Can dogs really tell the time?

[Ian Pegler]

from the BBC...

Can dogs really tell the time?

Can dogs tell the time? The question is familiar to many dog owners whose pets seem to be able to sense when someone special is due home.

CLICK HERE to read the article.

Ian

[Ian Pegler]

Indeed, Mr. Sheldrake spoke at BSD Conference a few years ago.

It goes without saying that a sense of "smell-time" could not explain away Sheldrake's results
because the owners were instructed to come home at random times.

Ian

[Grahame]

Rupert Sheldrake is looking for some young research interns between 10-18 years old for a project on pets who know when their owners are coming home.

To take part in this research you need to live in the UK, and to have an animal that already shows signs of anticipation of people coming home, preferably 10 minutes or more in advance, or you need to have a good friend or family member who has such an animal with whom you can work. I plan to appoint three people to research internships during the course of which they would be guided by telephone by Pam Smart and myself. The project will involve doing ten filmed experiments in which the person to whom the animal responds will come home at randomly-selected times by public transport or bicycle or unfamiliar vehicles (to avoid familiar car sounds).

Those who are appointed as interns and their families will receive a payment of £500, with a further allowance for camera equipment if necessary.

Full details on his website.

[Grahame]

I just came across this very interesting YouTube video, which features Pat Smart, the owner of the dog used in Sheldrake's experiments. They discuss the results obtained from 100+ experiments conducted that conclusively show that Pat's dog 'knew' when she was coming home; compared with the 4 experiments that pseudo-sceptic Richard Wiseman did with the same dog. He replicated Sheldrake's results with the dog, obtaining positive, statistically significant results, and yet he then claimed that he had 'debunked' the claims as 'just coincidence'!

Watch the video HERE.

Read a summary of this long-lasting controversy, with links to Rupert's and Richard Wiseman's papers and articles on this subject HERE.

[mike]

Knowing the time or not, I prefer some dogs to humans every time, they never lie and will love you all day long without strings.

[mike]

Any dog knows when its dinner time, they will wake up and sit waiting for their bowl to be filled with good things. And often when the daughter visits the dogs are alert before she arrives and wait near the door, like they know she is coming.