Do dogs sometimes recall a time a few years back where they failed to catch a frisbee?

  • Flemmy@lemm.ee
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    9 days ago

    Back in my dogyears on my first fulltime job the office assistant wanted to shake my hand close to the coathangers so I handed her my backpack.

    • OmegaMouse@pawb.socialOP
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      9 days ago

      Lmao that’s amazing. If I were that person I’d had found it funny. Hopefully it’s not too embarrassing a memory for you!

      • Flemmy@lemm.ee
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        9 days ago

        It’s been well digested by now it’s a fun memory since it was for 6 months then moved on. Years ago.

  • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    I don’t think it’s ever been conclusively proven that other animals have episodic memories. (Partly because it’s hard to tell whether they’re actually replaying an experience or just remembering the relevant information in a less immediate way, without being able to ask them.)

    • OmegaMouse@pawb.socialOP
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      9 days ago

      That’s fascinating. Does an animal finding an item they buried a week ago not constitute an episodic memory? Considering they’d basically have to retrace their steps. Is ‘remembering the relevant information’ not akin to memory of an event?

      • Godort@lemm.ee
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        9 days ago

        Squirrels are known for storing large amounts of nuts all over the place, hense the term “squirreling away” but they often forget about stores, leading to new trees sprouting

      • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        The most suggestive study I’ve seen was of squirrels who re-bury nuts at a later date if other squirrels were watching them bury the nuts initially. But it can still be argued that they’re just keeping a mental map with some nuts marked as “need to move” without remembering the specific experiences that made them think the original locations were compromised.