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How many times do we look at our dog and wonder about what will you be thinking? Remember the attitude you corrected the other day? Or, what could be going on inside that little head that can't vocalize its feelings and emotions? The truth is, we're not sure if dogs have the ability humans have to mentally travel through time and space through the powerful and magical "memory".
Do you have a dog and want to know more about its psychological nature? Can you remember the moments, experiences and experiences you share with yourself and then store them in your mental safe? Continue reading this PeritoAnimal article and find out if do dogs have memory or not.
the dog's memory
We know that our dog remembers us, because whenever we arrive home after a long day at work, or when we pick him up after a trip, he receives us with affection and emotion, as if he were expressing the joy of seeing us again. But, what about other things, people or moments in your own life? Because what happens is that your dog tends to forget. Yes, it's possible that your dog doesn't remember that walk along the beach that you gave him as one of the best moments of relaxation, and he certainly doesn't remember eating the delicious food you prepared for him yesterday.
Of course our furry companions remember and, therefore, we can say that dogs have a memory, but its mechanism is different from that of humans. Dogs can remember some things, while others come and go quickly inside their head. According to studies conducted, dogs, unlike humans, do not have a type of memory known as "episodic memory", which is responsible for absorbing, retaining and sealing the episodes in our hard disk and giving us that feeling so important experience.
our canine friends have associative memory type which, as its name implies, allows them to associate certain things and convert them into a kind of memories. Basically, puppies are 100% coded animals based on habits and repetition. For example, your dog could survive a fall from the porch of his house, but soon afterward he won't want to go near that place or will be afraid to do so. He will not do it because he remembers the fatal episode, but because he associated the place with pain and fear. The same happens with the collar and guide that he uses to take him for walks. Your dog is thrilled every time you take him for a walk, this is because he associates this object with the moment he leaves the house. The good thing is that with love and training all associations can be changed, especially the negative ones.
dogs live in the moment
Experts say that dogs work best with a kind of short term memory than with long-term memory. The memory of the present serves to develop an immediate action, reaction or behavior, which does not necessarily represent information that should be stored for a long period of time. However, like any other animal, all the knowledge that may later be needed to survive can be recorded.
Therefore, it is important that if you are going to scold or teach your dog something, do it no later than 10 or 20 seconds after you have done something wrong. Otherwise, if it's been 10 minutes or 3 hours, it's possible the dog doesn't remember and doesn't understand why he's scolding you, so it's a losing battle. In this sense, more than reprimanding bad behavior, at PeritoAnimal we advise you to reward the good ones, because they are easier to identify when doing them. In this way, and since puppies have associative memory, your puppy will relate this good act to something positive (a treat, petting, etc.) and it is very likely that he will end up learning what is good or not. To find out how to carry out this type of training, don't miss our article in which we talk about positive reinforcement in puppies.
So but do dogs have a memory or not?
Yes, as we mentioned in the previous points, dogs have memory short term, but they work mainly with associative memory. They learn the rules of coexistence and basic training orders by associating them with words and gestures, and are able to remember our body smell and voice sound. Thus, although they can remember people, other animals, objects or actions through associations, dogs do not have long-term memory. As we said, they do not retain past moments or experiences, but what they felt to associate a certain place with something they consider positive or negative.
