I. The study of dogs' sense of time

This is an interesting topic. If you are a dog owner, you will find that the dog in your home usually has a strong sense of time. For example, he will come to his food bowl at 5 pm every day to wait for his dinner; when it's time to walk your dog at 7 pm, your dog will act very restless in the first few minutes; your dog will wake you up every morning at a certain point on time, more than the alarm clock. If you find that your dog is like this, you may wonder: does a dog have a concept of time? Because its punctual behavior makes it seem like it can read clocks.

To get to the bottom of this truth, we interviewed relevant animal behaviorists and wanted to explore how dogs perceive time and memory. It turns out that the conclusion is more complicated than you think ......

Scientific investigation: Do dogs have a concept of time?
True story: Can dogs know the time?

The answer is yes and no. What does this mean? Andrea Tu, a veterinarian and medical director of New York Behavioral Veterinary Medicine, said.

"We're not sure what a dog's perception of time is, because we can't ask them,"

"But we know they do have a concept of time."

However, just because dogs have a sense of time doesn't mean they can perceive it as well as humans, because they certainly can't understand our concept of a ticking clock. To study the problem of how dogs perceive, we first need to clarify the two types of human memory: semantic memory and episodic memory. Dogs have one of these but may not have the other.

What does "semantic memory" mean? This type of memory consists of a set of knowledge that we accumulate throughout our lives, such as facts, ideas, and meanings. For example, you know your dog's name is Sadie and that he has white fur.

What is "episodic memory"? This is the memory we have for experiences and events in our lives. For example, you remember the day you adopted Sadie, the day she curled up on your lap, and the day you took her home and got lost.

As you may have guessed, dogs have semantic memory. They remember verbal commands, body language, and other details they've learned throughout their lives. But they may not have the ability to recall less clear memories of episodes.

So, how do dogs know the time? For example, their exact dinner time.

This is a truly surprising fact: Every day at 5 p.m., the dog paces back and forth in front of its dinner bowl, or it may come directly to you, which is one of the reasons for our confusion. How does it know it's 5 p.m.? Sure, maybe it has learned a series of things. In the past, these things meant that dinner was about to start.

For example, you just got home from work; the sunlight in the room is not so strong anymore; the dog's stomach feels a little empty, etc. Once he recognizes this pattern, he will act accordingly (e.g., he will go to you so you can prepare dinner for him at a faster pace). Dr. Tu says that when these situations occur, on the surface: they seem to know the time.

If my dog can remember such things, does he have any other memories?

This can be a little confusing: dogs may not have the same episodic memory as humans, but they can form memories related to their environment. The most common example here is taking them to the vet.

"Suppose you take them to the vet and everything is fine, and then suddenly one time something happens that scares them, maybe their nails are cut too short, or something else happens that upsets them,"

Dr. Tu said.

"The next time you take them to the veterinary clinic, they may remember the last time they were there and something disturbing happened. They may not know exactly when this happened, but they can form these types of associations."

Can dogs sense the length of time?

In many cases, the answer is yes. A study published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science found that dogs who were home alone for long periods behaved more enthusiastically toward their owners than dogs who were home alone for short periods. This means that your dog is perfectly able to tell if you've only been out for 10 minutes or have been away from home for up to seven hours to go to work.

Trainers were also able to demonstrate that dogs have a sense of time because they were trained to sit or stay for a specific amount of time, for example, 5 seconds or 15 seconds.

Dr. Tu said.

"They can feel the passage of time."

So, what does all this mean?

In the end, we conclude that dogs may have a better sense of time and understanding of time than you might think. But in the end, there's a lot we don't know. So while your dog may not yet have the ability to be able to read a kitchen wall clock, it's unlikely that we know exactly what's going on in his head at this point.

II. Can dogs tell time?

Dogs have many skills that humans don't have, but could one of them be the ability to "predict time"? It would be cool to think about if dogs could tell time, wouldn't it?
I don't think dogs can tell time, but they do have a general idea of when it's time to go for a walk, when it's time to eat food, and even when you're coming home.

To put it more simply, a dog's body has its own set of biological clocks, and this biological clock is based on its home environment, habits, and other factors to determine.
Just like you wake up every morning at every time, this is called the biological clock. And you simply cannot predict the time.
How does a dog understand time? Why does it know when to eat, or even when you're coming home?
Dogs' perception of time may be related to their super senses
Although every dog is different, they all have a fairly sensitive sensory system, and these senses may play a significant role in their ability to determine "when something will happen" during the day.

Have you ever noticed that dogs have a superb sense of smell? Or that dogs can hear sounds coming from far away?
"The dog's nose contains up to 300 million receptors, while the human nose contains only about 600 receptors. On top of that, the part of a dog's brain that analyzes odors is 40 times larger than that of a human."
When you're out and about, walking your dog or going to a new environment, let your dog smell everything around you. Its nose can help them identify and recognize anything around them, and it can help them learn about its new environment.
In addition to the sense of smell, dogs have a strong sense of hearing. Dogs and humans hear the same sounds at low frequencies (about 20 Hz), but they are very different at high frequencies. Dogs can hear sounds as high as 70 to 100 kHz, while people can only hear sounds at 20 kHz. Dogs can hear sounds at least three times the frequency of a human.

Three, how does a dog know when you are coming home?

Just as people sometimes look forward to a certain part of the day (like a delicious lunchtime), dogs have the same habits as people do.
Not only do your schedule and daily activities make up your life, but they also become a part of your dog's life.
A dog may judge the time based on some particular instances that occur in life.

Is it light or dark outside the house?
Has fresh, fresh milk just arrived?
Did the garbage truck come downstairs again and did it just take the garbage away?
Does it smell the aroma of your breakfast cooking?
Has the neighbor gone home, and will the owner be home soon?
All these special instances that occur daily can help dogs have a general sense of time. Together with their unparalleled sensory organs, understanding these things seems to become very easy.

On the question of "can dogs tell time", do you now have the answer in mind? Whether the dog is waiting for you to come home, or they are barking toward the garbage truck downstairs, they may be using their superior sensory capabilities to determine which time of day it is. Those familiar sounds and smells help dogs build up an awareness of their surroundings and an understanding of the concept of time.