Have you ever thought about how much patience animals actually have? We’re always telling them to be more patient, to wait for this or that to happen. Imagine you are someone’s animal: a dog, cat, horse, bird, etc. You rely on this person to feed you, play with you, exercise you, and even let you out to go to the bathroom in some cases. Think about this for a moment. What would it actually feel like? You would have to be pretty patient; you have no other choice because you rely on this person for everything in order to survive.
This explains why animals so easily get into a routine and some even get upset if that routine isn’t followed. Now imagine what day light savings does to your animal. All of sudden you start feeding an hour earlier or later. The animals don’t necessarily understand time like we do, but they do know their routine has been changed. I really thought deeply about this during the fall time change and instead of waiting the full hour I started to gradually transition my animals to the new time and feeding routine. The horses did pretty well at adapting, but my dogs appeared to have a harder time as it took them almost three months to adjust after the time change. When we spring forward in March it appears easier for the animals to adjust because you are feeding them earlier.
We as animal owners have the biggest responsibility in caring for our animals. One of the best gifts we can offer them is from time to time to think about things from their perspective. It will also offer you wonderful insights into understanding their behavior and how you can make life better for them. And perhaps even adopt some of their great patience into your life and interactions with others.
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