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do dogs always know their mother?


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We ran into one of penny's adult pups yesterday he is just over 2. They were cordial to each other and ran in a pack.

 

Dal cant be used for comparison since he lived with his parents till he was 7 months and he visits them at least once a month.

 

I wondered this aloud and all the woman/mothers said yes but, I wonder if that is being romantic?

 

Opinions/ experiences?

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Oreo lived just around the corner from her mom... actually still does, if the mom is still alive. There was a period they didn't see each other. They met at our front door when Oreo was about a year. There was a lot of growling and "get off my turf" - they're both extremely bitchy dogs. Do I think Oreo recognized her? Not a clue. But if she did, it didn't affect her actions one bit.

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I don't know about "family". But Fergie sure seemed to know where she came from!

 

She was born in a backyard kennel in Florence NC - the one in the boonies beyond Oriental. We were at Emerald Isle when she was jsut oave a year old and decided to see that area.

 

The ferry ride was lovely - she had no problem with sea legs (hey, it's a really short trip) and leaned over the edge to bark at floating sea gulls. She loved Oriental, trotted on leash all over. Then we got back in the car and headed to Florence. Up to then, she was sitting up in her seatbelt-harness and watching everything. I swear, as soon as we got to Florence, she lay down on the seat and put her head between her paws. Stayed that way until we were on the way back to Oriental.

 

All we could think of was "Been there; done that; burned the T-shirt."

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I think they recognize them in the same way they recognize other familiar dogs. I don't think they have a special category for "mom" after they leave the whelping box. Their littermates, on the other hand, if they had a good long socialization period with them, seem to be special buddies for a long time.

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We kept a foster puppy who came here at 2 days with mom and litter. Mom was placed after 4/5 months but came back after a year and puppy was thrilled, I mean, really thrilled. She on the other hand did not seem to treat him any differently than the others.

 

Two siblings that I kept are very in tune to each other but at a reunion with a few others, didn't show much interest...beyond ganging up on them. It's always interesting.

 

Maria

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We used to take "the Boys" back to their birthplace every few months (the farm is in changed circumstances now, so we don't do it now :rolleyes: ). It was pretty obvious that they knew the place, but we were never sure if they knew their mum. Her attitude was a bit more clear, though, especially with Kali - "Hmmmm, I thought I'd got rid of you ages ago"! Snorri's dad (and Kali's litter-brother) wasn't very pleased to see either of them - he's the farm "boss dog" now, and regarded them as interlopers, family or not.

 

I would like to think that when Snorri arrived here as a small pup, Kali recognised a "family smell" (???) and gave him an easier time, as a result.

 

Whilst my dogs recognise the word "brother", and will look at each other, I doubt that they have any concept of what it means.

 

Sadly, I think that this is anthropomorphising them too far.

 

Snorri

:cool:

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We have a bitch visiting us who we have bought several pups from. We let her visit with three of them all from different litters. The youngest is 7 months old. It was clear that not one of them recognized her, nor did she recognize them. Infact the pup, who is a little wary of new dogs, was definately wary of his mom.

Jenny

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