Mary Allen
The time changes twice a year. With these tips you can gently adjust your dog to the missing or gained hour.
Show understanding
Every dog has its own personality and therefore reacts individually to the time change. Some dogs don’t show any problems if the food is ready an hour earlier or even later on Sunday.
But there are also sensitive dogs for whom rituals convey clear structures and which the sudden change can irritate.
You know your dog best and can therefore decide for sure what is right for your darling. If you respond to the personality of your dog, your four-legged friend stays happy and balanced.
Proceed step by step
If your dog is one of the sensitive four-legged friends, you can help him slowly get used to the new time. So instead of completely changing your program from one day to the next, you slowly change your schedule.
Plan the feeding and walk times a little earlier every day or later in the fall. For example, you can spread the changeover over three days and start 20 minutes earlier or later each day. Thanks to this gentle transition, your darling will be well adjusted to summertime or wintertime after three days at the latest.
Give your dog lots of fresh air
In order to get your body used to the time change, you should spend a lot of time in the fresh air. It is best to go for a long walk with your dog first thing in the morning. The daylight in spring blows your tiredness away and the joint excursion is good for the cardiovascular system of the dog and owner.
In autumn you should make intensive use of the daylight hours outside. In this way, your furry paw can get enough oxygen and vitamin D even in the dark season and get through the winter well and healthy. Play extensively with your dog, and do the hunting, retrieving and search games. In this way, he can also keep himself busy mentally and is balanced and happy even on the now much shorter days. But be careful: These are the five most common mistakes when playing with dogs.
Be a good role model
Our own mood has a great effect on our dogs. If you are restless or exhausted yourself, this will also be reflected in your dog’s behavior.
Try to adjust yourself well to summertime or wintertime and always go to bed a little earlier by the minute or later in autumn. If possible, gradually adjust the rest of your day to summertime or wintertime to avoid mini jet lag. Ideally, your dog will get used to it automatically.
Use the evenings
You can do that in spring/summer
When you lose an hour in spring, don’t forget the advantages that summertime brings: It now stays light longer in the evenings. So after work you have much more time to play outside with your four-legged friend, go on short tours, or hang out to meet other owners and their dogs for activities together.
Your darling will be just as happy about it as you are. And it also makes you tired earlier, so going to bed an hour earlier will hardly bother you anymore.
You can do that in autumn/winter
In autumn and winter, you use the fact that it gets dark quite early for extensive hours of play at home. Alternatively, you can also take the time for harmonious cuddling hours or bake delicious dog biscuits. You can find recipes for this here: How to bake the perfect dog biscuits.
If it’s wet, dark, and cold outside, most dogs don’t want to go outside either. If you have used the time with daylight intensively, there is no reason to film endlessly long tours with your dog in the evening. Instead, make yourself comfortable and enjoy a good time with your darling.