Why your dog’s always there to welcome you home: he smells how long you’ve been away
My anxiety poodle can’t walk down stairs because of OCD, says Richard Curtis’s daughter
DOG owners have long been mystified by their pets’ knack to greet them at the door when they return home from work.
And a family member already inside may notice a pooch hurrying to the door a good quarter of an hour before the person they are waiting for arrives.
But impressive as this trick is, dogs are not psychic, an expert has debunked – they may simply ‘smell time’ as it passes.
Discussed in a recent talk, the theory is that canines have learned the rate at which their owners’ scent fades through the day after they leave the house for work.
When the smell reduces to a certain level – after about nine hours have passed, for instance – their devoted pet realises this is when they normally appear at the door.
Professor Alexandra Horowitz, a highly respected expert in dog cognition from Barnard College in the US, discussed the phenomenon during a talk called For The Love Of Dogs at Toronto Public Library.
She told the audience: ‘It might be that, over the course of the day, the smell of us in our homes, if we’re absent, is actually diminishing.
‘Smells get less strong, so if you’ve made coffee in the morning, you can smell the coffee, then after a little bit of time, this coffee smell is dissipated. So it could be that dogs know when you’re going to come home because the smell of you has reached that weakness that it usually does when you arrive.’
The theory was tested nearly a decade ago in a BBC series called Inside the Animal Mind.
A dog named Jazz seemed to know when his owner Johnny was coming home, leaping up on to the sofa at around 4.40pm every day as if waiting for him – despite him not coming through the door for about another 20 minutes.
The programme, presented by Chris Packham, showed the dog no longer did this after his owner’s sweaty T-shirt had been wafted around the living room by his partner in the middle of the day.
Johnny’s smell reappeared, which seemed to stop his dog from working out his time of arrival.
Professor Horowitz has said dogs’ ability to link smell and time also helps them to track the direction in which someone has gone from the trail they have left behind.
This is because their most recent footprint smells more strongly than the one laid down seconds earlier.
THEY say dogs often look like their owners – but it seems they can take on similar traits, too.
Scarlett Curtis, daughter of Love Actually creator Richard Curtis, has revealed that the ‘anxiety dog’ she bought to help her cope with mental health struggles is now facing issues of its own, after recently being diagnosed with OCD.
Ms Curtis, 28, said the toy poodle, Betty, is having problems settling in to the new £1 million Notting Hill flat bought for her by her father and mother, Emma Freud.
Ms Curtis said: ‘Betty is a real oddball. She was diagnosed with OCD and she still can’t climb down the stairs.’
Canine OCD is rare, affecting only 2 per cent of dogs, and is mostly seen in males.
The condition can manifest itself in pacing, circling, licking surfaces or shadow chasing, and can be caused by diet or trauma.
Ms Curtis, who is a writer and activist, has been open about her mental health issues. For four years she has been living as a ‘hermit in the countryside’ at her parents’ home in Suffolk, spending long stints unable to get out of bed.
She bought Betty two years ago to help with her anxiety struggles. Toy poodles are commonly used to help alleviate the stress caused by the condition. Betty sleeps on her owner’s bed and rarely leaves her side.
Last year, Ms Curtis’s parents bought her the new flat in Notting Hill, which she has been travelling back and forth from – with Betty – while renovating. But Betty’s recent OCD diagnosis means the anxiety
‘The scent of us, if we’re absent, diminishes’
dog can no longer manage the property’s stairs.
Pete Wedderburn, a vet and animal welfare expert, said: ‘Vets talk about canine compulsive disorder as opposed to OCD, as while we can see that dogs are carrying out repetitive, compulsive behaviours, we cannot tell if they have the same obsessive thoughts as humans, because they cannot talk to us and let us know.
‘It is treatable, starting with modifying their daily routine or environment to relieve any stress. In many cases, anti-anxiety medication is needed too. Dogs should be getting at least half an hour of exercise twice a day, as well keeping their minds stimulated with toys and human company.’