Remember, remember the 5th of November?

“Did you ever walk in a room and forget why you walked in? I think that’s how dogs spend their lives,” a quote by Sue Murphy.

Although a neat quote, I do not completely buy it.

Do dogs have short term memory or is it just another myth?

Personally, I believe it is the latter.  Sure, I may throw a ball to my little buddy and while running to get it,  he sees a bird and gets distracted, then starts chasing the bird completely forgetting about his task of bringing the ball back.  This, I believe is merely a distraction.

Unlike us, dogs remember familiar faces and places by smell, but what is so amazing in that, is we may take a walk in Central Park for the umpteenth time and quickly get bored of it.  Dogs, however, may have walked with you an infinite number of times in the same park, and yet they perceive it as a completely new location; well, perhaps not completely new but definitely transformed. All this is owed to their miraculous noses; no matter how annoyingly wet they are.  Despite their sensitive sense of smell they cannot help but sniff other dogs’ butts and then smothering you with kisses.  Yeah, nasty stuff – but hey! –at least your pet remembers you!

Dogs’ noses are their source of communication, sense of direction and recognition so surely they remember events and people, like humans do.  They remember pain and fear but also they remember their owners who shower them with love and care, so the next time your dog forgets that its yawning and stares at you with their mouths wide open – do remember that it’s all just distractions and that he remembers only the things that matter most.