This coming Sunday we fall back to Standard Time. We will set our clocks back one hour (before dawn) to segue out of Daylight Saving Time and back to Standard Time…
While the extra hour that first morning will feel like heaven #toyou, remember your pup may not see it the same way.
Youngsters and Senior dogs may still need to “rise” at their usual hour to take care of business regardless of the fact that the sun isn’t up.
Dogs are creatures of habit. They don’t set their routines by a clock – they love consistency.
Especially with –
- Potty Time
- Meal Time
- Together Time
For some, when the old familiar schedule is disrupted – the change can affect their behavior.
HOW TO HELP THEM COPE? –
Several days before the clocks go back an hour – I alter the Boys schedule just a bit.
Their ages (8.5 and 2.5) affords me the ability not to race outside immediately in the morning. I can delay our morning rituals by 15-20 minutes each day.
Evening meals are served a little later as well. For those extra minutes, I use it for our fun/play moments BEFORE they eat, then we walk.
Since dogs are also creatures of light, I anticipate their cycles to be a little off initially.
As they adjust, I will adapt to their impromptu naps…
…and probably catch a few Zzzzz’s myself!
How does your dog react to the change in time?
The two most powerful warriors are patience and time ❤️
This is our “wordy” contribution in the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
November 1, 2017
This is a great idea! Though you are much more organized than I am. I always have trouble adjusting to the fall back because I don’t like that it gets dark so early. Maybe I should try adjusting both Ruby and my schedule a few days in advance.
November 1, 2017
Even though we’ll be cloaked in darkness morning and night, it’ll be good to get back to ‘rea’l time. For some reason, my biorhythms never quite adjusted in the morning so hopefully, it will go seamlessly. Enjoy any extra
November 1, 2017
We don’t get that extra hour of sleep around here. The dogs will wake up at what they think is their normal 5:30, but it will now only be 4:30 and it will take about a week to get them to sleep later again.
Can I tell you how much I hate, hate, hate, this time change thing? I’ll be out of sorts for at least two weeks, and it happens on either end.
I actually think the dogs handle it far better than I do. 🙂
November 1, 2017
since Milo sees time in terms of eating peeing and pooping, I doubt he’ll notice. Cole used to automatically adjust. Milo loves being on our bed so he never wants to get up in the mornings. He might say, it can’t be time to get up! But I could eat…
November 1, 2017
Ugh, I hate when the time changes. I wish they’d just leave it alone. It usually takes us humans a bit of time to adjust, but Rita’s never been an early rising, and she’s not one to demand her breakfast or dinner so we don’t seem to notice too much difference with her.
November 2, 2017
Believe me, we are all looking forward to that extra hour. Mom is a slave driver and she has to wake us up every morning. Now we get a chance to stay in bed a bit longer! As much as we love that extra time, we wish the whole time switch thing would just stop because it is rather ridiculous!