i am off on holiday and going to put dog in boarding kennels will he remember me when i come back and the routine at home like being in a crate at night and house training sorry if silly question but new to dog owning

Unless you are going on holiday for years ;-) then yes, he will know you when you return. He will either be so pleased to see you he will wag his tail off, or you will be well and truly ignored ;-) Dogs can and do go in a huff at times :-p

I recently went to visit a friend I hadn't seen for several months. Her dogs were so pleased to see me that I was almost knocked over, so if you have a big dog be prepared to end up on your back :-D

Due to marriage break up my previous gsd went to live with her breeder ( a friend ) I was only able to see  maybe once a year as was my ex. there was absoulty no doubt that she remembered us both and went mad when she saw us bouncing around a wagging her tail and squeaking.  After 3 or 4 years she came back to live with me permanently something that I never expected or planned. she walked into my new house as if we had never been apart and remained with me until she died. On occasion she met my ex and deffinitly still remembered him with pleasure too.
btw she was quite during the time she lived  with my friend and  her mum and another gsd on a small holding
So  a couple of weeks in kennels will be no problem.

Yep your dog will definitely remember you, as Lindylou says be prepared to be squished if you've a big dog. I went away for a week last November and when I got back my OH had to wait for ages to give me a kiss , I was pinned by the Missy and Vic who had to get their kisses in first :)

When Im at Uni im away for 3 months ish and all the dogs remember me when I get back home.

a dog will remember your scent for years. when i was young we had  a great dane and mum gave him to a zoo (unable to cope) he was only about 8 months old. we visited him yearly until he died and as soon as he smelt us (not saw us) he went beserk with joy
a dog will always remember your scent

I have got one of my dogs living with my parents over in Germany. She was too old to emigrate to the UK with me so she lives with them. I go over to see them and of course my dog 3-4 times a year and each time it is a big re-union as if I've never been away. As she's now 13 and this is quite old for a Golden Retriever, I am never sure how many times I can still see her so when I am over there we make the most of it and she seems to rejuvinate for the time that I am over...

> After 3 or 4 years she came back to live with me permanently something that I never expected or planned. she walked into my new house as if we had never been apart and remained with me until she died

Awwww.  Sniff Sniff  That is lovely.  :-)

Yes he will remember you and as someone else has pointed out he will be soooo excited to see you that you will not want to leave him again :) but he might also sulk for a few hours once he is back home.  I have 2 dogs, both react differently and they share the same kennel when we use kennels so neither treated differently, just different ways of dealing with it!

We have just got back from 2 weeks away in France. Our pup spent the 2 weeks with mum and dad and their dogs. Our pup went crazy when we came home but i think my mums dogs were more pleased to see us as it meant that we they could finally get a bit of peace and quiet and not be pestered to wrestle all hours of the day and night. I've never seen 2 dogs look so relieved in all my life!!!!!!

We have had pups leave us at 8 weeks and remember us years after leaving.

We had a boxer "Sophie" when i was a child and when we went away on holiday she would go to a neighbours, on our return she would go potty with excitement with my dad, 2 brothers and me but would totally ignore my mum and would keep her "sulk" up for over a week....if my mum called her name Sophie would make a point of looking at her then turning her head away sticking her nose up in the air....i can remember my poor mum in tears over being ignored.

When our dogs went to kennels at a young age for 4 days, they virtually ignored hubby when he picked them up and rushed over to the girl who fed them - typical spaniels! But they are always happy to see us. With our current dogsitter she spoils them outrageously, even more than we do, and you can tell that they haven't been told 'no' for the whole time we were away, it does take a day or two for them to remember things they aren't allowed to do in our house but have clearly been allowed to get away with at the dogsitters!

They remember not just people but places and events too.

One of mine once got an electric shock from some cattle fencing whilst he was peering in the water trough - he gave that spot a wide berth for ever after

On a different occasion but the same walk, he caught a mouse - he literally fell over it on the middle of the field - he then always checked that same spot every single time we went on that walk.

We eventually moved away but 3 years later,whilst visiting friends. we took him back to that same walk.  He replayed that route in the same way he always had, he took a detour to avoid the water trough even though the cows and fence were long gone, and he went to check 'his' mouse spot.

It can't have been scent so it has to have been memory/developed habit - but after 3 years!!

> would make a point of looking at her then turning her head away sticking her nose up in the air

My dog has done this to me before.....even though i was only away for a few days!!! :-)

> One of mine once got an electric shock from some cattle fencing whilst he was peering in the water trough - he gave that spot a wide berth for ever after
>

Ahh, bless him.
Buster was about 5 months old while out on a walk, too busy sniffing the grass to look where he was going and walked into the dog-poop bin. It made quite bang as his head battered into it (he walks along, nose to the ground like a bull-dozer) and with the shock of the impact it really worried him. He will NOT go near that poop bin & he's nearly 3 years old now. I have been trying really hard to build a positive assoication with it (treats!) but the closest I can get him to it is 10ft - & that's a major improvement as before I couldn't reach the bin if he was on his 32ft long-line!! He will approach other poop-bins, so it can't be only scent they go on.

Dogs have a great memory, unfortunately - in some cases!

my girl gets very excited to see me and then it seems to click like you left me here and im going to ignore you for the next hour.

talk about silent treatment!

my two are rescue,i think it was about two years after we got them that we ran into the lady who took them in(she runs a small rescue on a farm) my boy who hates the vets saw this lady across the waiting room,i knew he recognised her, we went over and he sat down in front of her and placed both his front paws on her knees and very gently leaned forward to kiss her face,it was a moment i can tell you.
Ash

> he sat down in front of her and placed both his front paws on her knees and very gently leaned forward to kiss her face

He was saying "Thanks" to her ;-)

We had our rescue dallie for almost three weeks when my son went off travelling for a year. Son played a game with the dallie that no one else played. A year later son comes home. After  my son was given a good sniffing and tail thumping,  dallie darts  off to find a sock, (looked under sons bed first!), re appears with a sock to play the game again.

> We have had pups leave us at 8 weeks and remember us years after leaving.

Ditto,

My foundation bitch didn't see her breeder for two years, and any pups I have bred that I meet as adults remember me once they get to smell or hear me.

Our's are fine and have a very very long memory so dont worry. Jake's memory was so good that he choose to ignor OH coming home to punish him for leaving him - I got a wag and a cuddle he got the cold shoulder.