Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
Would your dog remember you if you were separated for five years?
I recently saw a movie about the Akita dog named Hachiko who waited every day outside the train station for his owner to arrive home from work. The dog continued to wait every day for over nine years after his owner died.
And there's Greyfriars Bobby, who spent every night for 14 years, regardless of weather, sleeping on his master's grave.
What if, after five years or so, the owners appeared? Would the dogs really remember them, or had the waiting simply become routine, a pattern that started out with meaning but morphed into nothing more than daily habit?
There are many stories about joyous reunions between owners and dogs that have been separated for a year or so, many having to do with military personnel who have been deployed overseas. But what about those bigger chunks of time? Would our dogs remember us for five years, or longer? That's a very long time, in dog years.
According to the internet, most people believe that yes, if there's been a strong bond, the dog will remember. But confirmation is hard to find.
There's a video of a woman who'd been in prison for 3-1/2 years reuniting with her Shepherd type dog, and the dog is thrilled, obviously remembering her.
Another woman tells of finding her lost Schnauzer in a grooming salon, three years after the dog was lost, and the dog immediately responded to her name, Pepper, and to the lost owner.
There are a couple of videos of owners and long-lost, microchipped dogs being reunited where the dogs appear friendly enough, but not over-the-moon excited. Of course, these are generally dogs that are getting pretty old.
A few stories are intriguing.
December 3rd, 2009 by Pets Best
The ideas that go through a pet owner’s head when they find that their dog or cat has gone missing can be downright torturous. It’s often enough to drive the owner to the local Kinkos so he or she can wallpaper the town with flyers publishing the exact description of the animal and the hefty reward to its finder. However, when a dog goes missing for almost half a decade hopes of a reunion may fade, and 10 cent copies seem like an unnecessary expense.
Dog owner Tom Smith gave up searching for his lost dog after several weeks, but his reward came almost five years later.
Smith’s Patterdale terrier named Scrappy Doo was stolen from his garden in 2004. A devoted pet owner, Smith searched for his hound for weeks before losing hope in a reunion, the Sun reports.
But earlier this week, a more mature, seven-year-old Scrappy Doo was found abandoned in Bournemouth in the UK, just 15 miles from Smith’s house in Wareham.
"I thought I’d never see her again," the 60-year-old pet lover told the news source. "When they bought her back as soon as she saw me she went mad. After all that time you wouldn’t think she’d remember."
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from Yahoo answers about how long a dog remembers an owner:
When my wife and I divorced she refused to let me take the dog, but I learnt several years later that she had promptly given the dog away. Imagine my surprise, 5 years after my divorce, I was in another city, a German Shepherd came running up to me, tail wagging, and sat obediently at my side, just the way I had taught her. Yes it was Bo, my girl, still brings a tear to my eye twenty years later. How did she know it was me? god knows but she picked me out of crowd in a different city 5 years after we were last together. So I guess they remember the partnership (owner is to weak a word) all their lives.
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GARDNER, Kan.
-- A northeast Kansas woman who was looking online for a new pet was surprised to see pictures of a dog that looked just like one she lost track of four years ago.
Dana Klint of Gardner was even more surprised - and thrilled - when the dog turned out to be her Siberian husky, named Faith.
Klint was reunited with 15-year-old Faith on Sunday, thanks to the Pet Connection, a no-kill animal shelter in Mission. She left the dog with an ex-boyfriend four years ago and hadn't seen her in two years.
The Kansas City Star reports that Faith had apparently been living on the street for several months before she was taken to a Kansas City, Kan., shelter and then sent to Pet Connection.
Pet Connection director Melody Kelso says pictures and the way the dog acted when she saw Klint made workers confident the dog was Faith.
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from a Golden breeder:
I had bred Goldens for some 20 odd years. I had a woman who had bought a puppy and moved away...came back 13 yrs later with the puppy to visit me and look into purchasing another puppy. This old girl (the dog) was very stiff from plain old age and her "Mom" explained to me, she could barely make it into the back seat of the car without some help.
The day arrives and as I saw the car pull into the driveway and the door open, I called the dog. I always call my puppies the same way...same voice...this dog ears perked up and came flying out of the car!!!!!!!! She nearly knocked me over....Me....I start blubbering like a fool...as I felt so incredibly touched this dog remembered me (and my voice!) The dog literally crawled into my lap...all 50 lbs of her and stayed there! Licking and nudging....We laughed, Mom felt aa littleput out...and called the dog..She immediately went to Mom...but then turned to me again. I swear she was smiling!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Caleb Chun on
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the hachi and bobby stories are truly wonderful stories that remind all of us of how loyal these wonderful creatures are... to me, i doubt it'd be a habitual act(maybe partially) but even as humans many of us have habits that are dictated by what the weather allows... but we all have those certain connections to a habit, person, or animal that no matter what the circumstance we will do what has been accustomed...
for hachi and bobby what their connection was was their loyalty to their master and being by his side... it wasn't just the people bringing them the food or interacting with them, but truly something more that kept them waiting for the one person they wanted back...
for me, if i ever lost tobi for any amount of time i would certainly hope he'd remember me as i know i could never forget him :D
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Permalink Reply by Pat and Traveler on
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Caleb, I believe that both Hachi and Bobby would remember their people no matter how long it took for them to show up. Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing to see? That's actually what I was thinking of when I started writing here--how great it would be to be able to watch Hachi see his owner get off the train after he'd been waiting for five years.....
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer and Jack on
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I watched that movie one time and one time only and my heart truly can not bare to ever watch it again, I sobbed so hard at the end of that movie that I threw up.....
I hate when people post pictures on FB of dogs lying on owners graves which for some reason I see a lot.. I hate seeing dogs even happily reunited with owners after they have been gone for years.
What the heck happen to dogs living in the moment??? Guess that really isn't true..
When Jack was a puppy, I had a very good friend that really took care of Jack when he was little a lot.. We haven't seen each other in a few years.. She recently came over Jack didn't bark once when her car pulled in the driveway.. He never barks at cars he knows, just ones he doesn't.. He has not seen her before Jack was a year old.. but she spent almost every day with him on and off for a few months and he even slept at her house when I was sick..
Not only did he not bark... when she walked in the door.. He went ape.... for her...
It is my sincere hope that should Jack ever need to be rehomed.. in the event of my or my mom's death because you would have to pry Jack from me from my dead arms before I gave him away that he would go on and be happy...
One thing is Jack has a lot of people he knows and loves.... and loves a lot.... THere are some friends I have that when we go to their house he knows his spots, where to go, how to get treats etc.... I guess that is one small advantage to bringing everywhere with me.. He is used to a lot of different situations.. and I am going to keep thinking that way because there isn't anything I could do to change it if it were not true
The thought that he would be missing me and waiting for me for days, weeks and years is more then I can bare.. or event think about.... so I won't.. LOL
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You will always be Jack's person, Jennifer. I cried while watching the movie too.
It's fascinating that he recognized your friend after such a long time. I was wondering too how things like this fit into the idea that dogs just live in the moment.
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Permalink Reply by Kyoko on
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"Hachi"'s story is based on true story in Tokyo, Japan.... They have his statue there at the train station and people use it as a meeting place. I remember meeting up with many of my friends there as a kid.... Some people said that after a while Hachi was just hanging out at the station because people fed him and stuff, and it became his place to be. But that takes away the romance.... I really believe that animal has sense of attachment....You see that on many youtube videos, even about the animals staying with injured or deceased partner animals....
Our old Chow Chow Butter was about 16 and becoming ill all of the time. We spent the fall, winter and spring in and out of vet. My younger daughter, who was very closed to him was away in college.... That summer, she worked at the amusement park in Ohio, so she did not come home until end of August ready to go back to school. Butter was so sick and weak, but we thought he was waiting to see her. Well, she came back from Ohio at the end of August. He suddenly perked up, ate well, and walked around well like he was his old self for few days while she was at home. My daughter left again for college, and he died in his sleep 2 days after she left...... I really felt that he wanted to see her before he went over to the rainbow bridge and wanted to show her his best during the last few days with her... :-(
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Permalink Reply by Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle on
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I'm sure you're right, Kyoko.
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Sweet story, Kyoko. I'd love to have seen Hachi's owner come out of the train station door five years after he'd started waiting in vain. I'll bet that would be a wonderful thing to see.
Sounds like your daughter gave Butter a renewed lease on life, even if it wasn't for long. What a sweet dog!
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Love this video, though it brings tears to my eyes. I wish I could somehow give these dogs their people again, and be able to watch the reunion. What a gift that would be!
Jennifer--don't watch this! :)
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too late I saw the link and clicked on it..... it confirms to me one thing..... I am never going to die and leave my baby no matter what.....now that that is settled I am off to go snuggle Jack and never let him go.. ever
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Permalink Reply by Christine & Camus on
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I'm sure dogs remember their people. My experience is with my son's dog Tala. She is a special dog, at least IMO, as she is part wolf. I do not believe in the breeding practices, but she was my son's dog and I loved her. Tala bonded with my son, me and my dog Einstein. He got her as a puppy, but from day one she was afraid of people. The first time she stayed with me she was only ~ 5 months old and she ran away! I was frantic, Justin cancelled his business trip and together we searched for hours, put up signs, and called everyone we knew in the neighborhood. She was spotted about 3 miles away at one point but no one could get close enough to catch her. Long story shortened, two nights later I woke up around 3 AM and Tala was sitting next to my bed staring at me! That 5 month old pup managed to find her way back to my apartment, squeeze through the fence, come in the dog door and up to my bedroom! She remembered a lot in just the few hours she had been with me before running off. Now when I visit she remembers me even when she has not seen me for several years. As soon as she sees me she starts to wag her tail, whimper and then runs up to me. The first night she slept at my bedroom door waiting for me o get up. Our bond is strong.
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What a great story, Christine! I love that Tala found her way back to you through so many obstacles. And that she remembers you even though you haven't seen each other for years--wow!
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