Can Boxers remember their......

[purepayton]

I would like to know what everyone thinks about what a Boxer can remember. Particularly how long will a mom and dad boxer remember they had pups after the little ones have went to a new home. I will be picking up my two boxers (7 wks old) this week and I wonder if I should bring my pups to visit their parents and brother once every couple months or so. Does everyone think thats stupid? How long will it take for their mom to forget she had pups? Maybe this is silly, what do you think?

Pete

 

[Debbie Magon]

Funnily enough pups dont seem to remember their fur mothers like they do the breeder that cared for them.
When pups are fully weaned at 5 or so weeks the breeder is the person who does everything for them.
Naturally the pups tend to remember the human hands that held them and the voice that soothed them and yep, the one who kept those big bowls of food rolling out the door!

Many males do not like pups.
The majoritory would have NO recognition that the puppies are theirs.
The animal world does not work like that.
It could in fact be risky, to introduce a puppy to a fully grown stud dog.

Motherhood in bitches is quite different from humans.
A bitch will spend her every moment with her pups till their eyes are opened then she will slowly begin the weaning process. For her offspring to survive in the world they must be independant and capable.
Motherhood and all it entails is very short lived for dogs.
I find my bitches remember the pups for a little while as their babies but remember smell is everything to animals.
A pup that has been away from its mother no longer smells the same and a bitch who has long since finished with her milk will not smell the same to the pups.
Recognition visually is fairly limited in the canine world.
But in saying that it is very nice to occasionally catch up with the breeder and let them see your pup and how he/she is developing.

I find it quite a joyous reunion when folk return with their babies.
But the mother dogs usually get bored with the whole proceedure in 5 minutes and slink off for a rest without a pesky pup annoying her!

 

[Louie's mommy]

I have often wondered the same thing. When I picked up my puppy from the breeder she said that I could drop in anytime and let my puppy visit with her mom. I understand how the puppy would smell different to the mom and thus, she may not recognize her through smell, but this makes me think of something that makes me laugh everytime I take my other dog to the park. Here goes: When I visit my parents house, I take my 14 month old with me and he plays with my parents two golden retrievers. When we leave, we can go for several months without seeing the goldens but everytime we go to the dog park, my dog runs up to all of the goldens to check and see if they're his buddies. WHen he realizes they're not, he leaves. It's the funniest thing to see him dashing toward a golden and then walk away sulking. I guess it all depends on how long the two dogs are apart and how often they see eachother as to how well they would recognize them!

 

[Debbie Magon]

Your dog is dissapointed to find none of the goldens are his mates.
How does he work that out? By visual images?
Possibly some visual are used, ie: He recognises the shape etc of a Golden and hopes it is his friend, but mostly recognition is by smell.

He would probably know when he is within a few feet of each dog but he may well sniff them, especially the mouth area, and record that for future reference.
If he meets these dogs again it is quite possible he will not go right up to their faces as he will get a whiff of them and remember who it is.

Smell to a dog is fairly equal as sight is, to humans.
Dogs , especially boxers who are not bred as a sight animal, have fairly poor sight by human standards.

 

[Roxanna]

I always wonder if Tyra remembers her first family. We rescued her when she was 2-1/2 years old after her first family dumped her at the pound. She is now 4 years old. Does she have any memory of them? My daugher asked me, "If the first owner and I were falling off a cliff which one of us would Tyra save?" Ofcourse I tell Lorena that Tyra would save her.

 

[Aimee]

I was led to believe that dogs do not remember each other. What led me to believe this was an experience I had, twice. When we were fostering Dusty, we went on vacation. A fellow rescuer kept her while we went out of town and we boarded our two (I wasn't going to pay boarding fees for a foster). This was a short 5 day trip. When we came back and Dusty came in the house, there was a slight scuffle between Lexi and Dusty, as if they didn't remember each other. Nothing major so we didn't think much of it. Not long after that, we went out of town again, this time for 10 days. The same volunteer kept Dusty and we again boarded our dogs. When we got back, this time when we tried to reintroduce Dusty, the two had a more serious scuffle. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why they didn't remember each other, especially after what in my mind was a short seperation. After a reintroduction period, things were once again smooth and they became fast friends again. I still to this day do not understand it and it led me to believe that dogs just don't remember each other.

 

[Louie's mommy]

Hmm!!

I think dogs do remember eachother and I believe this from my own personal experiences as well. I've already posted an earlier experience with my Boxer and the way that he always sees goldens from a distance while at the park and dashes off to see if they're his buddies. When he checks by a close look and sniff, he realizes they're not. I have another story though that really makes me think that he remembers!
The period between visits to my parents house (where his two golden retriever buddies are) can be up to six months. However, whenever we get about 1/2 mile from my parents house as we're entering the neighborhood he starts to get excited and whine and kidney bean in the back seat of the truck. When he first started to do this we wondered if it was certain words that we were saying that got him excitited: grand-daddy, nina, cody, meredith. So, to test it the past two times when I've gone home we won't say a word. Yet, he still gets excited when we turn into the neighborhood. So, unless there's a specific smell over the last 1/2 mile before my parents house, I think it's reasonable to say that he is recognizing the neighborhood and is linking this visual cue to the memory of his buddies. Then, when we pull up to the house he's woo-wooing all over the place and he runs out of the truck up to the front door of the house. Then, when we open the front door he bolts to the sliding glass door that lead to the backyard where the goldens are. Then, he's jumping and kidney-beaning until we let him out and when we do he and the goldens run-run-run all around the backyard. Now, my parents goldens are very protective and weary of other dogs but they have no problem with him there! (When they were first introduced the male golden growled and nipped at my Boxer but after a few days they were okay together) So, I think it's pretty amazing that my little one can remember what the neighborhood looks like that his buddies live in and then he remembers exactly where to find them!! If he can remember with ease the sight of the neighborhood houses out the window of a moving truck then, I dont think it is so unreasonable to believe that he is genuinely remembering his buddies when he runs to them!! Maybe all dogs aren't like this but I really think he remembers!