Do dogs think about the past?

[Boogie]

@Jelinga made me think when she asked the question in Romeo’s thread.

When I say goodbye to my pups I say ‘Remember me in your dreams’. They certainly remember us - this is really clear when we visit them to watch them working and say a final goodbye.

But do they think about the past? I don’t think so. I think they are very much affected by their past, as we all are, dogs and human. But I think dogs live very much in the ‘here and now’.

What do you think?

 

[Aitch]

I don't think they think about the past but I think they get flashes of memory triggered by circumstance. For example seeing someone they used to know or certain scents.

 

[Atemas]

No I don’t think they think about the past but they definitely remember people/things from the past.

 

[kateincornwall]

I don't know , and I guess we will never know the answer . My experience yesterday , when Nelly jumped into the river ( a first ! ) to join the Labrador who was swimming with his tennis ball , did make me wonder if she thought it was Sam which was why she took the plunge ? I wouldn't be surprised at all . I think a poor past can affect them , but whether that memory stays , who knows ? There are certainly times when my rescue dogs have suddenly come for a cuddle and looked joyful , but that's appreciation of the present .

 

[snowbunny]

I've read some stuff on this that seems quite categoric in saying that dogs have memories but don't ponder on them the same way we do. Whether it's possible to know that, I'm not sure; I'm no brain scientist. I would say that it is consistent with what I can observe. They will react to learning that has happened before, obviously - that's how we are able to train them, but is also apparent in how they react to things that have previously affected them, good or bad. They also do seem to "live in the moment". I can't say I've ever noticed anything that gives me pause to think they are either reflecting on things that have happened in anything but the immediately preceding minute or so, and nor do I see them "looking forward" to anything outside what they believe to be coming in the next few minutes.

 

[edzbird]

I am of the opinion they don't think about the past (or the future), but only the now. That's not to say they forget, not at all. If a significant person, for instance, from their past appears they certainly remember.

Coco used to be fearful of OH's father, who had never done anything to threaten or upset him. I think he reminded him of someone from his past. Likewise, when we've met kennel staff from Ard Jerkyll, he has gone bonkers to see them again.

 

[Oberon]

We are taking about the difference between recognition memory and recall memory. Recall is being able to pull things out of your memory at will, mulling them over at any time you want to without being prompted (eg you’re walking on the beach in Queensland and you’re thinking about the totally unrelated time you ate a hot dog in New York). Recognition is knowing something when prompted....when you see, hear, smell, feel a reminder or are in the same kind of location/situation as when the memory was formed (eg you’re walking past a street corner in New York and suddenly you’re remembering the time you ate a hot dog on that exact corner).

Dogs are fabulous at recognition but probably bad at recall. Humans are ok/bad at recognition and extremely good at recall.

Being good at recall like humans has a cost. We are able to pull things out of our memories and replay them, anytime, anywhere......but when we do that we alter and play with those memories...when we stash them back on file they’re not the same as the memory we took off the shelf. That’s why eyewitness testimony in court is so bad and unreliable....we’ve mucked around with the memory and it’s nowhere near accurate any more.

Dogs, because they don’t spontaneously pull out and mess around with their memories, have much purer original memory files than we do. When they recognise something, or a situation, it’s much more like the original then our equivalent memory would be. That’s why their reactions to situations or triggers can be so strong....it’s more like a replay of the original experience.

So, their memories are both better and worse than ours, depending on which kind of memory function you’re looking at.

 

[snowbunny]

Being good at recall like humans has a cost. We are able to pull things out of our memories and replay them, anytime, anywhere......but when we do that we alter and play with those memories...when we stash them back on file they’re not the same as the memory we took off the shelf. That’s why eyewitness testimony in court is so bad and unreliable....we’ve mucked around with the memory and it’s nowhere near accurate any more.

There's a book on this that I must read one day.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Memory-Ill...534502419&sr=8-1&keywords=the+memory+illusion
She talks about "hacking" people's memories and how it's possible to change someone's memories to the point they believe they committed a murder. That's pretty cool!

 

[kateincornwall]

Yes, False memory prompting , I has reason to investigate this a few years ago , contacted London Goldsmith Uni who had published papers on this subject , very interesting but scary too x

 

[SwampDonkey]

There's a book on this that I must read one day.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Memory-Ill...534502419&sr=8-1&keywords=the+memory+illusion
She talks about "hacking" people's memories and how it's possible to change someone's memories to the point they believe they committed a murder. That's pretty cool!

?

 

[HAH]

I want to read that book too - Julia Shaw does fascinating work, I follow her on Twitter.

I did an undergraduate project on false eyewitness testimony at uni yonks ago, it opens up a whole world of cognition looking at the difference between an individual's perception of an event and the actual things that happen. As Obi and others have said there's a huge challenge in accurate recall, but also in the way a memory is prompted (e.g. the questions asked, the environment the memory is recalled in) which makes it a tricky fish for any interviewer be it police, psychologist, legal team etc. Complete digression

But I agree with others, that dogs probably have a more 'direct', literal form of memory which I guess may also be more vivid in sensory terms, given the amount of context and meaning we humans pile into our memories?

 

[snowbunny]

?

Yes....but cool. As long as you're the hacker and not the hackee

The problem with reading the book is I won't really remember what it's about, will I?

Seriously though, I'm terrible for this. I'm constantly questioning things "that happened" because I have an awful memory and can easily implant falsehoods into what I truly remember happening. I also have incredibly vivid dreams and those are really easy to mix into reality! The brain is messed up, but really interesting!

 

[snowbunny]

I did an undergraduate project on false eyewitness testimony at uni yonks ago

That must have been fascinating! I heard Julia Shaw talking about her book on the radio some time back.

Or did I?

I just don't know anymore!

 

[HAH]

Or did I?

Don't even get started on "free will" then...

 

[kateincornwall]

I suffered awful illusions/delusions/hallucinations following my operation , they lasted for about three weeks until gradually fading into obscurity but at the time , it was pretty scary because in my lucid times , I had trouble separating reality from non reality , effects of morphine and prolonged GA , so I was told . How the heck did we get to this from dogs ?? Our speciality , diversion ! xxx

 

[Oberon]

I have an awful memory and can easily implant falsehoods into what I truly remember happening

Sounds like you have a totally normal episodic memory (memory for events linked to times and places) for a human then.

 

[Joy]

Dogs must have some recall memory. I've seen Molly suddenly get up, leave the room and come back moments later with a ball or plastic bottle. I feel sure she made the decision to go and get it, which means it must have been a memory appearing.

 

[Charlie]

I don't know really. When we got Charlie he was very frightened of men holding tea towels, he would rush off to his bed so someone from his past homes whipped him I'm sure I don't think they forget anything bad but remember good fun things and people even after a long time. Hattie always goes directly to one person first in the Hospice, always without fail so she remembers him because he makes the biggest fuss of her and there is a definite bond between them. Wish we knew it's fascinating xx

 

[Stacia]

I have seen my dogs do what @Joy said, you can see the dog thinking then it acts on that thought. My daughter rescued a little dog and some months later I took it to the village fete and this little dog was actually looking for its last owner, scanning faces anxiously, it was quite heartbreaking.

 

[Aitch]

For the sake of the discussion, which I am very much enjoying, there needs to be a distinction made between learned behaviour and memory behaviour, I think. The dog that sees an earlier owner and reacts might well fall into the category of memory behaviour but the dog who hates hose pipes because they were used to move them out of the way when they were in a shelter (Alex, I think) would be displaying learned behaviour.
Another example might be: A tall man hit me so I have learned to distrust tall men.