Daylight saving time (DST)

If you live in a country that observes DST on March 30, did you forget to change the clocks in your household, wake up on Sunday morning and find you were an hour behind? How long does it take you to adjust to the new time, or perhaps you don’t? There are those of us who don’t adjust. I, for instance, tend to wake up at approximately 6.30 in the summer, but as soon as the clocks go back, I revert to waking at 5.30. This rather odd behaviour has only affected me in the last few years as before, I was able to adjust the same as most of the population. Having said that, this does not cause me any stress, and I have never seen any adverse reaction from my pets. My current faithful companion really doesn’t care; 5.30, 6.30, or any other time, the reaction is the same. She staggers from the bedroom to the lounge and flops down on her other bed, keeps me under observation until the first brew of the day has been made and returns to her slumbers. I blame Joy for this slothful behaviour as she is also reluctant to emerge from under the covers.

DST was first introduced locally in Port Arthur (Thunder Bay.) Ontario, Canada, in 1908. It is practised in many parts of the world but not on the same day of the year. Some countries don’t participate in this biannual ritual, and there is opposition to its continuation in some countries that do. Across the world, various groups lobby for change, including farmers, safety organisations, religious groups, economists, doctors and politicians and in a few countries, these voices have prevailed.

How do dogs adjust?

That being said, generally, how do dogs adjust? Do they enjoy the extra hour in bed or show irritation at being woken earlier than the previous day?

Unfortunately, when the clocks change twice a year, certain social media is flooded with videos of dogs appearing to be distressed by the abrupt change. To put this in context, I have no doubt that the overwhelming majority of these are contrived, and even the ones that are genuine only represent a minuscule number of  those affected, and any disruption is very short-lived

A genuine consequence is that owners that have nervous dogs will notice a change in behaviour as their pet has to cope with being exercised during daylight or dark conditions as opposed to the opposite.

Unsurprisingly, the results show that the overwhelming majority of dogs belonging to the general public show very little reaction to the change. They may appear slightly confused to see their owners spending an extra hour in bed or getting up early. However, it should be noted that in many households, these changes naturally occur at weekends anyway. Speaking of weekends, it is common for many to indulge in different pursuits that totally change the routine. The weekly evening visits to the pub, sporting events, longer walks, trips out and all the other activities that we pursue. So, the idea that DST is a major disruptor is definitely fanciful.

Expert’s opinions…

I am somewhat bemused to read the various comments by the experts regarding this subject regarding the recent publication of the report on this subject published by the University of Toronto.

There is no mention of weekends, shift patterns, particularly those undertaken by emergency personnel, the self-employed, or the vagrancies of disturbed sleep patterns caused by babies, small children, and other pets, including cats and cage birds. It is hardly surprising that DST has minimal effect on pet dogs living in pet homes. Their routine is constantly disrupted by the events that occur daily in the vast majority of households. Also, bear in mind households that have a single dog; it is not uncommon for the dog to have access to a bowl of dry food 24 hours a day. In homes where there are several children, the idea that dinner is served on the hour to accommodate the family pet dog’s rumbling tummy is rather silly. Ask any Mum in a busy home if she feeds the dog at a specific time, and you will get a short, sharp answer. The idea that animals’ behaviour is overwhelmingly dictated by daylight is a non-starter. This may be the case for animals in the wild, but the pet dog’s routine is mainly dictated by family circumstances.

Again when it came to working dogs the result was fairly predictable particular for sled dogs. Where dogs don’t live with a family and reside in a kennel environment, where the routine is far more rigid there tends to be a greater impact but the consequences appear to be very minor with even sled dogs accepting DST with minimal distress.

Canine vs human sleep

It needs to be remembered that, unlike us humans, the canine does not lay its head on a pillow and soundly sleeps for eight hours in one stretch. Despite giving the impression that they are immersed in a deep sleep by snoring and twitching, their sleep patterns are generally broken several times a night. There a variety of reasons for this but the dogs acute sense of hearing is one of the main factors for their inability to sleep continually throughout the night.

Without appearing to be over critical one does have to wonder what was the point of the exercise considering the result was entirely predictable and what more productive research could have been undertaken that would be more useful.

If your dog is one of the tiny minority that has difficulty with the clocks going forward or back for one hour, the simple answer is to make the change gradually over the week before. If you change your routine, particularly the feeding time, by around seven or eight minutes a day for seven days, then your pet will barely notice the difference.

I admit that I am not a fan of rigid routines for humans or animals unless it is dictated by issues related to health or emotional well-being. We need to be flexible because we cannot expect our lives to be exactly the same tomorrow as it is today; therefore, we need to be able to adapt, adjust and overcome to face the inevitable challenges that will affect us all. That also includes our pets!