]

What about knowing where they are going? WOW. Do mine know where they we are headed to!!

Wick has a thing for driveways. As soon as we pull into one (or the road changes from pavement to gravel) this insane, monkey-like chanting starts from the red crate in the back. She doesn't care whose driveway it is, she has just made the connection that driveway = car stopping. If our destination ends on smooth road, she stays totally quiet. Until I open the back door - then all hell breaks loose.

 

Oh, and mine have no concept of time. They greet me the same whether I've come back from taking the garbage out or after I've been away for days. When Lou and I left for Calgary on a Friday, Bear and Wick were at my place, where the dogwalkers picked them up for their regular walk. Then they went and stayed with her for a few days. On the Tuesday that we came back, Bear and Wick went for their regular afternoon walk with the dogwalking gang, and then were returned to my place in the afternoon. Lou and I got home around 6 that night, and I honestly believe that Bear and Wick thought it was still Friday, and were no more excited to see me than usual.

[sweet_ceana]

I agree that routine is the likely cause of most of their "time management," and knowledge of intentions. My two seem to get a kick out of knowing where we are going. When I switch up our walks Poke seems fraustrated because he did not know which direction we were going. He thrives on knowing what is next, I learned that fraustration was apart of his leash issues. I have taught him left, right, and cross. That way I can tell him right before we change directions, cross the street, or cross a path on a hike. he also knows up and down for a hike. It really boosts his confidence to be ahead of the game. Poke does not like surprises.

Ceana is a little more roll with the punches. Both of them know things from routines. When we first moved to AZ Ceana thought that a new state didn't require a recall. She would take off running through our apartment complex to the dog park along the exact same route that we would walk there to play frisbee. Once she reached the park she would plant her butt in a sit and wait for someone to show up. (She had to sit because no one will play frisbee if she doesn't sit first.) As a puppy we never let her go in the street, she got in big trouble if she even thought about it. At about 6 months old she took off after a car on my MIL while she was "puppy-sitting," and Ceana stopped at the edge of the side walk and sat until MIL clipped her leash on her and walked her back home.

 

***There is something to be said for these lovely routines they latch onto***

[afrancis]

Really interesting discussion.

I've always inserted time-related words into my conversations with Skye, for reassurance and practicality more than anything else. For example, if we're upstairs and she's on the bed and I want to go down and get a tea refill, I'll say "I'll be right back" so she knows if she wants my company she doesn't have to move. Or if we're going away for a week or two, and I'm leaving her with someone, I'll say, "I'll be back in one (or two) weeks. You be a good dog. I'll see you later." I'm careful never to say "I'll be right back" if its going to take more than 5 minutes I think its wrong to lie to your best friend

I'm convinced that if I do that once, and she associates the words with the period of time, she'll understand it for the next time. But then again, I sometimes think she's a person with a lot of facial hair!

Ailsa