You, humans, are really smart, but sometimes you’re confused by the simplest of things. Why do we dogs bury things?
Well, there’s a perfectly good reason behind it! We call it the dog logic, we’re really clever you see. But I suppose you humans are quite different from us, so it’s okay that you don’t know.
Since I’m one of the best dogs around (I definitely deserve lots of treats), I’ll be the one to answer your questions. So, at least for today, consider me your personal guide dog in all things dog!
You might have seen dogs burying bones, toys, and plenty of other things. So why do we do it? To us, it’s instinctive! We descend from wolves, and our wild ancestors had to be very smart when it came to surviving!
Any excess food that they had would be buried and hidden. That way they could go about their day and come back to it later, when they needed it, without having to worry about other animals finding it and stealing it for themselves!
Of course, we don’t have that same need to bury things for survival, because we have food all the time! (Especially if you spoil us, which we love!)
But the instinct is still hardwired into a part of our brains, so if we have excess bones or food or toys, we will sometimes just bury them to use later on!
Do dogs remember where they bury things?
I’m also offended by this question, why would I not remember where I’ve buried my stuff? But I suppose squirrels always forget where they bury their nuts. Poor things! So fast and fun to chase!
But to answer the question, yes. We definitely remember where we bury our things! We wouldn’t bury them otherwise! Although I suppose there’s a dog or two that are a bit forgetful and might not find it afterward…
Okay, so how are we so good at remembering where we buried our things? Well, if I’m completely honest, we don’t always remember.
But we’re still usually able to find it with ease. That’s because we can smell it! Our sense of smell is one of the best ever, and we can definitely recognize our own scent on a bone or toy!
So no matter where we’ve buried it, we can follow the scent there and uncover it no problem!
The only exception to this would be if we accidentally buried it too deep, so the smell is completely covered, or if it’s too far away for us to pick the scent up.
Why do dogs bury treats?
Treats are the best! We love treats! I can give you my paw, and sit, and rollover, and do all sorts. Anything for a treat!
But sometimes we bury our treats, which is really weird because we love eating them. So why?
Well, whenever we bury food it’s due to our survival instincts, passed down to us by our ancestors. In the past, whenever dogs in the wild had excess food, they would bury it in the ground.
That way it was safely hidden from other animals that might want to steal it, and it was kept cool and preserved for later. So if we’re burying the treat, it means we want to save it for later and we’re hiding it away to make sure nobody else takes it away from us!
We will probably go back to it in a few hours or the following day, uncover it, and eat it! You might also notice that we don’t like you seeing where we bury it.
And you have to understand, what if you decide to go and steal it because you’ve seen where it is? We can’t take that risk!
So if you catch us burying it we might take it somewhere else and try again. It has to be a top secret operation!
How do I stop my dog from burying bones?
If you want to stop your dog from burying bones or burying any other things, then there’s a way to do so.
But first of all, you have to know that you can’t punish us or shout at us! If you get angry at us for burying a bone, we won’t understand what we’ve done wrong, and we’ll just get sad. It’s an instinctive behavior for us, so we don’t see it as something bad!
But okay, I’ll admit that we can make a bit of a mess in the garden if we’re constantly burying bones, so I get that maybe not all humans are happy with us doing that. So how can you stop us?
Just address the instinct!
Whatever we bury, it’s because we consider it to be something extra that we can keep for later on. So the solution is to give us fewer bones! (As much as it pains me to say so).
If you give us too many bones, too regularly, then we know that we can afford to keep a few for later by burying them underground. However, if we get less of them, we know that it’s best to make the most of it and enjoy it immediately!
What breed of dog likes to bury things?
Not all dogs act the same, despite us all descending from the same ancestors. We’ve all developed and changed into slightly different behavioral patterns, unique to each breed.
Not all dogs like burying things as much, some breeds are way more prone to do so!
So what breed of dog likes burying things?
Dogs that were traditionally bred to hunt small animals are usually a lot more inclined to bury their things. This is because their instinct to search and hide game is a lot more developed, and they’re also a lot more used to digging in holes.
Some of these breeds are Terriers, Dachshunds, Beagles, and Basset Hounds. Their instinct to bury bones and other things will be a lot stronger, so they’re a lot more likely to do so!
However, remember: all dogs have the instinct to bury things, so all dogs, no matter the breed, might do as such!
