For that matter, do any animals other than humans get nostalgic?
Nostalgia is a nuanced word that takes some thought to explain, and we can’t really communicate with them to ask the kinds of questions we need to in order to get that answer.
But it’s well documented that dogs remember humans and other dogs for their entire lives, and that in my opinion does indicate some kind of retrospection.
Whether they feel it the same way we feel it is something we can’t know. But they probably think about it from time to time if it’s not overwritten by new memories.
Shadow@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
I don’t think we have any way to know.
My dog definitely remembers and gets excited about places when going back after years. Does he think about those places otherwise? Probably not
dharmacurious@slrpnk.net 5 weeks ago
I had a dog named Ellie. She had this little whimper moan thing she would do when she wanted something, and you had to go through the The List™ to determine what it was.
“Is her hungry?”
“Does her want a to-to” (toy)
Et cetera.
She wouldn’t stop her whimper until you said the right item.
One time I had exhausted The List™ and was just trying random things because the whimpering was getting a little old at this point and I was desperate. So I asked “do you wanna go see the kitty balls?”
The kitty balls we a collection of stray cats at a Walmart we lived near nearly a decade prior. She had not been to see the kitty balls in at least 8 years.
She lost her fucking mind. Jumping up and down (not an easy task on an old girl with messed up legs from getting hit by a car), barking, spinning around. I loaded her up in the car and drove two hours so she could stare out the window at stray cats in the back corner of a Walmart parking lot.
I miss her a lot. And apparently, she missed the kitty balls
FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org 5 weeks ago
That’s like the most touching thing i ever ever heard. I love it.
Glasgow@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
Where do you think he’s running in his dreams.