![How sled dogs and pets respond when the clocks change How sled dogs and pets respond when the clocks change](https://i3.wp.com/ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/branded_news/1200/cpsprodpb/6a5e/live/a2dc3f60-de39-11ef-a69b-6ddb4eb9391c.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
For most of those working dogs, however, the disruption lasted just a day. The following morning, the majority of the dogs’ activity again aligned with the arrival of their human handlers.
However, for pet dogs there was no measurable disruption. After the clocks went back, their activity in the morning seemed to adjust to this new, human-imposed schedule.
“When we’ve spoken to pet owners, everyone comments that – with that hour change – their dog or cat is up in the morning, going crazy, waiting to be fed.
“But we didn’t really find that in pet dogs in our study.”
The team carried out their research in 2021, when Covid lockdown restrictions were in place in Canada. So they advertised for pet-owning participants, who had huskies or malamutes, to join their study remotely.
“They were amazing,” recalled Li. “They’d ask us questions, put the trackers we sent them by post on their dogs’ [collars], most of them kept really good notes.”
The researchers say their “takeaway finding” is that, for working dogs, gradually easing into a timetable change might be beneficial.
Because, while you can teach an old dog a new routine, such an abrupt, overnight shift can be unsettling. Unless, of course, you Are a pet with no work demands and a particularly comfortable dog bed.