DO DOGS REMEMBER THE PAST ?

Do dogs remember the past ?

Of course, they do! If they didn't, they wouldn't do a happy wiggle-worm dance, sing a woofing welcome song, weave in your legs and let you in, when you come back from work or an overnight trip.

Quite the contrary! They would take you for an intruder, bark threateningly, growl and fend you off.

Come on, I'm kididng. I'm just saying that to butter up all our so-called guard dogs, who wait eagerly for the pizza delivery guy, and just welcome him with open paws, drooling chops and no frills.

No, actually, our four-legged friends are much wiser than us. They don't waste their energy dwelling on the past, they just want to suck out all the marrow of life and ...of bones, as well, and live fully in the present.

Carpe Diem is their watchword.

Yet, all the good and bad things about the past are buried somewhere in their memory and can pop up years after. 

That's what we learned when we adopted Indy, an English Springer Spaniel , my son had brought back from a shelter in the South-West of France.

The only glimpse of her story we had was that after searching for pheasants, partridges, and waterfowls, her nose had gone on strike, and she had been fired!

Awfully shocking, but unfortunately true. Some people don't deserve a dog, but that's another story...

When the poor sweetheart arrived in our place, she was just skin and bone, but so scared of moving an inch to her bowl that we had to handfeed her for nearly two weeks, otherwise I guess she would have starved herself.

Then, little by little, she felt safer enough to turn into a hearty eater, and even sometimes into a cheeky stealer!

One month later, Indy had got used to her new life of ease, comfy basket, yummy meals, treats and cuddles, but there was still something puzzling in her behavior...

Whenever we came back home, she never failed to wag her tail, wriggle and grin, but never uttered a single welcoming woof.

Dearhubby, that mocking guy, said that it was a blessing, cause one chatterbox at home was enough! I still can't see who he was talking about!

Time went by, and Indy stayed woofless (for non-dog speaking readers, that means ' speechless').

When we introduced her to Ulysse, my mother-in-law's  new puppy, it was love at first sight. I mean, Ulysse immediately had a crush on our sweet Indy, and did all his pawssible silly antics to make friends with her.

His leaps, rolls, pawings, and yaps were so enthusiastic that Indy quickly joined his " catch-me-if-you-can " game.

But, Ulysse was a buoyant pupy, and Indy soon realized that she couldn't face the challenge.

What could she do, then, to teach that restless kid to respect ladies like her ?

You know what?

She spared no effort, rushed to him and ...barked in his ears.

Ulysse stopped dead, but our so-called dumb Indy, too.

Then, scared by the sound of her own voice, she sought refuge in the garden shed where we found her , shaking and looking at us with imploring eyes saying , " I promise, I won't do it again. I will be as silent as a grave ".

We comforted her, and told her that we were not angry at her, she could bark at that naughty puppy to show him who ruled the roost, but it took us quite a while to persuade her to get out of the shed.

That's when something just clicked with me.

In her early years, perhaps Indy had performed that kind of woofing exercises too often, and at any time of the day, and then been punished in a way I still refuse to imagine...After that kind of rough patches, she had decided that " Speech is silver, silence is gold "was a safer lifestyle.

Anyway, that 's the only time we heard her voice.

So now, what do you think ? Is that just my dogaholism that plays tricks on me, or do dogs remember the past ? Please, let me know.

In the meantime, happy tails to you!