How well do dogs remember their early lives?

Question

I bought my dog from an Amish family when she was only two months old, and a year or so later, I watched a documentary about the Amish. Whenever someone spoke Pennsylvania Dutch (i.e., Amish German), she would perk up her ears and cock her head to one side, as though it was familiar to her. She does the same thing when she hears wolves on TV.

I assumed that she had some memory of living with the Amish family and hearing them speak the language. Is there any possibility that this is the case?

Answer 1

Very likely.

A while back, getting a German Shepherd that was trained to respond to German commands was a bit of a fad, even though the dogs would go to non-German speaking homes.

Many dogs cannot 'perceive' television enough to watch it and learn to tune out anything that comes from that direction and ignore it all. It's always humorous to watch a dog who's learned that still get excited when there's a doorbell, dog, or knock on the television.