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I've read in countless books that dogs don't have any memory. Typically this comes up in training topics, such as "Don't punish your dog for peeinig even miniutes after the act because he will NOT relate the punishment to the act." I've also read, countless times, that if your dog pees in the house and then does the "hang-dog, guilty slink-away" when you come home it is NOT because he knows he did wrong by peeing in the house, it's because he always expects you to be pissed off at him when you come home (presumably because you do this regularly because s/he pees in the house regularly).
Well, all I have to say is BS! There are clearly not enough people out there studying dogs and their capabilities and inherent intelligence. Our last dog, Zelda (a lovely mutt) "unlearned" her housebreaking when we went away for a three day weekend and entrusted her to a neighbor who only let her out twice a day. From that weekend on, Zelda seemed to think "Hmm, I got to pee in the hallway while they were gone, I get to pee in the hallway forever." HOWEVER! She didn't do it everyday. And she ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS would greet me enthusiastically on the days when she had NOT peed in the hallway, and would slink away with her head down on the days she DID pee in the hallway.
Do NOT tell me dogs don't have any memory or understand their own actions! Zelda proved to me that they're a lot smarter than we give them credit for.
AnnA
Well, all I have to say is BS! There are clearly not enough people out there studying dogs and their capabilities and inherent intelligence. Our last dog, Zelda (a lovely mutt) "unlearned" her housebreaking when we went away for a three day weekend and entrusted her to a neighbor who only let her out twice a day. From that weekend on, Zelda seemed to think "Hmm, I got to pee in the hallway while they were gone, I get to pee in the hallway forever." HOWEVER! She didn't do it everyday. And she ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS would greet me enthusiastically on the days when she had NOT peed in the hallway, and would slink away with her head down on the days she DID pee in the hallway.
Do NOT tell me dogs don't have any memory or understand their own actions! Zelda proved to me that they're a lot smarter than we give them credit for.
AnnA