Do dogs have a memory?

Question

My dogs follow me (annoyingly so) around the house after I give them a bone every night. It's like they are expecting me to give them another one. Do they remember things?

Answer 1

Being a proud “daddy” of too many dogs, I like to give my dogs human attributes such as emotions, attitudes, etc. I also like to think that they have a memory. The science part of me realizes that the memory of a dog is quite short. Most of the non-primate animals learn through conditioning, which is not necessarily the same thing as memory. The science of training or conditioning the behavior of a dog shows that the mind of a dog functions about 20% based on the knowledge and/or conditioning gained during life. The remaining 80% of the dog brain functions based on instinct, environmental influences, and other immediate stimuli.

The memory of a dog is not like the memories that we have. I can ask you to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and you can manipulate neurons and chemical reactions within your brain to retrieve that information. I can ask you to describe your favorite car, and your brain reacts by giving you a mental image of that car. The way the dog uses memory is less complex.

We condition or train our dogs to do their duty in the yard and not in the house. When they have accidents in the house, we react in a negative way, which causes the dog to act guilty. At least we perceive the reaction of the dog as guilt. What we really see is the dog reacting to the Alpha leader of the pack expressing displeasure.

Try a simple experiment that supports this by saying how much of a bad dog they are, saying that you plan to beat them senseless, etc., but say all of that using a baby-talk voice that is sweet and high-pitched. Your dog will react as if you were praising them and giving them loving. The change your voice, make it deeper, louder, sterner and tell them what a good dog they are and how much you love them and want to spoil them. Watch them cower down, and move away from you. This is an instinctual behavior as they recognize you as an Alpha leader of her or his pack. The dogs hear you talk every day. They hear the words everyday. Do they remember them? Not all of them, though they may remember some words more than other words. Your dog might sit just as quickly by saying the word “sit” in the high-pitched sweet voice, as he or she does when saying it sternly.

Another instinctual behavior is for the followers in a pack to gain more power gradually, in order to become an Alpha leader. The current Alpha leader asserts dominance when a follower challenges her or him, thus keeping the Alpha position. In nature, the Alpha leader weakens with age, and eventually the follower makes a challenge that the Alpha leader cannot overcome. The new Alpha leader now takes control of the pack. As humans, we tend to let our dogs walk all over us. We tend to their every need, we pet them, we love them, and we spoil them rotten. What we forget to do is to maintain our Alpha position when the dog does something to challenge us. That challenge might be something as small as chewing your shoe. You have to stop the challenge while the challenge is occurring in order to succeed. After you get home from the store, you find the chewed slipper, so you yell at the dog, and the dog cowers. You walk away thinking you taught that dog a lesson. The next time you go to the store, the dog chews your slipper again. Oops. Catch the dog chewing the slipper, make a stern verbal correction, and remove the slipper from the dog’s possession. Once you do this a few times, you should see more success in the dog not chewing the slipper, at least until the dog is ready to challenge again. Around our house, we buy the cheap slippers. We cannot seem to catch the culprit in the act of chewing the slipper. We get the last laugh, or so we think, as we require all 8 dogs to put their butts on the floor at the same time and stay that way as we dole out the dog biscuits. It works, most of the time. :)

Sorry for the long discourse in K-9 behavior, but the answer was not one that a “yes” or a “no” answered correctly.


Give your dog a good scratch behind the ears and tell him hello from my pack down in Alabama.

Will D
Enterprise AL
http://www.notagz.com

Answer 2

Well, according to Cesar Millan, no they don't. But I think he's full of bull on that topic (even though I think he's really great at what he does). My dog has a memory, and has proved it to me many times. One thing he does every night, between 9:30 and 10:00, is beg my grandpa for a treat. Every single night at the same time! I don't see why a dog wouldn't have a memory, because they're intelligent creatures with personalities.

Answer 3

Yes. When they want to. However, after a dog does something that you don't like, you have about 30 seconds to say something to that dog, or your dog has no idea what you are talking about.

Answer 4

Yes! My Weim remembers where he left each one of his toys, bones, and bears. He knows the driving route to the park, the store, our fav resturant, and my friends house. If they have the ability to learn then they have the ability to remember. If varies with the dog though.

Answer 5

Of course they do! They are so smart! You get in a certain pattern with things and they come to expect it! They sit by the door when they want to go out and some will even bring you there leash!

Answer 6

Ofcourse! They need memory to survive, just like WE do.
You have seen trained dogs do tricks. They couldn't be taught how to do those tricks, if they didn't have a memory.

My 2 dogs remember the names of all their toys.

When i ask, "Where's your ball?"...They get the ball.

If I ask, "Where's your bunny rabbit?"...They get the bunny rabit.

They have about 30 toys and they remember the names of all of them!

Answer 7

I think they do. They are hummen just like we are. When My dog was alive she would answer me when I am talking to her. In her little was. And she knew who loved her. So they do remember things. Just maybe in little different way then we do.

Answer 8

Yes, thats why he remembers you giving him a bone.

Answer 9

yeah that's y they remember when they were abused, who their owner is, doggy tricks and other stuff that people do 2 dogs. also, ur dogs follow u cuz they want ur attention and love and i think u should give them more of ur time.

Answer 10

Most definitely. They can remember who they like and dislike. Who has treated them well and who has abused them.

And they can easily remember, who has pampered them, by giving them things they enjoy eating.

They aren't called "man's" best friend for no reason.