Dog Memory

[lionking]

Possibly not the right forum for this topic, but couldn't find anything closer. My daughter and her boyfriend just returned home to Australia after nearly two years in London. He had a Pit Bull Terrier he obviously had not seen for this time. I imagined a painful reunion where he would have to re-establish contact with the dog and work his way back to the close "relationship" they had. Not so! They took off as if they had been apart for a day.

Now I am not a dog owner, but I did not credit them with such a long memory, or at least a sense of their previous, long lost owner. Am I doing dogs a disservice?

[tsg]

I can't speak for their dog, but my dog is happy to see anyone who comes in the door.

[vexed]

I would think that it would be possible for the dog to remember scents of people, especially those who were care givers for a given amount of time. Although I'm just guessing. tsg makes a good point too, is the dog not usually accepting of new people into the home?

[Stitch]

I don't see why a dog (or any animal) wouldn't retain memory of previously good experiences or those responsible for giving them. Certainly a rescue dog that was beaten can remain timid for the rest of its days.

[Jimbo07]

Right on. We have a rescue dog. Who thought a Rotty cross could be such a chicken?

On the other hand, she's always nice to my parents, even though they only visit once per year.

[Dogdoctor]

I have seen dogs who would treat anyone (absolutely anyone) with a car as their best friend. Just open the door and they will jump in and wait for you to take them somewhere. There are many possible explanations for the dogs behavior. It is possible it remembers the person , 2 years doesn't seem long if they had been together for at least 2 years prior to leaving, but it could be that the dog is just friendly to anyone with certain characteristics.

[The Darkest One]

Possibly..

I imagine that they were happy to see the dog too. The dog probably sensed that excitement and became so himself.

[Goshawk]

I imagined a painful reunion where he would have to re-establish contact with the dog and work his way back to the close "relationship" they had.


This is called "projection". You projected the emotions that you yourself would have felt if a loved one had inexplicably disappeared for two years, only to reappear equally inexplicably, onto the dog.

Projecting emotions onto animals is generally a waste of time, unless you're a Disney animator. :D

Dogs certainly remember people, and they remember people who mistreat them, and are wary of them. But if the BF never mistreated his dog, then the dog would have no reason to sulk, and hence displayed normal "Hi howareya!" behavior, and it didn't matter to the dog if the BF had been gone for two days, or two years. Dogs are like that.

[tracer]

My dog's "memory" is a joke.

He'll see me going into the garage and close the door, and then ten seconds later, he'll bark because he hears noises in the garage (me) and thinks there's an intruder.

[kellyb]

My old dog (he lives with my mom now) would remember casual acquaintances even when he hadn't seen them for a few years. We could always tell if whoever was knocking on our door was a friend by whether he'd be wagging his tail or barking and growling.

[tsg]

Dogs certainly remember people, and they remember people who mistreat them, and are wary of them. But if the BF never mistreated his dog, then the dog would have no reason to sulk, and hence displayed normal "Hi howareya!" behavior, and it didn't matter to the dog if the BF had been gone for two days, or two years. Dogs are like that.

My dog is just as happy to see me if I'm gone for a week or had just walked out the door a minute ago and came back because I forgot my keys.

[DRBUZZ0]

Possibly not the right forum for this topic, but couldn't find anything closer. My daughter and her boyfriend just returned home to Australia after nearly two years in London. He had a Pit Bull Terrier he obviously had not seen for this time. I imagined a painful reunion where he would have to re-establish contact with the dog and work his way back to the close "relationship" they had. Not so! They took off as if they had been apart for a day.

Now I am not a dog owner, but I did not credit them with such a long memory, or at least a sense of their previous, long lost owner. Am I doing dogs a disservice?

Well I'd ask like the others if the dog acted differently than it does with other people. If the dog is shy in general but obviously treated him differently then, that would be one thing.

But dogs can definitely remember things going back some time if they are deeply ingrained enough. For example, dogs which were abused may fear the site of a cage or something for the rest of their lives. And dogs do remember smells well. So if the dog spent a lot of time with him and strongly associated him with being a good friend and owner then it's not that much of a stretch....

[Modified]

We had a dog who raised a kitten. They went everywhere together, slept together, got along perfectly. If the kitten was out wandering in the woods, you could tell the dog to go get her and he'd bring her back, holding her in his teeth by the scruff of the neck. This went on for one year, until we gave the cat away to a relative. A year later, the relative and the cat came for a visit. The dog, who didn't care for any other cat, approached the cat and tried to snuggle up. The cat took a swipe at him and ran away. He tried again, with the same result. Then he walked away and laid down with a sad look on his face.

[Ralph]

I routinely take my dog for hikes at the local state park.

We used to run into an elderly gentleman there who was a regualr walker there and always carried a pocketfull of dog biscuits.

My dog got to the point where he recognised him and would start barking
whenever the guy came into view. (He does not normally bark at people).

The man apparently wound up having heart surgury and took a break from his hikes at the park for almost 2 years.

When I first saw him again he was far enough away that I didn't even recognize him at first. My dog though, started barking furiously and as he drew closer I realized it was the old guy with the biscuits.

( He wasn't carrying any biscuits on him so it wasn't the smell of dog treats my dog was barking at.....) the dog sure seemed to remember him though.

[Freethinker]

My grandparents had a small dog that was spoiled rotten. My grandmother died, and a few years later, my grandfather had to move into a nursing home. We kept the dog. Four years later, my aunt was ill and couldn't host the family Christmas dinner, so my mother had it at our house. When my grandfather came in, the dog cowered down and crawled to him, and spent the rest of the day within a foot of my grandfather. It was almost like the dog knew something wasn't right, but he certainly knew who it was.

[lionking]

Been away for a bit, so just catching up. The dog certainly acted differently when he saw James, and not just like he was a friendly, welcoming stranger. I have just been told that James often spoke to his dog from London when calling home, so I guess the sound of his voice was continually reinforced. The dog's reaction isn't so surprising in this context.

[Dabljuh]

Critters' memory correlates to the prominence of the sensory organ. For a human, the eyes are the most important sensory organs, the largest part of the brain is occupied with working with the sensory data from the eyes. We're visual critters. So in order to memorize stuff, we have to see em.

Dogs' brains are almost entirely inside their massive noses. (speaking figuratively) therefore they may have an elephant-like memory with regard to scents.

[Pup]

Our dog, who's now about seven, grew up with an older dog called Duchess, who died about five years ago.

When Duchess was alive and for several years afterward, you could say "Where's Duchess?" and our dog would run around and either find her or look for a little while and give up. Now if you say "Where's Duchess?" he just stares at you with a blank look.

So it appeared that for a while after her death he "remembered" who Duchess was, but after a few years the memory faded and he no longer remembers her.

Or, using a strictly behavioral model, you could say that he used to be rewarded by having happy owners and a play session if you said "Where's Duchess" and he found the other dog, but when he no longer received any reward, the behavior gradually faded. Either way, though, the behavior lasted for a couple years without any reward or reinforcement, on "memory" alone.

[DRBUZZ0]

I recently adopted a dog... well a couple of months ago. he spent a lot of time at the shelter. Now I'm trying to housetrain him and I wanted to use a crate to get him to learn to hold his needs until he went outside. That's one of the most effective training methods.

He won't go near the crate. It's supposed to be a place of comfort, but I leave it there and he won't go near it. Put his food in it and he won't eat. Put his food near it, and he will sheepishly aproach the food, take a mouthful and run away.

I put him in the crate to see if he could get used to it. He squirmed and shreaked until I got him in. Then he panicked. he screamed for 20 minutes and I came down and looked and he was lumping and shreaking and biting at it so hard I thought he might break a tooth.

I gave up on it. I think the reason is that at the shelter, going into a cage meant one thing "The time for you to be out and be petted and play is over. You will now spend the next 24 hours or so with no company and a lot of big dogs barking at you."

I wonder if he'll *ever* be okay with the idea of being in a crate or cage. Most dogs feel sheltered or safe in a small area like that. They feel it's a place where they have control and refuge. But the memories of cages obviously do not seem to die easy for him.

[Charlie Monoxide]

Not sure about dogs, but they seem to be amazing creatures.

I like to go for a walk around the neighborhood and listen to books on CD or podcasts on my iPod. There are 3 cats that seem to recognize me. 2 of them will run up to me in a friendly manner and I give the requisite petting and silly cat talk. The 3rd cat, if in the mood will saunter over to me. Do they do this for all people? I'm not sure. I've seen other people about 100 feet ahead of me walk by and there's no reaction from the cats. Maybe I smell like tuna or catnip.

I read somewhere (maybe Bill Bryson or Vonnegut), a dog owner wanted to give his pet dog a treat. He figured dogs love smelling different things, so he decided to take the dog to a zoo. He noted that the dog was totally underwhelmed by the zoo and only showed an interest in other humans.

Hopefully my next place will allow me a dog and/or cat as a pet ...

Charlie (instead of the current spiders) Monoxide

[Tiktaalik]

Dr. Buzzo, I also have two "rescued" dogs (Australian Cattle Dogs), and one of them "panics" when crated. I spent about a year and a half trying to teach her to go in a crate through successive approximation. No success, I've given up now. She no longer needs to be crated, anyway. The other dog is just fine with a crate and appears to like it if/when he needs to be crated.

That same panicking dog shows signs of what I'd call high doggie intelligence. For example, she learned to move a trash can in the kitchen to a spot where she could use it as a step to get on the counter. She also learned to knock a plastic jar off the counter and paw at the lid until it unscrewed - undoubtedly it was an accident the first few times, not something she figured out, but eventually she could do it in about a minute.

Yet, she greets everyone at the door like a long-lost friend. I'm not sure I'd be able to atrribute intensely joyful greeting behavior as a sign that she recognized the person being greeted. The plumber seems to be just about as good as the next-door-neighbor (interesting smelss?!?).

[articulett]

I had a dog I'd take to the dog park and one of the people there used to put biscuits in the tree to keep it out of the reach of the dogs until he felt like giving them one. Years after the last time this occurred, my dog would go and look up that particular tree (the dog cookie tree) to see if it was, perchance, bearing "fruit" as it once had.

[Silly Green Monkey]

I helped raise a puppy before I moved away. I came back a few years later, she remembered me. Last time I visited she didn't remember me at all.

[Mr. Scott]

It sounds like the assumption in the OP is that since we are smarter than dogs, they must have poor memories.

I sometimes argue that dogs are smarter than we are about things that are important to them, or at least more perceptive. There is probably nothing lacking in the average dog's memory about what they feel is important to remember.

I suspect that Pup's dog still remembers Duches but has learned from experience that it's fruitless to search for her. In other words, Pup's dog may not be as dumb as Pup thinks.

My own anecdote about dog memory:

A stray cat (unneutered male) took up residence at a farm where an outdoor dog lived. The cat and the dog became fast friends and slept together touching their bodies night and day. The cat disappeared for a month and when he reappeared wanted to resume his relationship. The dog wanted nothing more to do with him.

Did the dog forget the cat, or remember having her feelings hurt? If the cat was forgotten, why wouldn't the dog just start what it believed was a new relationship?

[vacognition]

I have also been thinking about cat memory, for different reasons. We are trying to move the cat's litter box to a different room (about a 15-foot move in all). One of the two cats is fine with thus. The other one, if we move the box even just a few feet, gets very confused. He'll play in the litter box, but he refuses to use it. He'll just wander back and forth between the box and the the place where the box used to be.

I wonder if this says something about how cats (or at least some cats) conceive of and remember locations.

I wrote more about this here (http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/cat-cognition-14042.html) and here (http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/update-cat-cognition-14094.html).

[tsg]

I have also been thinking about cat memory, for different reasons. We are trying to move the cat's litter box to a different room (about a 15-foot move in all). One of the two cats is fine with thus. The other one, if we move the box even just a few feet, gets very confused. He'll play in the litter box, but he refuses to use it. He'll just wander back and forth between the box and the the place where the box used to be.

I wonder if this says something about how cats (or at least some cats) conceive of and remember locations.

I wrote more about this here (http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/cat-cognition-14042.html) and here (http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/update-cat-cognition-14094.html).


I think it has more to do with your cat being mad about the litter box being moved. Cats are snarky that way.

[Dogdoctor]

I have also been thinking about cat memory, for different reasons. We are trying to move the cat's litter box to a different room (about a 15-foot move in all). One of the two cats is fine with thus. The other one, if we move the box even just a few feet, gets very confused. He'll play in the litter box, but he refuses to use it. He'll just wander back and forth between the box and the the place where the box used to be.

I wonder if this says something about how cats (or at least some cats) conceive of and remember locations.

I wrote more about this here (http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/cat-cognition-14042.html) and here (http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/update-cat-cognition-14094.html).

Cats seem somewhat obsessive compulsive. They don't like changes in their routines. Try getting another litter box and place it where you want it.

[l0rca]

Been away for a bit, so just catching up. The dog certainly acted differently when he saw James, and not just like he was a friendly, welcoming stranger. I have just been told that James often spoke to his dog from London when calling home, so I guess the sound of his voice was continually reinforced. The dog's reaction isn't so surprising in this context.

I can't speak specifically for dogs, but animals have an evolutionary history of a form of attachment born out of a fear-like mechanism. As animals are reared, certain patterns in the brain, in the sensory and emotional regions, cull down and 'focus' on caregivers. These mechanisms are usually permanent throughout life, though for more independent species, this usually gives way to other tendencies, such as hunting and breeding mechanisms that later manifest. This explains the cat's behavior: a fear of dogs might eventually dominate a cat's memory of a "nice predator". A dog, a pack animal, will have these mechanisms impact much more prominently in the brain, and it shouldn't be surprising at all if a dog forever remembers a childhood friend. For most animals, this form of childhood affection-learning is the most powerful social bond available to them.

So in short, yes, your dog remembers him, because your dog has learned to love him, in the only way a dog knows how to love.