Dogs and memory

[Beabble]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

Memory is defined as an organism's ability to store, retain, and subsequently retrieve information. My guess would be that in some cases dogs have an even better sense of "memory" than humans. The sense of smell is closely related to our "memory centers" in the brain. Have you ever smelled something and memories and feelings came flooding back to you? Since a dog's sense of smell is 1000 times greater than a human, I would imagine his memory is better too.

Oh yes, the smell of our first born daughter after they cleaned her up and laid her in my arms for the very first time. I love that smell and it brings back a flood of those memories.

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Beabble

Oh yes, the smell of our first born daughter after they cleaned her up and laid her in my arms for the very first time. I love that smell and it brings back a flood of those memories.

Awe, that beautiful. It's funny because when this happens we aren't thinking in words, and language. We are almost experiencing the same feelings, and in a different place. Every time I smell a live Christmas tree, I regress to those earlier Christmases and those memories are so vivid for a few moments, almost like I stepped back in time. This could be very close to how a dog "thinks" because they don't use words either.

[Beabble]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

Awe, that beautiful. It's funny because when this happens we aren't thinking in words, and language. We are almost experiencing the same feelings, and in a different place. Every time I smell a live Christmas tree, I regress to those earlier Christmases and those memories are so vivid for a few moments, almost like I stepped back in time. This could be very close to how a dog "thinks" because they don't use words either.

Very true! You know how it's said that a dogs first 4 months of live are the most impressionable? I wonder if it's those memories that go back and remember and relate to and feel?

[bchgirl]

We found an 10 month old lab puppy once...took him home...treated him like our own. Four or five days later we found his owner...let me tell you when that guy got out of his truck...without saying a word...just watching the dog's reaction...let me tell you...you knew who he belonged to.

Maybe the guy stunk...and puppy remembered the smell. But he knew him.

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by bchgirl

We found an 10 month old lab puppy once...took him home...treated him like our own. Four or five days later we found his owner...let me tell you when that guy got out of his truck...without saying a word...just watching the dog's reaction...let me tell you...you knew who he belonged to.

Maybe the guy stunk...and puppy remembered the smell. But he knew him.

Awe, that's a beautiful story too!

[bchgirl]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

Awe, that's a beautiful story too!

Ya liked the last line, didn't ya? LOL...

[izzierj]

Great stories...My Izzie takes her cookie and hides it under the sheets of "our" bed...I've actually seen her pull the sheet over the cookie, leave the bed, and make a running head start if someone even passes the bedroom door in fear of a 'cookie thief' ...

[yorkieusa]

Well, Kacee knows the names of ALL of her little doggie friends in the neighborhood and there are a lot of them! She also knows the names of all of our friends. If they don't have memories, where are they filing all of that info?

[Beabble]

Originally Posted by izzierj

Great stories...My Izzie takes her cookie and hides it under the sheets of "our" bed...I've actually seen her pull the sheet over the cookie, leave the bed, and make a running head start if someone even passes the bedroom door in fear of a 'cookie thief' ...

Awe, that's adorable!

[Beabble]

Originally Posted by bchgirl

We found an 10 month old lab puppy once...took him home...treated him like our own. Four or five days later we found his owner...let me tell you when that guy got out of his truck...without saying a word...just watching the dog's reaction...let me tell you...you knew who he belonged to.

Maybe the guy stunk...and puppy remembered the smell. But he knew him.

Awe, I love happy endings, and see dogs DO have memories!

[Potter]

Originally Posted by yorkieusa

Well, Kacee knows the names of ALL of her little doggie friends in the neighborhood and there are a lot of them! She also knows the names of all of our friends. If they don't have memories, where are they filing all of that info?

You are sooo right! Pao remembers his friends by their names too! And I talk to him a lot since we got him and I know when I say something to him now, he usually understands. When he doesn't, I can see his head tilt but more often than not, he understands. Remembering words require memories too.

[yorkieusa]

Originally Posted by Potter

You are sooo right! Pao remembers his friends by their names too! And I talk to him a lot since we got him and I know when I say something to him now, he usually understands. When he doesn't, I can see his head tilt but more often than not, he understands. Remembering words require memories too.

It's so cute when you talk about someone and they know who it is you're speaking about.

When we're walking, she'll look for her puppy buddies in front of their homes. She knows where they each live, too.