Why Do Dogs Bury Bones?

You give your dog a bone, or a chewie of some type. They gnaw on it for quite a while, getting it slimy and stinky, then they get a hankering to put the bone is a safe place to "age", hiding it from the world and anyone who might think of snitching it from them.

Why do they do this?

Dogs bury bones and other treasures because of instincts. In the old days, before dogs had neat bags of food, before refrigerators, before nice people to hand out goodies, wild dogs had to forage for food on their own. Sometimes they got lucky and there was plenty of food for the whole pack. Other times they would go hungry unless they put a little aside for another day.

So, today, even though our dogs don't have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, something primeval kicks in and tells them it might be a good idea to bank their treasure somewhere.

Our girls don't get to take their prized chewies outside to bury, but it is pretty comical to watch them search all over the house for a hiding place.

Stormie is the funniest. She will just push it up against the wall, right there in plain sight. She seems to think it's hidden, I'm not sure why. Then, a while later she will walk by it and presto!, she notices that it's visible. Oh no! She looks all around to see if anyone else has spotted it, then will take it and run off to find another wall to put it up against.

Shimmer takes them to one of the many dog beds, then gets distracted by something else, leaves the treat and then can't for the life of her remember where she left it. She will frantically search the house until we take pity on her and show her where she left it. Then she settles back down into the bed with a big sigh, as if she's say "Whoo, that was a close one."

Breezy is all about the possession. She firmly adheres to the 'possession is nine tenths of the law' rule. If she can gather them all in her crate, she owns them. The other two girls wait until Breezy heads off to do something else, then they swoop in and snatch their prize.

It is fun to see these little Chihuahuas, who have never had to forage for food, or anything else for that matter, act like their wild ancestors when it comes to hiding their bones.

Such free entertainment for us, and we don't even have to leave the couch to enjoy it!