When out kids were young, they both liked a book called “The Digging-est Dog.” I remember reading that book many, many, many times. I’m not sure why, but I thought about the book the other day when I saw a dog digging,
Well, that got me to thinking… why do dogs dig? Why do dogs bury their bones? Of all the dogs I had when growing up and as an adult, some of them were “diggers,” and others not so much. I’ve mentioned before that when I was a kid, I had a pet crow. Crows apparently are natural thieves — they take things, especially shiny things. I think some dogs also have a bit of that thief instinct — we’ve had some dogs that would “steal” things and hide them. Sometimes they were shiny things, like a watch and sometimes things that the dog seemed to know were “valuable” to you, like shoes or the TV remote.
But why do they do that? Probably dogs started burying their bones, or food to keep it from other dogs, or just to save it for later. So maybe it”s just the survival instinct left over from their ancestors. Or maybe dogs have a natural instinct to keep valuable things safe and protected.
It’s interesting that dogs seem to always remember where they buried their bones. I think a dog’s keen sense of smell often helps him locate his stash, and I’ve noticed some dogs just like to dig up their bones from time to time and re-bury them. I guess they want to make sure their booty is still there.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that some dogs like to bury their bones in private. I remember we had a dog once that if you caught him burying his bone, he would dig it up and take it somewhere else.
I did a little checking on this subject and the short answer as to why they bury things is because it used to be necessary for their survival. Seems reasonable, but I was hoping for a more interesting conclusion to my search.
So trying to figure out dogs is just as hard as trying to figure out some people. But being a dog in most households doesn’t seem like such a bad life. Although, as one of my favorite dogs, Snoopy, once said, “Yesterday I was a dog. Today I’m a dog. Tomorrow I’ll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There’s so little hope for advancement.”
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