Dogs know when it’s time to eat and start begging at the same time every day, like the hands of a clock.
But is it due to habit and habit or do they really know how to tell time?
Looks like dogs know when we’ll be back home, too.
Have you noticed that your dog greets you with a wagging tail and sloppy kisses every time you come home? Do they just love us enough to wait for us at the door for us to return, or do they know what time we usually get home?
These are things that dog owners have wondered about for a while.
The answer is yes dogs can tell the time, but not in the same way as we do.
Circadian Rhythm
Dogs don’t need a wristwatch or clock to tell them what time it is, instead they rely on an internal clock, a circadian rhythm system.
This sunlight-controlled 24-hour cycle helps animals figure out when to eat, sleep, and more. Dogs learn to tell time based on the interaction between circadian rhythms and the environment throughout the day, known as infatuation.
Lynne Nelson, a veterinarian and researcher at Washington State University, explain, “The dogs are training their brains based on different events, such as when the owner comes home or when food is brought out.”
Dogs learn through repetition so in the same way that humans have taught dogs to tell time.
“All of this is based on certain genes that control the development of different traits, as well as the wiring in our brains,” Nelson continued. This happens alone without us knowing, so fascinating!
Dogs don’t tell time, but judgment time
There is very little research on this topic but one published in the journal Nature Neuroscience believes that dogs can measure time.
Research conducted by researchers at Northwestern University has found that dogs cannot tell the time, but rather judge the time when they are waiting for an expected outcome.
“Researchers at Northwestern University’s Department of Neurobiology have found evidence that previously unknown neurons in animal brains are activated when the animal is in standby mode. The neurons are located in an area of the temporal lobe of the brain where we know that spatial memory is encoded,” report American Kennel Club.
This discovery and a mouse study led researchers to hypothesize that this area of the brain measures time.
Inference
One of the things we admire most about dogs is the way they can live a carefree and righteous life. They don’t stress about time or what happened five minutes ago. They enjoy the little things in life, like cuddling with who they are.
While dogs learn a lot from observing people, we can learn a lot more by observing them.
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