Does your dog have a concept of time?

[GunnersMom]

Originally Posted By: aubieApparently this twit hasn't had a dog or cat during daylight savings time! Jeez...that extra hour causes enough disruption that I think the cats would rather trip me up and eat my dead body then try to get used to an hour later meal!!

LOL. That's true. Even cats have a concept of time. I hadn't thought about that, but our Jake knows when it's mealtime and he reacts pretty much the same way. He gets a little canned, in addition to his dry, twice a day and when it's late, he'll just sit there and stare daggers at me. I'm pretty sure he's plotting my demise.

I thought of another thing with the dogs, too. It happens when my dad comes over to visit. If the boys have just seen him the week before, they give him their normal "Oh boy! Grandpa's here!" greeting. But if they haven't seen him for a few weeks, they practically maul him the minute he's through the door. Even Gunner jumps on him and Gunner's not a jumper. So they have to know the difference between one week and say, two or three weeks. They certainly know it's been longer than it should be, at any rate.

[Colorado]

I think that is one misguided "expert". I come home from work during lunch to give my dog a walk. Everyday, there's no barking or whining. She's waiting patiently in her crate for me.

Last week it snowed enough that work was called. I came home two hours early from the normal lunch time. I was still outside the house when I heard her barking her head off in her crate. Somebody was outside her house and it wasn't time for me to be home. She completely has a sense of time.

All that said, I do agree dogs "live in the moment"--but it has nothing to do with telling time. Say your dog has spent years with you with very little rules or discipline and you decide that your spoiled pup is out of control. It is time for NILIF or basic rules or whatever and for you to be the alpha. If you step up and start leading with authority or what have you, a dog will accept this change MUCH quicker than a human would. So in that sense they live in the moment.

(I'm not saying dogs don't retain issues from their past experiences. They just recover quicker from them than a human would.)

[Zisso]

Aubie, that is so funny about the cats! Mine are the same way. I also had never considered daylight savings time with them or the dog.

I know they say you cannot discipline a dog 10 minutes after they do something 'bad'. However, this is the second dog that I can. For instance, Z might get into the cats wet food...drag that cat dish to the floor- I catch it a bit later. When I do, I take the dish out to the kitchen(he is usually by the front door between bedroom door and kitchen) so as I pass him I say "what is this?" Nothing real stern. He Always turns his head away or moves to the living room right away. Now I know that his previous owner never did anything to him at all. Best she would do when he was in trouble was to gasp and say O-EEEE-YO-EEEE-YO-EEEE…..(that still works once in awhile )

[aubie]

Seriously, my oldest of all the critters, Simon, will meow and howl until I get up to feed him in the morning...then he does what cats do best and go back to bed...but when he does this, this wakes Anna up and there's no "going back to sleep" after that. Sigh.

Simon also usually is waiting for me by the door when I get home, like the dogs. We've always said he's more like a dog than a cat.