A very common phrase from those who have a Shih Tzu at home is: “He knows exactly when I’m coming home from work. He’s already waiting at the door for me.” As exaggerated as these words may sound, the idea that Shih Tzus know when their owner is coming is true.
It’s not about any premonition or crystal ball, but typically canine characteristics that set them apart from other beings, namely well-developed senses like smell and hearing, and the conditioning of the Shih Tzu.
According to experts, a dog’s sense of smell is much more refined than that of humans. While we have, on average, five million olfactory cells (odor receptors), some breeds, like sniffers, can have 220 million. Furthermore, the area in a dog’s brain dedicated to perceiving smells is about 40 times larger than ours proportionally.
Dogs’ hearing is also significantly superior to humans. It’s believed to be ten times more sensitive than ours, with the ability to pick up sounds four times more distant and detect the origin of the sound in just six hundredths of a second.
In addition to anatomy, another factor contributing to a dog knowing when its owner or anyone else is coming is animal conditioning. In other words, if a person usually arrives home at the same time every day, it’s natural for the dog to identify this behavior and start waiting for them.
This often happens during meal times as well. Regardless of whether it’s a holiday or Sunday, the little dog will always be there, waiting for you at the usual time.