Timekeepers – A Sniff in Time

By Elizabeth Anne Johnson.

For some strange reason I’ve always been obsessed and fascinated with the passage of “time”. Time is this strange amorphous thing that we’ve learned to feel and see but can’t touch. We feel hints of it as the light slowly changes each day, when the morning breaks through the darkness, when the sun is hot and high in the sky, and when the soft light of evening turns to slate. We see it in the faces of our loved ones, as they grow and learn about life. We feel it as we and others age. Time chronicles our lives in many ways.

And suddenly we begin to panic as we notice it speed up and travel towards our beloved dogs.

I’ve always felt that time has our dogs – and our hearts – by the tail. The day I realized that time was barreling down on my dogs at warp speed, I immediately wanted to slow it down and have more. More sweet touch of their fur, more gazing in their eyes, more cuddles, howls, and dancing, even more hair on the couch. That’s when I realized each dog feels like a Timekeeper to me.

Dogs are markers in time for us. Each dog fills a short segment of our life with a whole life of their own. Each dog is like a delicious chapter we never want to end. Each holds volumes of memories, way too short chapters of love and life together, and encyclopedias of learning about ourselves as we learn about them. Each dog holds a whole era in their furry body.

All my dogs register in my mind and heart as pivotal pieces and distinct periods of my life. They accompany and label parts of my life’s journey. A capitol “J” for joy, capitol “Gs” for giggles and gratitude, and eventually ending with a weepy lowercase “s” for sadness as they finally turn off time and gracefully pass the torch to a new timekeeper.

As I reach back in time and feel the many precious chapters we had together, each dog is unique in its teachings and each dog’s chapter is defined by our many adventures. As I replay those snapshots I’m transported back to where we played, where we worked together, where we traveled, where we learned together, where we healed each other and where we finally separated-in body only.

Road trips, life adventures, home changes, marriages, births, life changes, injuries for us both, family shifts, even vehicles and fun gear that I owned – all hold memories of my pack members as we traveled and explored together. And of course there are the collars, leashes, booties, jackets, dog beds, dog Xmas stockings, silly lighted antlers, and shredded toys that I still can’t throw away. Reel after reel of life is attached to each one, all 17 plus canid timekeepers over 65 human years. Some made senior-hood and some departed early, but all are embedded in their own special space in my heart. So, I call them all my Timekeepers and honor each one for their incredible gifts and awesome memories.

The turning of the year – our human New Year – often makes us pause and reflect on Time. The wins, the losses, the delights, the challenges and the deep learnings that take time to surface and digest. For me it feels like sniffing the past. After accompanying all my dogs while they excitedly followed scents and being amazed at what they can capture about the past moments, I definitely consider my personal reflections to be like scent work.

Like dogs, I smell time.

There have been numerous fascinating studies about how dogs smell time. Here are some tidbits. See if you can parallel some of these into your own beloved memories, your feral self, and your own inner dog.

• Olfactory Clock: A dog’s world is all about scent. Stronger, newer smells signal recent activity, while weaker, older smells point to the past, creating a timeline of events in their environment. Don’t we humans do that with a few less nasal molecules?
• Scent as Memory: For dogs, a smell isn’t just a smell; it’s a memory and a “marker of time”, allowing them to reconstruct events from just a sniff. 

Follow your own memories…

• Scent Fading: When you’re away from home for a while, your unique scent molecules in your house become weaker. Dogs use this gradual fading of your scent to gauge how long you’ve been gone, and they can link a specific level of scent to your routine and return. We can do that too!!!
• Air Currents & Weather: Dogs detect shifts in smells carried by air currents and temperature changes throughout the day, giving them an olfactory schedule for their own daily routines. Ever wonder how your dog knows “it’s time for…” Tune into your other senses to be on their schedule.
• Predicting the Future: By smelling what’s on the breeze or detecting subtle changes in constant odors, they can smell what’s coming next. This detection ability signals an alarm system for certain events, upcoming places or when certain people are approaching them. Follow your instincts!!!
• Dr. Alexandra Horowitz is a leading researcher who theorizes that “scent time” is what relates a dog’s experience to time, not clock time.
• Dr. Horowitz also encourages “smell walks,” recognizing that sniffing is how dogs read their world and gather all sorts of information that we humans often don’t notice. It’s fun to really watch your dog as they make their sniffy rounds…what seems to light them up???

Sniffing is a bridge to the past. I smell time by my dogs’ lives and always will. I love it when I feel those Timekeeper memories flood in as I open a box that I packed years ago and a distinct air scent wafts out with a few tufts of the precious hair of the dog of that era. Ahhhh… I smile and ask myself each time…did I subconsciously cache that cluster of hair away just for another sweet memory and sniff?

A sniff in time, a memory surfaced and a heartstring plucked as I breathe in deeply and feel that sweet smile.

Happy sniffing and Happy New Year!

Next up is the Water Element Dog – Do you think you have one? To find out your dog’s element and why they do what they do – check out the dog (and human!) quizzes in my book – Know Your Dog’s True Natureand find out how you and your dog can have an awesome winter season!!

Elizabeth Anne Johnson is an animal empath and animal healer of over 30 years and the author of ‘Know Your Dog’s True Nature: Understanding Canine Personality through the Five Elements.’ Her gentle approach blends intuitive wisdom and holistic care to help animals and their humans find balance and connection. Check out our free gifts at www.ElizabethAnneJohnson.com