a dogs memory?

ok sash got me wondering a min ago how does their memory work?i can be gone say 4 hours to work and when i come in she's pleased to see me or i can nip to the car and come back in after a min and she be soo pleased to see me its like she's meeting a long lost friend she has'nt seen for years,weird eh

No ideas really. I think that 3 1/2 hours is like a day to them but I could be wrong.

I haven't a clue but I like it

i think it becouse if your only gone a minute they think yae you came back for me and get very excited
but if your gone 3-4 hours there happy to see you but dont show as much as they got a hump with you lol

either that or 10 minutes after you leave they fall asleep and when you come back you wake them up so still half asleep when greeting you

Had a quick Google and found this:

"How a Dog's Memory Works

Research on how dogs perceive time is limited. But we can learn more about it when look at the extensive research done on other animals, such as rodents, birds and primates. In his studies on how animals perceive time, animal cognition researcher William Roberts made some remarkable conclusions regarding animal memories, anticipation and more. He says that animals are "stuck in time" [source: Roberts]. By this he means that, without the sophisticated abilities it takes to perceive time -- like truly forming memories -- animals only live in the present. Roberts thinks animals are "stuck in time" because they can't mentally "time travel" backward and forward. Humans can consciously and willfully think back to specific memories and anticipate events. Animals cannot.

To many, this seems like a fallacious theory. After all, can't we train animals? And doesn't this training depend on the animals' own memories?

Not necessarily -- at least not in the way we usually think of memories, according to Roberts. Animals might be trained to do things in the same way young children are trained to do things. According to studies on children, by the age of four, kids have learned lots of things -- crawling, walking -- but without the mental ability to remember where or how they learned them [source: O'Neil]. In other words, they don't have the power of episodic memory, or the ability to remember particular events in the past. A dog can know how to respond to the command "sit" without having a memory of the specific event in which it learned that command.

That's not all that's at work in the dog's brain to help it, for example, impeccably predict the arrival of its owner. Internal biological rhythms also play their part, according to Roberts. Researchers have discovered from experiments on pigeons that an "internal clock" allowed them to learn when and where food would be available [source: Saksida]. Similarly, dogs might use circadian oscillators -- daily fluctuations of hormones, body temperature and neural activity -- to know when food is likely to hit the bowl or when owners are likely to return from work. Instead of remembering how much time passes between meals or what time meals are given, dogs react to a biological state they reach at a particular time of day. And they react the same way at the same time every day to this stimulus."

From http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/dogs-perceive-time1.htm

Interesting. Shame it doesn't go into a bit more detail.

Don't underestimate your dogs memory. If they forgot where the good hunting spots were 10 minutes later, they'd have gone extinct years ago. Having fun and playing with your dog you will see their incredibly long memories.

dunno but lexi is on the ball, she knows when to bother getting up and when not. if im walking about outside on just any old time she wont bother getting up from her sun trap area, but if its feeding time/walkies shes at the gate bouncing even if im nowhere near her lol

Suki does seem to be able to tell time, espically if food or exercise is involved.

I understand it works in 'blocks' like each thing that happens, stimulus etc is a block. I think they associate things in each block with the next or previous block, they learn and understand things through cause and effect. Like if this happens then something else happens then the 'this' happening is the predecessor to the 'something else' happening. When 'this' happens they will automatically expect 'something else' to happen. Dogs are masters of routine too, they learn what times of the day things happen quickly. I dont think they have a real concept of time though, they dont know how long things take, nor do they understand what time is.

They dont judge things by how long it took or even think 'wow mum's been gone for a long time'. They go by how they are feeling at the time. For example seperation anxiety will happen within 5 minutes or 5 hours, its not that the owners been gone for a long time that is triggering the SA. Its more the fact the dog is alone, feels anxious, starts to get stressed, gets more stressed, contributing factors such as needing to urinate might increase the anxiety. They get nervy, start to chew things which in turn relaxes them and relases seratonin (next time they will probs skip strait to the chewing regardless of time elapsed((self-rewarding))), then you come back and they are happy! They will then associate the chewing with making you come back (self-learnt routine).

I am only going by what I understand I could be wrong on so many levels, this is just how I understand the dog's mind works. about the level of a 2/3 years old child but with less rational decision making! This article below is quite good...

How a Dog's Memory Works
Research on how dogs perceive time is limited. But we can learn more about it when look at the extensive research done on other animals, such as rodents, birds and primates. In his studies on how animals perceive time, animal cognition researcher William Roberts made some remarkable conclusions regarding animal memories, anticipation and more. He says that animals are "stuck in time" [source: Roberts]. By this he means that, without the sophisticated abilities it takes to perceive time -- like truly forming memories -- animals only live in the present. Roberts thinks animals are "stuck in time" because they can't mentally "time travel" backward and forward. Humans can consciously and willfully think back to specific memories and anticipate events. Animals cannot.

To many, this seems like a fallacious theory. After all, can't we train animals? And doesn't this training depend on the animals' own memories?

Not necessarily -- at least not in the way we usually think of memories, according to Roberts. Animals might be trained to do things in the same way young children are trained to do things. According to studies on children, by the age of four, kids have learned lots of things -- crawling, walking -- but without the mental ability to remember where or how they learned them [source: O'Neil]. In other words, they don't have the power of episodic memory, or the ability to remember particular events in the past. A dog can know how to respond to the command "sit" without having a memory of the specific event in which it learned that command.

That's not all that's at work in the dog's brain to help it, for example, impeccably predict the arrival of its owner. Internal biological rhythms also play their part, according to Roberts. Researchers have discovered from experiments on pigeons that an "internal clock" allowed them to learn when and where food would be available [source: Saksida]. Similarly, dogs might use circadian oscillators -- daily fluctuations of hormones, body temperature and neural activity -- to know when food is likely to hit the bowl or when owners are likely to return from work. Instead of remembering how much time passes between meals or what time meals are given, dogs react to a biological state they reach at a particular time of day. And they react the same way at the same time every day to this stimulus.

If dogs can't store memories like humans can, can they plan for the future? On the next page, we'll learn what dogs comprehend about the future time.


http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/dogs-perceive-time1.htm

I dont think they have any real sense of time. Perhaps it is more about a routine that has been established. For instance, no matter what time I get up, Tyson 'knows' we will have a walk shortly and it is the same in the afternoons. I can vary my time when I return from work but sure as eggs, 2 hours later he starts to anticipate a walk again.

Her sense of timing could in fact be attributed to the fact that we always wake up at the same time as well as feed and exercise her at the same time so, it could be an effect of a biological rhythm.

I think as well, they pick up on the minutest change in our behaviour. For example, my oh does shift work, so he comes home at diferent times every day. Without fail, a couple of minutes before he comes home, Dempsey is waiting at the door for him. However, I know what time he's due home, and I wonder if it's my anticipation that he senses?.

That's certainly one to ponder caryll!

Thats another thing dogs can feel or smell or sense emotions etc. Your right Caryll he must anticipate your OH coming home through some subtle change.

I think they can read us far better than we can read them tbh. Mine seem to know not to get excited if I just run out and come right back.

I noticed something with Molly the other day. We usually walk in a wooded walkway, the same walk every day. The other day I start off a bit further down the path, a new part for Molly. She was a bit more curious with this stretch of path but when we got to her usual patch, away she went like a mad thing!!! She obviously rememebers where she walks everyday. I think sometimes we underestimate or dogs, they are far more intelligent than we will ever know I think.

Definately, if you came to my house and didn't know the way to the shop Skibadee or Tali would quite happily walk you there and back! They also know when we are in the car and are approaching our destination as they go loopy!