As you can see, while your pup may not remember specific events from puppy phases, there are experiences of care and interaction that condition your pup with skills that they will take into dog maturity.
Some dams remember their puppies even years after separation and some may not recognize their puppies at all. Dogs will remember their puppies depending on the amount of time the puppies have spent with their day. The longer the time they spent, the easier for the dam to recognize their offspring.
Memory Span
"Dogs forget an event within two minutes," reported National Geographic, citing a 2014 study performed on various animals from rats to bees. Other animals have long-term memories, such as dolphins, but dogs don't seem to have a long-term memory that lasts much beyond those two minutes.
It is important to note that there is evidence that mother dogs do miss their puppies. As they are able to recognize and form bonds with each puppy. Furthermore, pregnancy and birth increase your bitch's motherly instinct through hormones.
However, mother dogs do in fact remember their puppies after a few months apart. Their maternal instincts will continue to exist for a while after their litter has left and this helps to aid their memory. Mothers will develop a bond with their puppies and care for them.
Those that remain with their mother for the first 8 weeks tend to remember her (as well as their siblings) in later life. Similarly, females who are with their puppies for 8 weeks and beyond imprint a memory of them, and will show signs of recollection, even once they reach adulthood.
But what about if it's for longer - say months at a time? Will your dog remember you after months apart? Luckily, the answer is yes! In fact, studies have shown that the longer a dog is separated from their owner, the happier the dog will be when they return!
After your pups have reached the appropriate age, you will become their “parent.” If the canine mother is no longer in the home, it is natural for a puppy to cry or whine at first as he adjusts. When the puppy is first separated from his mom, he will need a lot of attention and contact from you.
Dogs can hear, smell, and see babies, but they don't really know what a baby is, so it is shocking when dogs treat babies differently than adults. While your dog may not care much about adults, you might notice that your dog seems especially interested in babies.
Once she feels that her puppies are becoming independent, a female dog will go back to wanting to spend most of her time with her owners. Many owners find that in just a few short weeks their dog's behavior has completely returned to how it was pre-puppies.
Licking is a natural and instinctive behaviour to dogs. For them it's a way of grooming, bonding, and expressing themselves. Your dog may lick you to say they love you, to get your attention, to help soothe themselves if they're stressed, to show empathy or because you taste good to them!
It is very likely your dog can remember things that have happened in the past and especially events that happened recently, like where they left their ball outside yesterday. So in short, your dog can probably remember certain things from the day before!
It's not unusual for dogs to grieve the loss of a person they've bonded with who is no longer present. While they might not understand the full extent of human absence, dogs do understand the emotional feeling of missing someone who's no longer a part of their daily lives.
So, yes, a puppy can definitely think of you as his “mother” — that is, his provider and protector — and develop as strong an emotional bond with you as if you were blood-related. Your puppy will also quickly learn to pick you out among strangers, both by sight and through his powerful sense of smell.
Patricia McConnell, PHD, Certified Animal Behaviorist and author of several books related to dog behavior, believes that dogs remember their previous owners, however they don't remember in the same capacity as people do.
So in short – yes, puppies miss their siblings at first. But they quickly get over it. Dogs don't really have the mental capacity to reflect on their early-life peers, so they won't really “miss” their siblings in the way a human might.
Domestic dogs are descended from wolves, which live in packs. Packs usually consist of a mother, father, older cubs, and newborns, and the father plays an important role in raising the cubs. He is very protective of his cubs and, as they grow, he'll teach them survival skills and serve as a role model.
With a quick sniff of fresh or dried urine, your pup can tell another dog's gender, if they are spayed or neutered, their age, health status, stress level and diet.
Research suggests that dogs are able to recognize their siblings and their parents later in life as long as they spent the first 16 weeks together. Intuitively, the less time dogs spend with their families as puppies, the less likely it is they'll be able to recognize a family member later on.
If your dog is having her first litter of puppies, she may just be scared or overwhelmed; not knowing what to do. You can try to help her by urging her to nurse and speaking softly in a positive tone.
The ideal minimum time that the puppy should be able to separate from its mother is 8 weeks. Still, many ethologists also claim that the puppy should be with its mother until 12 weeks of age. We must point out that the longer a puppy is with its mother, the better its development.
Puppies may cry a little when you leave the house, but separation anxiety is usually explained by more extreme behaviours, such as: Destructive or disruptive behaviour. Chewing items or tearing up the room. Scratching or chewing of the door.
Dogs can actually start missing their owners from the moment they part ways, and keep missing them more up until two hours. Beyond two hours, the melancholy stays about the same until they're reunited with us.
Dogs really do love us unconditionally. Your dog follows you everywhere. If you feel like you can not take a step in the house without your dog at your heels, consider yourself loved. Dogs cling to you for more than just security.
But does your dog miss you back? Studies show that dogs form positive associations with their favorite people, and they don't like being separated from you for long. Dogs can handle alone time, but they do miss you when you're gone.