# When we leave our pets at home

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-we-leave-our-pets-at-home/592825>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 15, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-we-leave-our-pets-at-home/592825 "2011-08-15T20:44:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-we-leave-our-pets-at-home/592825/1 "2011-08-15T20:44:33Z")

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Hello Everyone,  
When we leave our house to go somewhere our Chow/Shepard mix always has a look on his face that this may be the last time he ever see’s us and even though it has happend a thousand time he looks confused. Does a dog have any concept of where we go when we leave? I realize he isn’t going to think we are going to Wal Mart, but he sees his humans leaving everyday, but he doesn’t know why they are gone or where? Does he just think we dissapear for a few hours and then magically re-appear?  
Also, his joy when we return seems to be the same wether we have left for 10 minutes or 4 hours. Does an animal have any concept of time or does he just view things as on/off, here or not here?

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**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-we-leave-our-pets-at-home/592825/2 "2011-08-15T21:21:13Z")

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Please see “[Cow can think](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=620353)” thread for more in-depth discussion on animal cognitive reasoning.

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-we-leave-our-pets-at-home/592825/3 "2011-08-15T21:25:54Z")

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Also, please see the research works of Prof. George Carlin:

> [@](#):
>
> Dogs have one concept of time: forever. No matter what you do, the dog thinks it’s going to last _forever_.

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**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-we-leave-our-pets-at-home/592825/4 "2011-08-15T22:07:21Z")

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> [@Omar\_Little](#):
>
> Please see “[Cow can think](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=620353)” thread for more in-depth discussion on animal cognitive reasoning.

Thanks for the head up on the Moo thread. I apologize for the duplicate question.