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Chewing bones is a favorite pastime of dogs. If a bone is loved a lot, the dog might even bury it.
To humans, this behavior may seem strange, so why do dogs invest so much energy in burying their precious possessions?
“The reason a dog buries something is to save it for later,” Teoti Anderson, Florida-based professional dog trainer and behavior consultant, told Live Science. “When you don’t know when you’ll find your next meal, it makes sense to hide the leftovers.”
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The act of burying bones is a type of “food caching” – that is, storing available food for later access. This is a common behavior in many species of birds and mammals, including the canine ancestors of domestic dogs – gray wolves – this is where dogs inherited their burial instinct.
While wolves, who are known for their crafty hunting skills, tend to stay in a recovery zone long enough to completely devour their prey, they will occasionally carry and bury the remains of a kill, according to a study by 1976 published in the newspaper. Ethology. (Wolves and other canines are known as “scatterers, “which means they store their food scraps in hiding places over fairly large areas.) This same study found that even wolf puppies hide and move their hiding place to prevent it from being discovered by a sibling behavior in your backyard, rest assured – they are just following their instinctive “inner wolf”.
Today most dogs don’t need to store food because they have adorable parents to feed them, but that doesn’t mean their natural urge to secure things for later does not exist. always not. Sometimes the instinct to bury things has nothing to do with storing food or protecting against scavengers. According to canine behaviorist Cesar Millan, burial can be a way for a dog to savor precious objects, so that they can appreciate them again later. It can also be a way for bored dogs to start playing with their owner, or a stress relief method for anxious dogs.
Meanwhile, some breeds, such as terriers, are simply more prone to digging, whether it’s to bury food or dig holes for no specific reason. “Dogs specially bred to hunt or chase critters in their dens often like to bury toys, bones and treats,” Anderson said. “So it’s not uncommon to see a Dachshund bury a bone under the couch pillows.” Anderson added that if a dog doesn’t have a burial instinct, that shouldn’t be of concern.
Dogs who “hide” seem to visit their hordes whenever the mood strikes them. “Some dogs hide a treat and then ignore it for a week. Some dogs seem indecisive and move their price 20 times before settling on another [spot]. And other dogs bury a bone and forget about it altogether, ”Anderson said.
If a dog doesn’t collect treasure, you can bet it is not because he forgot his whereabouts. Dogs have an incredibly keen sense of smell, about 10,000 to 100,000 times more powerful than humans, according to a study published in the journal. Applied science of animal behavior, so remembering their hiding places is rarely a problem.
Besides bones, what types of things do dogs like to bury? Anderson told Live Science he runs the gamut. “I once knew a dog who would bury rocks. I don’t know why these rocks were so special, but they were special to him.
Originally posted on Live Science.
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