She HAS to bury her bones.. Huh?

[Hadoken]

Ok... Athena is well behaved and a very loving Rot.. But alas, her current behavior has me somewhat mind boggled.

She appears to have a dire need to bury her raw-hides. Granted, if she had very few of them I would understand but she has plenty. I trip over them all the time.. Plenty I say!

She will pick up a raw hide and if the door to the outside is closed she gives this look of doom to you.. LET ME OUT! I HAVE A MISSION!

Well, I decided not to let her out. I am tired of having 100 bones in the back yard. If it was 99 bones it would be ok.. but 100?! Guess what she did? She poked around the house.. finaly decided the couch would do. She jumped on the couch (not allowed) and promply burried her bone in the cusions.

What gives? If I can't stop this behavior I am going to end up trying to cash in on a video to Animals Funniest Home Videos.

[Judy Chrusch]

Well my 18 month old male does the same thing with raw marrow bones. We buy these real meaty bones with the knuckes attached and as soon as we give it to him he wants to bury it. The one he took down to the creek so fast he didn't even taste it, he frantically buried it then came in, mud everywhere, LOL. He didn't bother it till weeks later when it smelled so bad he wasen't even allowed in the house till I gave him a sponge bath. Now I won't let him out I give it in his crate and now he will bury it in his blanket, go figure. This just started a couple months ago bc he would always chew on them as soon as you'd give them. He'd take it out in the yard and chew on it for hours or in his crate. They are too funny sometimes. I don't give rawhide bones and perhaps you may want to consider the marrow bones bc they can be quite dangerous if swallowed whole or even bite size pieces can swell and get caught in their stomach and or intestines so rawhide isn't a good idea, I didn't know if you knew how dangerous they can be and dogs have even died from them :(. Our vet doesn't even want small dopgs chewing on them. Put a rawhide in some water and you'll see how it swells, that's what it does in their stomach . Anyway, I don't know what to tell you about why they bury their bones, I just wanted you to know mine does the same thing :D.

Judy

[Hadoken]

Mainly she gets pigs and cows ears (I can hear it now, somehow these are deadly to your pet as well) but we still give her big old raw hide bones as well as smaller ones. Never had a problem over the 18+ years of owning dogs (since I was a wee one) with my dogs and their rawhides. Granted we do get only certain types and have stuck with that brand.

The question still remains.. Make her a video star or find out why she is behaving this way and or how to stop it.

Thanks! :)

[Vivianne]

Originally posted by Hadoken
She appears to have a dire need to bury her raw-hides. Granted, if she had very few of them I would understand but she has plenty. I trip over them all the time.. Plenty I say!

Hadoken
I have a theory for you to consider. When a wolf pack is done dining on a carcass they bury there leftovers for the next day or leaner times. Maybe, just maybe, Athena has too many bones at once. She can’t possibly finish them all so she is burying during these times of plenty. It’s like saving for a rainy day.

[moondog]

Luna does the same thing :) . She only gets one bone at a time, though, and it seems like she wants to bury it when she gets tired of chewing and wants to go do something else. More like putting it in a safe place so she doesn't have to keep her eye on it. She usually only lasts about two whole minutes, though, before she has to go back and check to make sure it's still there . She'll even try to bury it in a corner of the room, if the sofa isn't available, pushing her nose on the carpet trying to cover it up! Seems like she'd get carpet burn, but it doesn't seem to bother her.

As far as outside goes, I've given her an out of the way spot in the yard where she's allowed to bury, away from the garden beds. I keep it fairly soft and she's willing to comply. I do have to remind her sometimes when she's on a mission, but she gets such enjoyment out of burying her bones I really wanted to give her a place where she's allowed to do it. She wants to bring them back inside, packed full of dirt, too... so I intercept at the door and wash them off before she gets to bring them back in.

She gets milkbone and marrow bones. I agree with Judy on the rawhide. When Luna started throwing it up, I decided they might not be such a good idea for her.

I vote for video with a re-direct! :D

[Hadoken]

lol -- Great advice and thanks!

[Roscoe's dad]

Guido is a bone burier too! And like Czar, if she can't get out side she has no problem using the couch cushions. Some people bury spicy cabbage underground or fertilized duck eggs to ferment, our dogs bury bones.:D

[Caesarsmom]

All four of my rotties have buried their "treasures." If they are in the house, they do what moondog's, Luna does.....will set them on the carpet and try to cover them. It's funny to watch. Maybe mine have too many bones, b/c the ones they don't bury, I've got to pick up before mowing the lawn......kind of hard on the blades!

~Cris

[myrottie_chyna]

Chyna has started to bury her bones lately also. She usually just leaves them lying about. Now she takes it and hides it in the very back of her toy corner, then scooches her other toys in front of it, then pushes them down onto the bone with her nose. I have to watch her, or she will dart out the door with them and bury them in the yard. Just yesterday she snuck one in on me and before I knew it, there was dirt/mud all over my carpet where she had set it down, then picked it back up and set it down in another spot...
I promptly confiscated it and threw it in the trash. She looked at me as if to say "HEY! what the hell are you doing!!?" Its funny.

[joquendo]

When I first got my (now 5 year old male) - he would do the same, as soon as I would give him a bone, he would rush outside and bury it... and even stand over the area... sometimes if I was out in the yard and he was in the house and saw me motioning towards the area where the bone was buried - he would dart through the door and stand over the area guarding it... it was THE funniest thing... (now this was when he was the only dog) - I now have 5 dogs and they all get bones and he does not have a need any longer (for some reason) to bury bones anymore... they all eat their bones together, within inches of each other, sometimes stealing each others bones;) - but that "burrying" bone syndome stopped. I would have thought he would have had more of a desire to bury his bones when there are other dogs around - due to the possible threat of losing it... but not at alll....

... it is a mystery why it happened for 1.5 years and then suddenly stopped... I am glad because I couldn't do with any more holes being dug in my back yard...

[Leader]

Now all you bone lovers, don't get upset.....:D

My babe does ringsport and since they have to refuse to eat food thrown to them and nice juicy tidbits on the ring....I just don't give my dog bones (in addition he'd probably kill my boxer baby - 11.5 - if she came near him when he has a bone:( ...)

So my doggy only gets a nylabone, no pigs ears, nothing and lots of kongs and really hard rubber toys. And he doesn't bury a thing.:)

I'd probably have to draw and quarter him if he did bury bones cause the only diggable ground around here is in the mixed borders. Now I LOVE my dog, but I adore my mixed borders

[IRIE'S MAMA]

Irie loves to bury her bones. The first time she did it was quite funny. I was in the back yard picking up poo. (fun fun) and she was in the yard with a bone. I watched her dig the hole and put the bone in it. She noticed that I saw her "spot" and immediately dug it back up and burried it in another spot. She reminds me of those reeses penut butter cups commercials bc she will burry a bone, walk around for maybe a minute, then digs up the bone and chews it again. She just can't wait. I think that she figures she will bury it for later and then after a minute she is like "OK IT'S LATER" I think if I had holes all over my yard I would ban this behavior. She keeps it to a minimum, so it's OK with me.

[Spoiled Rott'n]

My Sabre loves to hide his bones/toys/chewies also. He is such a comical one about it. Just last week him an his brother Cody got new chewies. Cody proceed to right away start chewing on it but Sabre looks around the room looking for the perfect spot to hide his. First spot was the corner of the bedroom, he nudges it with his nose pushing into the corner then lays next to it to protect it.

Then 5 minutes later that spot is just not good enough as he notices his brother has spotted the hiding space. Not to mention I tell him "Sabre mommy can see it!" Then disgusted, he walks around with it deciding that Daddy's size 13 shoe would be a better place. He deposits it in the shoe and puts it under the bed. He thought it was hidden for sure until Daddy needed to wear the shoe.

What is really funny is Sabre never finishes one of his chewies but has great fun in playing hide and seek and protecting it!