Later in the day, you hear that familiar whine or grumble, or if your dog’s a bit more obvious, a food bowl might drop at your feet right around - yep - 5 p.m! But as far as we know, dogs still can’t read analog or digital clocks. So what gives? Can your dog really know that dinner comes at 5:15 every day?

So how do these smart, funny, deeply attuned creatures seem to know what time it is—or at least how time passes?