Dogs (Vs. Bitches) Burying Food

[Scottsmum]

Hey All,

Here's something I've wondered about ever since it was said to me. Love opinions on it.

Scottie buries his food. I don't think it's a case of being over fed - he pretty much does it with ANY meat or bones he's given. But Dad, who's owned dogs his entire 65+ years once said to me that it's unusual for dogs to do it - usually only bitches bury food.

So... What's what do you think? What have you observed over the years? or is there evidence to back this up or is my dear old dad talking out his bum ;)

Ps - piccie of mr brown nose himself - just cause I can.

IMG_3556 (3) by Superspanger, on Flickr

*Oh -yeh that's the other thing - he's not very good at burying things and really just noses it around and covers it in a bit of dirt and grass. Silly puppet.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Scottsmum

[The Spotted Devil]

My previous ACD girl buried her bones after she'd eaten them as did some of the males I grew up with - one wouldn't touch it until it had been buried for several weeks and if you walked too close to where he had buried it he would dig it up and move it when you weren't looking.. I have an entire male Dally and 2 entire female ESS and have never seen them even look like burying bones. But I mostly feed RMBs and shin bones are a big treat a few times a year when the girls are in season and hormones are rife. Like about now lol. As Em comes into her season her desire to hunt increases another notch - which is pretty wild when she's already off the Richter scale.

Edited April 3, 2016 by The Spotted Devil

[Two Best Dogs!]

Thistle is the first dog I've lived with who religiously buries her food/toys. She has a pale dot on the top of her nose - it's a little callous/scar from how often she buries and reburies things.

All past housemate or family dogs, irrespective of gender and if intact/or not just kind of...left bones laying around and would rarely dig/bury. Luck of the draw I expect.

[persephone]

I have never noticed any difference in the burying rate of the sexes. here it IS however , noticeable with individuals.

Some bury with a few nosefuls of dirt /blanket /sticks , some guard fiercely without burying , some excavate and make a cellar room !

[Scottsmum]

Thistle is the first dog I've lived with who religiously buries her food/toys. She has a pale dot on the top of her nose - it's a little callous/scar from how often she buries and reburies things.

All past housemate or family dogs, irrespective of gender and if intact/or not just kind of...left bones laying around and would rarely dig/bury. Luck of the draw I expect.

If you look closely you can see his - a pale white spot just above the black.

I can't say I remember others specifically doing it or not. Guinea buried things - usually stolen items. Never food. Food was always quickly consumed. I'd have never questioned it if Dad hadn't mentioned it.

[silentchild]

My desexed Aussie girl loves to dig but doesn't bury bones. She does like to bury toys though and then looks surprised when she 'rediscovers' it the next day. :laugh:

Past dogs :

My desexed Rottie bitch and intact Pomeranian bitch did not bury bones.

My intact male crossbreed did bury bones, not often but every once in a blue moon. He didn't use to dig them back up tho, just sort of left them buried for ages...

Edited April 3, 2016 by silentchild

[Scottsmum]

My desexed Aussie girl loves to dig but doesn't bury bones. She does like to bury toys though and then looks surprised when she 'rediscovers' it the next day. :laugh:

Past dogs :

My desexed Rottie bitch and intact Pomeranian bitch did not bury bones.

My intact male crossbreed did bury bones, not often but every once in a blue moon. He didn't use to dig them back up tho, just sort of left them buried for ages...

Um... Scottie expects it to be there. A magpie stole some heart and liver once and he was mortified when he went back to get it. Was very funny.

He was also a bit perplexed when he buried an iceblock one day last summer... Lucky he's beautiful.

[JulesP]

Haven't noticed any difference between the boys and girls in bone burying. None of mine have ever buried fresh food. They hide bits of dead possum though!

Poppy (girl) digs big holes to sleep in. Amber (girl) has also dug holes during phantom pregnancies. Both male border collies also did random digging.

My darling Fern never did anything norty, ever :laugh:

[Podengo]

Elsie occasionally buries food if I have given her too much, Ping on the other hand buries treats, toys, food, bits of rubbish... Not in the dirt though, only down the couch, in a crate or in a blanket!

[Scottsmum]

In short: It's an old dads tale. Worse than an old wives tale.

[persephone]

maybe your dad fed his bitches more - they probably had pups ..and stored food away? there is usually some truth in every tale /proverb /observation :)

[RuralPug]

Haha don't blame your dear old dad for getting it wrong. More than likely he based that hypothesis on too small a sample - probably the dogs he had known. .

Some are buriers of the "save it for later" type, some are buriers of the "aging the food 'cos its more delicious rotten" type and many others don't bury at all. I've never noticed any bias for one gender or the other to bury.

[denali]

I've only ever personally had males, and Kokoda is the only one who buries things. not sure whether the females i grew up with did!

I belive Ali did, one of the GSD's, as there are many photos of her in holes with bones, but i think she dug the holes for herself more than the bones :laugh:

[*kirty*]

My childhood dog buried her bones. None of my own dogs have ever buried them.

[BlaznHotAussies]

My dog isn't really too interested in burying things that I've noticed... Maybe a couple of times I've seen dirt on his nose.

But my two bitches - as soon as there are bones it's like a game of "who can bury it first"!! Then if someone sniffs it out they dash in, grab it and find somewhere safer for it. gosh it's a tough life. You'd think there weren't enough bones to go around.

[Dewclaws]

Hmmm all the breeds I seem to get are gluttons and feast until they are nearly sick . Or chew on bones so long that when they are finished its not worth burying . I refer seem to have any dog food hanging around that needs to be burried .

[huga]

None of my dogs have ever buried food, dogs or bitches. But they're all been giant piggies.

[Scottsmum]

Scottie is the first dog I've ever had who isn't a massive pig - so by extension the first in a long time, possibly also the first, Dad's had.

[Dame Aussie]

My female Aussie Shepherd buries certain "precious" toys and sometimes bones but she's quite half arsed about it. Just a few nosefuls of dirt over the prize :laugh: she also "buries" her toys in the couch cushions..

My male Anatolian will only bury bones if they're really big and he does a good job of it. Both of them dig random holes for fun/to lie in.

[Dame Aussie]

Just adding, my Aussie chews on her bones then buries what's left (if any) but my boy will bury a fresh bone straight away if it's big (precious) enough.