No Long Term. No Short Term.

Vanessa Arenas

Dr. Kyburz

College Writing (9:00 am)

23 October 2017

No Long Term. No Short Term.

One day I noticed while talking to my dog that he is easily distracted -- this fact brought me to deep thought about how a dog’s memory works. In my thought process it became clear to me that dogs are not capable of storing memories -- meaning my dog does not remember anything we have been through! This is incredibly sad as I questioned, Is there a true connection between owners and their dogs?

Dogs have the ability to imprint on humans and other dogs. This really only works as a mechanism to remember who someone is, not exactly remembering their past in the relationship.  If dogs could remember everything between them and their owner maybe they would not have the same love for their owners. For example if a person were to accidentally hurt their dog maybe the dog would never feel safe again. A true connection cannot be based on memories for dogs, but perhaps they see the world in a way us humans can not even imagine. It is obvious to see that dogs do love their humans whether it be because it is the hand that feeds them or the one that cuddles them.

A dog’s memory cannot be tampered with so humans are stuck with dogs who cannot remember their past. Humans should not feel sad about this or stress about if their dog is conscious of them. If dogs can love their humans regardless of their memories: maybe love is stronger than just an event. Maybe dogs have a stronger connection with their humans spiritually.