Does Dawn Remember Her Puppies?

I’ve had multiple readers ask if I think Dawn remembers Adriana, a pup we had adopted from her first litter, and vice versa: does Ade remember Dawn? First, I can’t tell you how honored I am that so many people care about Dawn. I wish I could tell her, but it to be honest, her “fame” might freak her out.

The answer to the Ade and Dawn question: I don’t think they recognize each other. I took Ade from her feral mother when she was a three-week-old flea-ridden pup, and Dawn didn’t come back into her life until she was eight-months-old. That’s a long time in a dog’s life. On the flip side, Dawn has never treated Adriana with any special warmth. She’s just as interested in the rest of the pack as she is in her elder offspring.

But there is no doubt that Dawn remembers her eight-week-old puppy Tony and Tony remembers Dawn. After all, they had only been apart for a few weeks, and for most of that time, Dawn had been living in our basement. They must have smelled each other.

Every morning, the second we let Tony out of his crate, he dashes, little rump bouncing every which way, straight to his mother and bombards her with kisses. She accepts his affection with a happy face, a wagging tail. Occasionally, if we oversleep, Dawn will whine from the hallway and only stops crying when we set Tony free.