It just occured to me that I can’t recall actually seeing a single instance of a dog burying a bone, nor have I ever found any buried bones while doing landscaping, etc.
Many dogs do dig, of course, and as a child forcefed all the usual stereotypes, I associated that with burying bones. Perhaps the general decline in giving bones to dogs has made it less frequent–but in my adult life, I can’t recall anyone recounting a firsthand experience with dogs burying anything.
Does your dog bury bones (or anything)? Do most, or just a few? How about wild dogs?
My dog “buries” his rawhide bones and other toys in the cushions of the couch and chairs. I would assume he does the same outside using dirt instead of cushions, but I haven’t gone over the yard with a Bone-o-meter to check.
My golden retriever buries large bones. Small bones he eats on the day he gets them. A bone around a foot long gets paraded around for a while, then buried. He usually digs them up a fortnight later.
Dogs bury bones all the time. They bury other things also. For instance, you can give a dog an ear of corn like the kind you give cattle and they will bury it until in starts to rot and soften up where they can chew it more easily. Sometimes, they just bury things to eat later when they feel like it. This is a common thing for animals to do.
My dog buries anything (treats or chewies) she doesn’t feel like consuming right then and there. It’s cute because she digs a shallow trench, drops the object in, then pushes the freshly turned earth over the object with her nose. Her nickname is ‘dirtnose’, because one look at her nose is all it takes to deduce that she has been burying something.
The dog my family had when I was a kid was originally a stray that my uncle picked up. The entire time he was with us, upon receiving food of any kind (kibble, chew toys, biscuits) he would take a portion and go bury it. I assume this was ingrained in him after having to live on his own, where he had no dependable source of food, as we were never able to free him from this habit.
We once had a beagle. I can pretty much reiterate what the others have said. She would regularly burry bones or toys. It was always amusing watching her wander around the house, over and over again, trying to find somewhere to bury it INSIDE hehe.
The dog I used to have would “bury” dog treats, bones, and all kinds of stuff by sticking it under pillows, trying to cover it with a blanket, etc. She never buried much in the yard, but she didn’t spend a whole lot of time outside.
The dogs I have now both will dig lots of holes in the yard, but I have yet to see them bury anything.
All the dogs I’ve ever owned or been friendly with have buried bones. If you give ‘em a big one, they’ll gnaw off all the bits of meat and gristle until it’s a boring ol’ shiny bone. Then they’ll invariably bury it for a few days or a week or so. Sometimes they’ll dig it up, chew it for a while, then bury it again.
Sounds like my beagle buddy. He caused a sore by the top of his nose from rubbing it on a carpet as if he was covering the bone with “dirt”. He couldn’t actually bury anything but would act out the whole routine.
One more “compulsive burier” beagle-mix owner here checking in. You give her anything that can’t be consumer immediately–a ham bone, a rawhide chew, whatever–two seconds later she’s standing at the back door with it in her mouth, tail wagging, a hopeful look on her face.
Quite often I would say. And some of them are quite proprietorial about it. I took my dog to the golf course one day and as soon as she showed up the golf pro’s dog rushed over and dug up one of his bones and carried it around.
My dog has yet to find a single foodstuff that he didn’t feel needed consuming right then and there. His favourites are squash, brussels sprouts, anything with Tabasco on it, and meat (as a distant fourth). He also enjoys earplugs.