DOGGIE REMINISCENCES. Pts. 1-2

I have often wondered just how intelligent the average dog is, and exactly what sort of grasp they have on the past; once it is past. For example, do they retain specific memories, good, bad or indifferent, of people, places, and other pets?

A quick survey of websites indicates that dogs are capable of learning the meaning of over 150 words, and the top 20 percent, 250 words. When gauged on a human intelligence quotient, they fall in the 2-3 year old range. 

And if we are to believe researchers, not only are dogs capable of remembering the meaning of a myriad of words, but they also retain memories from the recent, and possibly distant past.

Our aged little Shih Tzu, Queenie, wandered up in a friend’s yard five years ago in the midst of a rain storm. And since this particular friend already had three dogs, he summarily bequeathed Queenie to my wife and me. (To be sure, ‘Mike’ had our pooch scanned at the vet, but no chip was found, and he checked with the pound and SPCA to see if someone had reported her missing). 

Speaking of the ability to dredge up distant memories, Queenie “goes crazy” during a lightning storm; whereas, our daughter’s pooch, Toby, takes it in stride. One of those thunder boomers blew in today, and Queenie was shaking like a leaf. Each time the thunder rolled, and the lightning lit up the sky, she looked in abject terror towards the ceiling.

Pt. 2

And of course, I have wondered about Queenie’s original owner, what sort of person he or she was, and whether that individual was kind to her.

Interestingly enough, when we were introduced to Queenie, and I attempted to pet the (then) nine year old dog, she nipped me on the hand. I thought this seemed a bit out of character for a female Shih Tzu. And it occurred to me that perhaps she previously belonged to an older person, and perhaps she had had some bad experiences with children. Obviously, given this hypothesis, Queenie would have retained some basic memories of by-gone days.

And then there is the name by which she would have been known at that time. If, by chance, I had access to that moniker, would she respond to her first name in the same way she currently responds to her second?

But most poignant of all, I think, and perhaps most elusive to my precious pooch’s reminiscence is any remembrance of her mother, and siblings. 

While Queenie would have shared the proverbial dining table with her brothers and sisters, and would have suckled for several weeks at her mother’s, well, you know, and while she would have known her by sight and smell, and would have heard her mother’s name spoken aloud, what is the likelihood that she would recognize brother or sister or mother, if they were suddenly reintroduced into her environment? (or vice versa).

And, on a more practical basis (since the foregoing is unlikely to happen), does my precious pooch retain any awareness of her mother and siblings? Does she think about them? Does she dream about them?

Afterward

I have never seen any research on a dog retaining memories so distant as ten, or even fifteen years; (which in human terms is over a century).

I suppose the theory could be tested by merely hooking a pooch up with electrodes, speaking the ancient name of his or her dearly departed mother, and watching the monitor to see whether the brain waves “go off the chart.”

As familial, friendly and faithful as the average dog is, I tend to think the rich grey matter beneath their cranium is capable of wonderful things, and that sometime in the wee hours of the morning, when the house is quiet, and all the occupants are asleep that Queenie, and Toby and all the other dogs on earth conjure up their long lost mothers, and experience the pleasure of their presence once again.

If only in their dreams

by William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from (Mc)Donald's Daily Diary. Vol. 83. Copyright pending