Daylight Savings Time and Dogs: How does daylight saving time affect dogs and how to help your dog adjust, explained

Next week on Sunday April 5, those in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and ACT are set to get an extra hour of sleep.

Daylight saving is coming to an end, with people in those states ready to roll their clocks back an hour as we head into the cooler months.

And while most Aussies are aware of the change and the time difference, it’s not quite as simple for our furry friends.

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While dogs may not understand time the same as us, they do understand the concept, anticipating events based on routine.

For example, if you regularly walk your dog at the same time each day, they’re able to recognise that that time is approaching.

So, when we wind our clocks back by one hour next week, how is that going to affect them?

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According to dog behaviour specialist and psychology expert Nathan Williams, “the stress is minimal in most dogs,” however they can get confused when they have an expectation of dinner or a walk at a particular time.

Williams explains that if your dog is more anxious than most, there’s a simple way to avoid any stress related to daylight saving coming to an end.

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”For dogs that do experience stress with this unexpected change, the solution is simple,” he said.

“Instead of feeding with a difference of an hour, simply feed with a 15 minute difference and keep increasing that until the time difference normalises.”

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So if you’re worried about how your pup is going to react when clocks flick back next weekend, don’t stress too much.

Most dogs won’t be too bothered by the hour difference when it comes to their daily walk or meal, but if they are, simply just ease them into it by changing their scheduled time by 10 or 15 minutes a day.

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