[cowpony]

I shouldn't be surprised, because horses have a really good memory...but it amazes me how Galen remembers and acts on something we have done just once.
A couple of weeks ago we checked out a fallen tree in a neighbor's back yard. Now he wants to go down her driveway every time we walk past. We spent some time watching traffic and eating treats at the edge of a road. Now he sits down and looks expectant when we get to that expect spot. We met and played with Brady the lab when he was out in his yard with his owner. Now Galen wants to go into Brady's yard every time we walk past.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I think of these things whenever people say they "can't" train their dogs! We're always training them, and they're always learning.

Peggy hadn't played with her dog friends in almost 2 months, but as soon as we hit that old intersection to turn towards our trainer's house, she started bouncing in the backseat.

 

[lily cd re]

My mom's mpoo has been looking for his favorite friend next door to my mom's apartment for well over two years since she died. Javelin can time our trips to my workplace (that I don't go to these days) and back and gets very excited particularly on the return to home and he also times or recognizes the turns and such going to my trainer's facility. Lily is pretty much the same about familiar places we go. They are like elephants.

 

[Skylar]

I’m not surprised.

We train and compete in nose work. At the beginning I had a problem in Class because the first time she would find where the scent was hidden in a box. The trainer would move the box with the scent and my dog would always check out the last spot it was hidden before moving on to find it in the new location. We had to train a lot to break that habit. The other dogs (border collies, Aussie etc.) weren’t necessarily faster or slower at finding the hidden scent, but the others didn’t seem to remember where it was hidden in the last run. She does pattern train quickly.

And she remembers friends she hasn’t seen in several years. Recently someone brought their older dog who was retired and not going to classes or competition. She had met this dog briefly a few years ago. Both dogs were thrilled to see each other and remembered each other while they both ignored the other dogs in the class. I do think most dogs have excellent memories for good events like treats and fun activities.

PeggyTheParti is right, our dogs are constantly learning whether we train and teach behavior we want, or we don’t.

 

[For Want of Poodle]

Sigh... yes. Poodle memories are amazing.

Annie threw up sometime last December on a walk, and I covered it in snow. Two days later, we walked by, and I had forgotten she'd thrown up there - but she had not. So she dug a bit out to eat before I noticed. Ever since - if we walk that route, she checks under that bush for more yummy throw up She has a similar "I dropped a dead bird here once" spot she checks as well, and an "I found a bone here" spot.

Familiar spots - yes. Annie and I have only visited my dad a half dozen times, but she knows where she is the moment I start picking my way down the driveway. She's always excited about gravel roads = off leash time, so that could be explained, but she immediately goes on a tear around the house, and remembers the boundaries of where she's allowed to run (not to the road, not up the driveway, yes to the river and along it, yes behind the garage, yes behind the house, etc). And unfortunately, she remembers that dad taught her how to open the door to go out (no latch on the storm door, just push).

People, definitely. My childhood mini mix grew up with my neighbour and close friend visiting often. 5 years after we moved, she flew out to visit us. The dog had gotten a bit cantankerous in her old age. She did her normal bark rush the door thing... and then stopped, arrested, as the scent registered, and practically turned upside down and backwards she was so overjoyed, and did the "family member is home!" dance, instead of the "hey, who are you, I'm the boss, ok, you can pet me" dance. It was, in her opinion, a long lost member of the pack who had found us again.