How sled dogs and pets respond when the clocks change

If you have ever struggled with the sudden shift in routine imposed by the seasonal “springing forward” and “falling backward” of the clocks, spare a thought for the sled dogs of Ontario, Canada.

Researchers say the time shift is measurably unsettling for those working dogs, whose days are dictated by strict schedules.

When scientists from the University of Toronto put movement sensors on a group of Canadian sled dogs, they saw that the animals were active and moving around almost exactly an hour early – the morning after the clocks went back.

In contrast, pet dogs of the same breeds as the working dogs showed no measurable effect – apparently resting peacefully during their extra hour in bed.

“I wasn’t expecting any differences between the two groups [of dogs],” said Lavania Nagendran, one of the lead researchers.

“So it was interesting to see that the dogs were so aligned to their routine.”

The study, published in the journal PLoS One, is part of a wider project investigating the differences in behaviour between wolves and domestic dogs.

“Not all animals can just switch up their schedule based on human influences, [like changing the clocks]” said Ming Fei Li, the co-lead researcher.

She explained that she and her colleagues hoped to learn whether wolves are also able to adjust their activity patterns – and whether this flexibility evolved naturally in canines, or if it was imposed on dogs when we domesticated them.

Much of the research into the impact of changing the clocks – on health and sleep – is focused on humans. Previous studies have suggested that the time shift causes disrupted, or fragmented, sleep and that this can last up to a week. Research has even found an increase in fatal traffic accidents immediately after the clocks go back or forward.

This is the first study to investigate its effect in domestic dogs.

The researchers put their motion trackers on 25 sled dogs and 29 pets – all of which were in or near Ontario, in Canada.

For the sled dogs, the time change was a sudden shift in a strict daily routine. Prior to the clocks going back, handlers would arrive at their kennels at sunrise. The morning when the clocks went back, those sled dogs were up, active and moving around an hour before the handlers appeared.

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.