As a two rescue pup owner, I’ve often wondered if my dogs remember their previous owners. If we would pass them on the streets, would my dog react in an unusual way?
We all agree that dogs are smart and they give us so much joy and companionship! But just how much can they actually remember?
When you own a rescue dog, you might be wondering do they remember their past. And if they do, what you can do about it?
Let’s go over some recent studies and see how we can better understand our dogs.
Dog’s associative memory
Dogs have associative memory, they remember people, places and experiences based on associations they have with them. When you invite someone over and they give your dog treats, your dog will associate that person with positive attention.
If your dog had a negative experience at the vet, he may not remember what scared him. He might just associate the waiting room with that fear.
You can help your dog overcome those negative associations with training. With training, you are replacing negative associations with positive experiences.
What scientist say
Canine behavioral scientists have not explored just how well dogs remember and recognize people over the long term. The reasons have to do with practicality.
“Nobody wants to be separated from their dog for a long period of time simply to answer a scientist’s questions about their dog’s memory.”
Stanley Coren, Ph.D
For this reason, scientists have had to resort to anecdotal data, says Stanley Coren, Ph.D., a professor of psychology on Psychology Today.
Even though there isn’t any scientific data today, some of my favorite examples are dogs that are reunited with their military moms and dads. When their owners are away for a year or longer, you can tell from the dog’s behaviors how happy they are to see their human again.
“A recent investigation of short-term memory suggests animals don’t remember specific events. Instead, they store away useful information about what could help them survive. Dogs may forget an event less than two minutes after it happened, according to a new study.” (Owen)
Do dogs remember faces?
In a study published in the journal Animal Cognition, researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, states that dogs who live with families are more responsive to human faces than dogs living in kennels. They are also more observant of familiar faces rather than unfamiliar human faces.
The study included 23 pet dogs and 8 kennel dogs and the researchers wanted to know if dogs are able to see faces in the pictures and do they naturally look at familiar and strange faces differently.
The researchers discovered that dogs are more interested in the faces of other dogs than human faces. The dogs also showed great interest in the eye area, which according to the researchers suggests they perceive images representing faces.
How long do dogs remember?
Your dog’s associative memories mean that they know who you are and they know they like you!
Dogs are also strongly affected by smell and that helps them to remember people even if they are separated for a while.
The stronger the connection you have with your dog and the more positive associations he has with you. With a strong connection, your dog will remember you and will be so happy when you’re united again.
Dogs remember their owner mainly through scent and associations. For example, if someone was very friendly to your dog and gave him a lot of love and attention, he will remember this feeling when seeing and smelling this person again.
A dog might not remember a specific event, but he will associate any gesture, movement, voice, and smell with an emotion.
Do dogs remember their offspring, siblings, or parents?
Study shows that canine moms recognize their offspring even after they are adults and after a long separation through scent. To see whether the offspring still recognize their mothers, the experiment was now revised so that the targeted scent was that of the dog’s mother. That was compared to another female dog of the same breed and age.
The results were almost the same as in the case of the mothers recognizing their offspring, with 76 percent of the dogs preferred the cloth with their mother’s scent. This was impressive because the puppies had by now grown into adults and had not seen their mother for around two years.
Do dogs remember other dogs?
Dogs are happy creatures of habit. You can train a dog to do different tricks and they remember these things because of repetition.
When dogs see a friend that they haven’t seen in a while, they may not react right away. This is because they need to assess the situation and gather more information.
Dogs need to sniff others and if they recognize them in a good way, they will start acting like they did the last time they saw them.
The difference between human and canine memory is related to the fact that dogs don’t tell the time in the same way we do, but it’s also based on their basic survival instinct.
Dog’s long term and short term memory
Dogs do have long and short term memory.
Short-term memory allows dogs to remember specific events that will be forgotten after 10 or 20 seconds. For example, if you come home after a long day at work and find your shoes chewed up, there is no point in scolding your dog.
He won’t even remember what he did.
If he would have remembered eating your shoes, then he would hide as soon as you enter the house. However, he doesn’t, so that’s why he is always happy to see you.
Exactly how long dogs can remember things for, however, is not clear. We don’t have evidence that dogs can remember events months or even days after they have happened as humans can.
One recent study that compared the memory capabilities of 25 different animals even suggested that dogs’ short-term memory for information was limited to just a couple of minutes.
If your rescue dog has had bad experiences or traumatic events, you need to help him through training so he will associate those situations with something good.
Your dog may not remember why he is scared of the vet for example but he associates the waiting room with that fear.
Your rescue dog may have triggers that will set them barking at hooded men, a long beard or a look-alike past owner. It’s important to teach your rescue dog that nothing bad isn’t going to happen and give them time to adjust.
Do dogs remember bad experiences?
Because dogs have an associative memory, they will remember how you treat them.
Dogs’ memories can have positive or negative associations like when you go to the vet and something unpleasant happens, the dog will remember the feeling but not exactly what happened.
When the dog smells the vet office again, the dog might get fearful but can’t remember why. Just as negative imprints, positive reinforcements leave a positive mark.
That’s why dogs are so amazing and you can help them a lot through positive training!
Conclusion
Because dogs have associative memory, they remember people, places, and experiences based on associations they have with them. Someone who gives your dog positive attention and treats, your dog will associate that person with positive attention and treats.
This also happens with bad memories as well but it depends on how strong the association is.
Because dogs are wonderfully living in the moment, there’s no need to feel bad about your dog’s past if it wasn’t a happy one. The most important thing is that you are there for your dog now, you give lots of positive training and give your dog a happy and safe life for the rest of your dog’s life.