Do Your Dogs Seem To Know Their Relatives?

[Vickie]

Just wondering if anyone else notices this?

My dogs seem to know their relatives. They tolerate things from them that they would never tolerate from others, even of the same breed.

Shine loves ALL puppies so until they are about 4-5 months she will fawn over them all, regardless of breed. she also thinks anything mini poodle sized or smaller MUST be a puppy! Trim thinks puppies are rude annoying little things & would rather they just kept away. The only exceptions seem to be the pups that are related to her. Not only does she tolerate their silly carryings on, but she is beside herself with excitement when she sees them.

We spent time with one of their relatives this morning & it struck me, again, how excited they get & how they will allow the puppy/ies to do anything to them. There were other dogs there and even another puppy of the same breed...but there seemed to be different rules for the relation :p .

I wonder if it is b/c their body language is so similar...

Edited June 19, 2010 by Vickie

[helen]

My dogs think any other Brittany is great, no difference if they are relatd or not, and Welsh Springer Spaniels are just as good to them as a Brittany LOL

[Tassie]

Vickie - another interesting question. Rory met his mum while he was over in Perth. He was in a run, and she came over to the fence and they did lovely gentle "kissy, kissy" through the fence - very sweet. Don't know if they recognized each other though.

They definitely recognize breeds - Rory thinks every Golden Retriever he sees just might be his very good friend, a now 13 month old GR boy.

[Lyla]

I had one of my puppies from a previous litter come and visit us just before his first birthday. I wasn't sure how my bitch (his mum) would react as she is not really tolerant of puppy shenanigans, and always has to be the boss.

Within 5 mins of them seeing each other they were curled up together in the yard snuggling. I have never seen my bitch do that before. She was so gentle and affectionate, and after he left she went back to her old self, uninterested in my pups we have here.

The funny thing is we retired this bitch as she couldn't care less about her puppies when she has a litter, so it was very strange, and rather sweet, to see her behave in this way to her son.

[Jed]

One of mine came back at 12 months to be rehomed, as soon as she arrived, she was welcomed by her dog family, and totally ignored her human family, who really loved her. I've never had one come back who wasn't recognized and welcomed.

[Trisven13]

Mine love other Fauves and go ballistic to see them. Marie, who is quite a snob for a Fauve, also goes into paroxysms of love to see Neil, the breeder,l who she lived with until she was 4 months old.

Marie also loves Dachshunds and as Neil also shows Daccy's that, to me, has always made sense. They both and particularly Daphne, think that every Deerhound they see is Grover. Daphne nearly turns herself inside out to say hello to them when we are at a show with Deeries.

They like all breeds but really love the breeds they've each grown up with. I would love to see what Daphne thought of Swedish Valhunds as she spent the first 9 weeks of her life with some but they're, sadly, not a breed we see a lot of.

[Mim]

Sarge didn't show any extra attention to his mum when they saw each other again and neither did she Maybe he was the annoying puppy in the bunch. But Sarge does get really excited when he sees a red and white corgi. He will just want to be with them and no other dog.

[Paulp]

When I took my boy to his first obedience lesson at about 6 months of age there was another dog there that looked similar to him but 2/3 his size (so I assumed much younger) that he really responded to. A conversation with the other dogs owners led to the realisation that the other dog was actually one of his littermates.

[lanabanana]

Mine don't have any siblings (they are mutts so we have never met them) but I used tohave a dog who recognised and hated bull terriers.

He was attacked by a bull terrier when he was about a year or so old, then another time we were at the beach and my dogs and me and my kid were sat on a blanket, and a bull terrier came and stood near my daughter and growled (at my dog) and my dog took immediate offence and a fight broke out. Anyway, ever after if he saw a bull terrier, he would go ballistic.Hated them.

[Jumabaar]

Abby at the age of 5 recognises her breeder!! He only has to say something about 100m away (and out of site) and she will go nuts. She also knows a certain line of dogs and dislikes them all- all bred by the same person although not all owned by her. She doesnt seem to reconise any of her K9 family but once she has decided a dog or human is "pack" they are instantantly recognised- even after four years of not seeing them!!

[Asalei]

My girl does. She goes spastic in the trolley when she see's her mum or sister walking towards her. I was getting her out of the trolley one day and she escaped my hold and just ran straight to the trolley her mum was in because she wanted to say hello to her.

I think her mum remembers her too because she plays with Abby a lot differently to the way she plays with my older girls and other beagles.

I don't know if that's because she sees them every week? Who knows, but it's cute

[renee08]

I believe they do recognise 'family'

I have a 2 year old male GSP and my friend owns his 'sister' Millie, from the same litter.

There can be heaps and heaps of other dogs around (like at Million Paws Walk) or even just a couple of others in the backyard and they will both completely focus on each other and nothing can distract them! They sometimes run around and play together, other times will just lie on the ground and lick each others faces and make whiney noises

Their mannerisms are so similar it is scary! But they definately do recognise each other and still love each other to this day

[Ons]

Flash my coolie was a rescue dog so I don't know his relatives but my friend has loads of coolies. They have always accepted Flash and he just runs around in the middle of them within seconds of arriving at her place. He probably goes there about every second month.

[Clyde]

Stanley is staying with Warley atm. She has his older brother. I doubt they recognise that they are family, more like they recognise that they're both tools

[Diane J]

Can't say if my dogo's recognised 'family' but they definitely recognised their own breed!

[perrin]

Georgia can't even recognize herself. So i doubt she would recognize family members.

She once saw her reflection in the glass on the tv cabinet as she was walking past and almost cleared the lounge in her haste to get away from the 'evil' dog.

[Swiss Girl]

My girl only meets her siblings a few times a year, but she definitely recognizes them, she plays very puppy with them, a lot of leaping and bounding, completely different to how she plays with other dogs, and seeing a GSD leaping and bounding is really funny.

[Guest Panterka]

Can't say if my dogo's recognised 'family' but they definitely recognised their own breed!

Ditto

I think my greyhounds can sense other greyhounds' headspace vacuum at a distance

Georgia can't even recognize herself. So i doubt she would recognize family members.

She once saw her reflection in the glass on the tv cabinet as she was walking past and almost cleared the lounge in her haste to get away from the 'evil' dog.