# Should I buy my dog a watch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491 "2006-02-08T02:44:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/1 "2006-02-08T02:44:43Z")
I’ve always wondered, can dogs tell time? Is there any evidence that they understand the concept of time? My dogs react the same way when I leave the house for 5 minutes or all day. As far as I can tell, they don’t tell time. Or atleast really dont’ understand it. Any help guys? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/2 "2006-02-08T02:48:00Z")
I’ve heard of a watch dog. I’ve heard of a dog watch (First and Second). But I haven’t heard of a dog for a watch. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/3 "2006-02-08T02:49:28Z")
Yeah. I sell watches for dogs. $500 bucks per. We can arange payments later. Note to self, buy a Gross of watches from the dollar store. ---
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/4 "2006-02-08T03:43:49Z")
Dogs and cats both seem to be able to tell time, at least generally, in that they know when it’s time for you to feed and walk them. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/5 "2006-02-08T03:48:47Z")
I’ve always been told that dogs have NO sense of time - if you leave for 2 mins they’re just as happy to see you when you get back as they would be if you were gone 2 days. But my dog (and I’m sure others) knows when it’s after 5. 5 is when I stop working and we do something fun together. She doesn’t bug me at 3 or 4, but when 5 rolls around if I am still working I get an earful. Maybe it’s just that dogs know routine. I don’t doubt that. So is the “just as excited after 2 minutes” a lack of time knowledge, or is it a trained response to the door opening? _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/6 "2006-02-08T04:49:10Z")
We used to have a dog that understood the concept of “tomorrow.” She might not have had a clue what an hour was, but we could tell her “We’ll go bye-bye tomorrow” and the next day, she’d be at the front window, looking at the car and barking excitedly. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/7 "2006-02-08T15:47:09Z")
I was gone for 2 years in China. I came back and my dog looked at me like I had been gone for a couple days. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/8 "2006-02-08T15:49:57Z")
Should I buy my dog a watch? > [@Surbey](#): > > I’ve always wondered, can dogs tell time? Is there any evidence ehat they understand the concept of time?My dogs react the same way when I leave the house for 5 minutes or all day. As far as I can tell, they don’t tell time. Or atleast really dont’ understand it.Any help guys? WAG If you buy your dog a watch then, at the very least, you will have a “WATCH DOG.” As for telling time my Shih Tzu pretty much has a routine to do certain things at more of less certain times. Takes clues from human activities, etc. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/9 "2006-02-08T16:14:21Z")
I’ve heard anecdotal stories from several people (sorry, no cites) of dogs who knew what time to start watching for the school bus to welcome the kids home. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/10 "2006-02-08T16:21:57Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I’ve heard of a watch dog. > > I’ve heard of a dog watch (First and Second). > > But I haven’t heard of a dog for a watch. I’ve seen a house fly. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/11 "2006-02-08T17:52:44Z")
Only if his name is Satchel. And you also have a cat named Bucky. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/12 "2006-02-08T18:10:04Z")
I don’t know about dogs, buy my cat wakes me up at the same unOgly hour every morning, give or take 5 minutes. This is regardless of the seasonal changes in sunrise. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/13 "2006-02-08T18:34:13Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > I’ve heard anecdotal stories from several people (sorry, no cites) of dogs who knew what time to start watching for the school bus to welcome the kids home. Dog2U does this with Kid2U. When he started track after school recently, Baron got nuts every day at the time he’d originally come home - it took him awhile to learn that there was a new “coming home” time and now he waits at the window at the new time. He has to have some idea of time because it isn’t like we have the same routine every day or even watch the same tv shows every day - he just “knows” what time it is. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/14 "2006-02-08T19:07:37Z")
My parents’ retriever goes and pesters my mum to feed him at almost exactly 4pm, he asks for breakfast at almost exactly 7am and asks to go out for a wee wee (when he also gets a biscuit) nearly always at 9:30pm. Sometimes he tries to do all of these about 30 mins too early - he is told “too early”, so he trots off and calms down again. My dog is always waiting for me at the gate when I come home - if I come home early, I often see here popping through the dog flap yawning and looking sleepy. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/15 "2006-02-08T19:41:41Z")
Some people who think their dogs can tell time might be seeing the results of dogs’ extraordinary sensitivity to body language. Let’s say your husband/wife gets home at five. You’re watching the clock, anticipating their arrival. Your dog notices the slight tension in your posture, and the way you keep glancing at the clock and door-- he knows something is about to happen and gets excited. Likewise, **gotpasswords’s** dog is probably seeing that you’re getting ready to go, or are thinking about it, and thus tensing up a bit. Dogs may have a general sense of time if the same thing happens every day. They can probably tell from the angle of sunlight and other external cues (such as the neighbors get home at 4:30, and when they hear that, they know it’s about time for one of their pack to come home, too.) Their hearing is also ultra-sensitive. Some researchers believe that every car sounds differently to a dog, and they’re able to pick out the sounds of their owner’s vehicle while it’s still driving down the street. So, the dog goes to the door ten minutes before the owner arrives, and the rest of the family is astonished that Rover knew that dad was coming home. The test would be whether a dog who demands a treat at four demands it at three when the clocks turn back at daylight savings time. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/16 "2006-02-08T21:11:34Z")
A dog needs a watch like a cat needs a blender. Man, that took me five minutes to think of, and it still came out that schtoopid. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/17 "2006-02-09T00:10:37Z")
As for the daylight savings time thing, it takes about two weeks for our female dog’s body clock to reset to the change. She wakes us for breakfast an hour early in the fall. (the male does not demand feeding like she does) ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/18 "2006-02-09T00:16:59Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > Some researchers believe that every car sounds differently to a dog, and they’re able to pick out the sounds of their owner’s vehicle while it’s still driving down the street. So, the dog goes to the door ten minutes before the owner arrives, and the rest of the family is astonished that Rover knew that dad was coming home. I find it pretty implausible that the dog is picking up the car’s sounds ten minutes early; the car would still be miles away at that point. Thirty seconds, sure, maybe a minute, but not more. That the dog is getting cues from the nieghbors, though, seems like a good way to explain some of these occurances. I’m going to have to vote for the “external cues” theory; my dog knows he gets breakfast as soon as I finish mine. He sleeps calmly at my feet until I stand up, and then swarms around my feet and through my legs until I feed him. He does this at 5 a.m., he does this at 7, he does this at 11… It’s pretty clear he’s reacting to me finishing. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/19 "2006-02-09T01:09:26Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > I find it pretty implausible that the dog is picking up the car’s sounds ten minutes early; the car would still be miles away at that point. Thirty seconds, sure, maybe a minute, but not more. Anecdote: My horse can recognize the sound of my car coming down the driveway to the barn. I’ve been told more than once by people who happened to be near him at the time that he perks up and whickers, staring in that direction, just before the car pulls into sight. A dog’s hearing is I believe even better than a horse’s, so a dog’s recognition of a particular car’s (or a school bus’s) approaching sound seems reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491/20 "2006-02-09T05:00:57Z")
> [@Mr Bus Guy](#): > > A dog needs a watch like a cat needs a blender. > > Man, that took me five minutes to think of, and it still came out that schtoopid. Oh, man…I immediately had an image of a cat standing on its hind legs…on a bar stool it pushed to the counter…running a blender…blending about 17 mice… thanks… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-buy-my-dog-a-watch/343491.md?page=2)