Hiding / Burying Bones & Toys

Did you know our pet dogs have something in common with the squirrel who hid all these nuts in a truck engine??

When I give our dog a bone or yummy chew - even certain types of toys - he immediately looks for somewhere to bury or ‘hide’ it.

Do your dogs do that too? Ever wonder why?

Our pet dog's wild ancestors are wolves and believe it or not the two species still share many of the same instincts. In a wolf pack - when an individual wolf discovers a major piece of prey (elk carcass) - she quickly goes off to find and bring back the rest of the pack so that they can all eat!

If it's a much smaller piece of prey (half-eaten bunny) then pack etiquette dictates this doesn't have to be shared. It can either be consumed right away by that one wolf or buried for later.

So to get back to our family dogs! That bone, tasty chew or even a toy that fits the ‘small prey’ bill often gets treated by our family dog in exactly the same way as the wolf treats his ‘small prey’. It's either eaten straight away

or stashed in a safe place to be accessed later.

Our dog Des generally waits a couple of weeks then sneaks back to retrieve whatever it was he hid from wherever he hid it. He drags it off to a nice safe corner to enjoy...well away from other pack members (myself, husband and 3 cats)...just in case one of us gets any ideas about trying to steal it for ourselves!

Versions of this behavior