Barking, chewing and burying bones are only some of the natural behaviors of dogs. Dogs burying bones are often seen in children’s books, in the movies and in animated cartoons. Because of the dogs’ inclination to bury bones; it would be safe to say that all dog owners have seen the pet digging and burying bones.
With a sneaky look on its face, a dog that has a bone on its mouth will look for an ideal spot to hide the “treasure”. As soon as the ideal hiding place is found, the dog will dig madly and speedily bury the bone. Do you know why your dog is burying bones What encourages a dog to bury bones? The pet may not be aware why it is burying bones as scientists believe that this is an instinctive habit to survive.
Dog experts believe that almost all of the behaviors and habits of modern day dogs are deeply rooted from their past. From the time dogs have existed, they have been burying bones. Even though dogs have existed for millions of years, it was not very long since these animals were domesticated. Primitive dogs have lived harsh lives in the wild and the habit of burying foods has been a great help to survive. Dogs’ existence in the wild is no picnic. Dogs in the wild constantly need to be on the lookout for predators and to safeguard their food from other animals that would want to have a share of the prey.
We humans make sure that the pantry is fully stocked. Squirrels work long hours to fill their coffers with acorns and nuts. Ants are acclaimed for being industrious as they make it a point to fill their anthill with food. Dogs too hoard and this is done by burying bones and other foods. In the wild, food is hard to come by. Dogs would have to bury the food so that it cannot be discovered by other animals. The dog will dig up what was buried when food is scarce. The dog will unerringly find the buried prey although it is possible that what will remain are the marrow-rich bones.
Dogs these days never lack food. Dogs need not bury bones to survive but they do because it is an instinctive behavior. The ingrained habit makes dogs dig holes to hide their bounty. A dog may not dig holes but food will be hidden on its crate or on its bed. Dog owners would just have to accept the fact that the dog may destroy the garden once in a while to bury its treasured bones.