Dog Training & Understanding Your Pet:

What Do They Remember?

Dog Training & Understanding Your Pet: What Do They Remember?

Understanding Memory for Better Corpus Christi Dog Training

Over the years, we form many happy memories with the furry members of our family and we'd like to think they may reminisce on those moments as well. Of course, they can remember the commands we train them, familiar faces, and places like our home or the park, but do dogs' memories work the way humans' memories do? It's more complex than a one-word answer, but simply put they do not.

Humans have the ability to recall specific events or moments and recollect them in detail; this is called episodic memory. Animals possess associative memory- meaning they associate objects, experiences, and people with good or bad triggers- and don't spend time reflecting on the past. Some recent evidence leads researchers to believe that some dogs can remember a few past events, but the ability is far less extensive than the typical human's episodic memory. For example, if you use a leash every time you go on a walk together, when they see you pick up the leash they're going to get excited. Or if the location you take them most often is the veterinarian's office and they are afraid of visiting the vet, they may become anxious when you try to get them into the car- even if that's not where you're going.

Speak With A Dog

Training Expert

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Understanding Memory for Better Corpus Christi Dog Training

Speak With A Dog

Training Expert

Speak With A Dog Training Expert

believe that some dogs can remember a few past events, but the ability is far less extensive than the typical human's episodic memory. For example, if you use a leash every time you go on a walk together, when they see you pick up the leash they're going to get excited. Or if the location you take them most often is the veterinarian's office and they are afraid of visiting the vet, they may become anxious when you try to get them into the car- even if that's not where you're going.

Why This is Useful for Dog Training Corpus Christi

The best news is that, through proper and consistent dog training, these triggers are adjustable! Negative associations are more difficult to change, but through repetition and positive reinforcement conditioning, we can help them learn to have happier relationships with the things that make them stressed. If they have anxiety regarding food and view it as a scarce or unpredictable resource leading to food aggression, you can shift that association and eliminate that trigger. If they've had a negative experience that has made them wary of other dogs or strangers, you can use socialization and create a positive trigger to adjust their association with unknown entities. If they feel animosity towards riding in the car, begin by hanging out in the car while it's turned off and sharing some treats with them for a few minutes at a time. Once they seem more comfortable, repeat the same process but with the car turned on instead. After you can see they are less stressed, you can take short trips to enjoyable locations so they start to associate rides with fun and adventure. Eventually, you'll be able to throw in longer-distance trips to novel destinations.

Our dogs do remember and love us, just not exactly the same as we remember and love them. They likely don't remember the first day they came home with us or every trip to the park, but they live completely in the moment where positive associations mean they're excited to see us each and every time we come home or when we grab the leash to take a walk. With dog training, we can help them develop a multitude of positive associations and build a better bond with our pet for a happier, stress-free life together.