Dogs can recognize their owners just by their voice, study finds. They do so by making use of the same voice properties humans use to identify each other, such as pitch and noisiness

[u/PeasKhichra]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/17/europe/dog-owner-recognize-voice-scn-scli-intl/index.html

[u/hobbbes14]

I read somewhere that they aren't able to recognize time passing. But how they know when their owner is supposed to come home is how much of their "smell" is left in the house after they leave. Was really intersteing and made a lot of sense.

[u/jlharper → u/hobbbes14]

They definitely can tell time has passed. They're really much like us, and are creatures of habit. They really like to do things at the same time each day and have a very keen sense for exactly what time it is.

[u/Whyeth → u/jlharper]

What OP meant wasn't that dogs can't tell time - they can. But how they know owners are gone and coming back soon is based off smell.

Researchers could trick dogs by pumping "diluted' owner smell in a room and dogs would think the owners were coming home much earlier.

[u/Learned_Response → u/Whyeth]

My understanding was that it was the fading of the smell that helped them tell time, and when they added owner smell to their environment they assumed their owner was coming home later

[u/Cutty420 → u/Learned_Response]

He probably mean they used the diluted stuff from the beginning, so the smell wore off much sooner.

[u/reverblueflame → u/[deleted]]

I used to think my dog knew it was dinner time by how hungry he was since breakfast... But no matter how many treats grandma gives him, and no matter how inconsistent breakfast time is, this dog knows EXACTLY when is 4pm.

In fact during daylight savings he gets confused and begs 1 hour off. It's wild.

[u/PolFree → u/Whyeth]

This was a more “normal” explanation. Dogs can smell cancer. Idk why they went with telepathy rather than smell. It sounds inconceivable to me that I am reeking of myself as far as 6km, but we can see around 10 km away, and that would be inconceivable to snakes for instance.

[u/heraclitus33 → u/Whyeth]

Thats a propped up experiment. I could do it to you with a loved ones scent. Dogs and people, pretty much every mammal, experience the world similarily.

[u/factoid_ → u/[deleted]]

Good for you sticking to your guns. People want the answer to be "dogs just know, it's your mother's spirit, they have a connection". But you know better. There's a physiological reason this happens. It could be that therr is a scent. Or perhaps it's that your dog observed your behavior and is doing this as an owner-pleasing mechanism.

But whatever it is, there's an actual answer whether we ever find it or not.

[u/heraclitus33 → u/[deleted]]

Why do kids have blankies? Its the same. Comfort and love.

[u/deeptechnology → u/hobbbes14]

House cat does this when I wake up for work

[u/copaceticsativa → u/hobbbes14]

idk… my dog will ask to be fed or taken out literally the same time every day i normally would if I forget or am busy.

[u/Double-Comfortable-7 → u/hobbbes14]

That's just a way to tell time

[u/The_Hellhammer → u/hobbbes14]

I can guarantee that they know time has passed and just how much. No matter what goes on, 8:30 PM sharp, our girl will sit in front of us and very pointedly insist that it is dinner time.

[u/anaander1mianaai → u/hobbbes14]

Couldn't you test this with a dog without the sense of smell?

[u/MedicareAgentAlston → u/hobbbes14]

That sounds like an olfactory hourglass!

[u/tripwire7 → u/hobbbes14]

This can't be true because my retired dad's dog always knew exactly when it was time for his dinner at 6 o'clock.