Dogs' Memories....etc

Sometimes I wonder what memories are stored in my dog's head.  Obviously there are some...for example...she gets excited when we pick up her leash ...or when we take her down to the dock for a boat ride...but there has to be a trigger for her to seem to recall something.  Can she bring up past memories at will? Does she remember living on the streets of Puerto Rico? Does she recall that she had a litter of puppies there? Animals can remember people after long absences...would a dog remember puppies that are all grown up, after not having seen them for years.  If so, would it be a scent thing?  Apparently parrots name their offspring according to parrot experts.  Elephants mourn over a lost herd member. So there's much more to the world of animals that we sometimes think.  For humans recalling can be glorious thing....or a relived trauma of horrid experiences. For example, I can picture vignettes of trips I took many years ago and enjoy this reverie....being at a watering hole in Africa, going over volcanic regions in Hawaii.  I can think back to yummy foods I've eaten- gelatto caramel with a hint of seasalt, or out of the garden corn, and I know my mouth waters by what my mind's eye is experiencing. Virtual experience, it is.  I can also remember the death of JFK, the morning of  9/11, particularly cruel things said or done to me. The humdrum parts of life just appear as vague happenings, but out of clear focus, and all rather blended together.  I know there is an emotional component to learning and memory. Do these more vivid memories serve to make us yearn and move toward or away from situations we can experience in the future? Sometimes yes, but sometimes no.  Think of how many people recreate and relive the trauma of early experiences by doing things that will certainly lead to those negative experiences....selecting an abusive spouse for example?  Does our brain get wired for the familiar? How can we undo this wiring....conditioning? therapy? Many of life's lessons and belief systems  are formulated  in the earliest years. Yet, because of nature/nurture some people survive seriously traumatic childhoods and do seemingly fine , while other are crushed by them and  just can't seem to get off the track that leads right back to what they should want to escape from.  I think a good form of self-therapy is to bring up pleasant recollections and bask in them.. They say if you smile, you physiologically feel better.  I bet if you bring forth pleasant memories you are doing something physiologically as well.  During meditation you are supposed to empty your mind. But I like my approach better. I guess the lesson is not to dwell on the negative for long unless you are coming up with strategies to make the future better. Dig up those fun, happy, pleasant memories and relive them again and again. There, Sigmund,....How did I do?