The previous popular movies "The Story of the Loyal Dog Hachiko" and "The Mission of a Dog" not only let us see the loyal and touching side of dogs, but also remind people of whether the dog's memory can be preserved in the past and present lives, and work hard to find the owner for generations. It is precisely because of this that more people have poured more different feelings into their pet dogs, but from a scientific point of view, how long can the dog's memory generally be retained? What methods does dogs use to strengthen their memories?
1. The retention time of dogs' memories
There is an old saying that cats travel 800 miles, and dogs travel 1,000 miles. Whether it is pet dogs or pet cats, they have amazing ability to go home. After years of hardship, even if they have no impression of other things, they have a very deep impression of their owner's voice and their residence. I have seen a news story before. A foreign owner gave his dog to his sister for raising him because he was sick. He had never contacted the dog again during the treatment years. After the foreign owner recovered and returned to his sister's house, he just called the dog's name, and the dog immediately hugged the owner excitedly, threw the owner to the ground, and kept kissing the owner on the cheek. This video made many people cry at the time. Dogs are really the closest friends of humans. From this example, it can be seen that it is not a problem for ordinary dogs to retain their memories for 5-10 years.
A. Exercise memory
For example, parents often take their dogs to exercise, and they have some jumping, rolling or lying postures. After performing one, the dog may be able to master it quickly. This is a typical exercise memory. Through exercise memory, dogs will also think of the people or situations who accompanied them to do this exercise before.
B. Image memory
Imaging memory refers to the dog's perception of the overall specific image of things, such as the specific appearance of objects, sofas, stairs, etc. The dog lives in an environment for a long time, and judges what it is based on the appearance of these things. For example, when playing on the sofa, the dog knows that it is a sofa, and thus constantly thinks about everything that has happened on the sofa, all the interesting things about the owner, etc.
C. Perceptual memory
Perceptual memory includes the dog's sense of taste, smell, etc., because specific smells leave a very clear impression in the dog's mind. For example, many dogs can find their way home because they leave a unique smell on the road. The dog can still remember its owner many years later because the unique smell on the owner is deeply in the dog's mind.
So it would be a bit too metaphysical to say that dogs can have memories of past and present lives, but for their own owners, it is still no problem for dogs to remember for several years. They have their own unique memory methods and methods.