Why would this DOG be "burying" food in the house? +++

carrie640 · Mar 4, 2009

We are fostering a dog (English Pointer) and I have a few questions since I am not the expert on dogs, by any means.

She is 5...such a great temperament (although, she likes to walk ME instead of me walking HER!

)......wonderful with my kiddos, etc. But, she does the strangest thing!!! For instance, one time my son (he's 2) dropped a cracker. This dog was super-quick to retrieve it, which didn't surprise me...but what did was the fact that she took it to a corner (INSIDE!), started started scratching as if she were digging hole, and then moved her nose around the floor towards the cracker as if she were trying to cover it up w/ dirt or something.

BIZARRE. I've NEVER seen that happen. Is that "normal"????? It was hilarious, don't get me wrong, but WEIRD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALSO.....she has the largest/longest nipples I've ever seen on a dog....EVER. She ended up at the rescue back at the end of January and she is "fixed", but I don't know if she had puppies at any point prior to being at the rescue or if this size can be "normal" for a dog?? They truly are very obvious and hang down like udders. I just want to make sure she is ok and doesn't have anything "wrong" with her.

Any thoughts of either of these things?? Thanks in advance!

lauren751 · Mar 4, 2009

I have a dog that does this too. He has always "buried" his food when he's ate all he could. He is also a very food aggressive dog so we just figure he thinks he's hiding it from us and the other dogs.

momofmany · Mar 4, 2009

We found a stray once that had just finished weaning her puppies. Even after the spay, it took about a year for her nipples to shrink back down to a size that you would expect.

For burying the food? If she was food aggressive she'd snap it up and eat it on the spot. I've not come across the problem of burying it before so really don't have any good ideas on that one.

kittybernard · Mar 4, 2009

Does she let other people go to the food she's "buried" and take it? Dogs bury food (or pretend to) to exercise control. She could be nervous or stressed because of "who knows"! Maybe where she came from she had to hide food in order to "survive", get enough nutrition. I can understand that especially if she has had pups. Their nipples don't sag or droop unless they have been suckled.

Suckled,

. God I'm immature!

white cat lover · Mar 4, 2009

Burying food is more common than you think in dogs - IMO, esp in Pointers.

nekkiddoglady · Mar 4, 2009

dogs do a lot of strange behaoirs that are because of old instincts.

Dogs in the wild bury their food to hide it from others, and to "save it for later"... these same behavoirs can be seen in pet dogs, even if its silly for them to do it.. there's a bowl full of food available.

I remember watching a wildlife show where an arctic fox would bury a huge peice of meat in the cold ground and return later to eat on it.. very smart.. the ground was cold enough to act as a refridgerator and keep the meat fresh!

wellingtoncats · Mar 5, 2009

Originally Posted by carrie640

We are fostering a dog (English Pointer) and I have a few questions since I am not the expert on dogs, by any means.

She is 5...such a great temperament (although, she likes to walk ME instead of me walking HER!

)......wonderful with my kiddos, etc. But, she does the strangest thing!!! For instance, one time my son (he's 2) dropped a cracker. This dog was super-quick to retrieve it, which didn't surprise me...but what did was the fact that she took it to a corner (INSIDE!), started started scratching as if she were digging hole, and then moved her nose around the floor towards the cracker as if she were trying to cover it up w/ dirt or something.

BIZARRE. I've NEVER seen that happen. Is that "normal"????? It was hilarious, don't get me wrong, but WEIRD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALSO.....she has the largest/longest nipples I've ever seen on a dog....EVER. She ended up at the rescue back at the end of January and she is "fixed", but I don't know if she had puppies at any point prior to being at the rescue or if this size can be "normal" for a dog?? They truly are very obvious and hang down like udders. I just want to make sure she is ok and doesn't have anything "wrong" with her.

Any thoughts of either of these things?? Thanks in advance!

My dog went to a boarding kennel when she was just a puppy and she came back pregnant - we had her spayed as soon as we found out. Up until before she was pregnant her nipples were just dots but now they are HUGE - even though she was spayed about 4 weeks into her pregnancy.

2dogmom · Mar 5, 2009

LOL! Reminds me of when Zircon used to get some kind of yummy treat and then walk around the house with it in his snout whining. Apparently he was looking for a place to hide it. He'd usually put it under the radiator. Once we found a giant chocolate chip cookie way at the back of hubby's closet and it was definitely not hubby who put it there!

baloneysmom · Mar 6, 2009

My Bruno is not food aggressive at all. In fact if he is eating and a cat puts their head in his bowl he will back off with his tail between his legs. Of course I make sure that doesn’t happen.

He is always burying his bones, and treats or any other high value treat we give him he does not normally get. I think its because he wants to hide them from the cats because he always waits until the cats are gone and if they enter the room he practically lays on the buried bone or watches it like a hawk until the cats are gone… ya, like my little cats are going to want a 1 foot rawhide bone LOL silly Bruno.

carrie640 · Mar 6, 2009

This is driving me absolutely bonkers with this dog doing this. Someone at Petco gave her a treat last night and she carried it in her mouth for the longest time only to drop it and leave it. I feed her dry food, she dumps the bowl in her crate and is furiously and endless trying to bury it within the blankets. I have no idea if she isn't hungry at the time, if I should take the food away and wait until she "is hungry" or just let her do it and not feed her again until she eats what she has buried!!!!!!!!!!!!

UGH. It is driving me CRAZY, though.....

faith's_mom · Mar 12, 2009

Some dogs just like to bury items...best just to ignore that one! Lol! Unless it becomes a really OCD type thing, there's really nothing that needs to be done. My poodle puppy will try burying his meals, and can get kind of obnoxious about it, so I just pick it up, and give it to him later, when he might be hungry.

As far as the 'udder issue'...I would just make sure she has been thoroughly vetted and rule out tumors, or cancer...other than that, probably nothing you can do there either; just make sure to check her over when she has been in brush or other harsh environments, to ensure that she isn't getting scratched up, or cut.

plebayo · Mar 16, 2009

ALSO.....she has the largest/longest nipples I've ever seen on a dog....EVER. She ended up at the rescue back at the end of January and she is "fixed", but I don't know if she had puppies at any point prior to being at the rescue or if this size can be "normal" for a dog?? They truly are very obvious and hang down like udders. I just want to make sure she is ok and doesn't have anything "wrong" with her.

They should shrink down eventually. My cousin got a katrina dog who had had a litter of pups before she was fixed. Her nipples were HUGE, I mean she's a harrier hound/beagle and they were gigantic, but now they are normal sized, it just took a couple of months for them to go away hehe.

This is driving me absolutely bonkers with this dog doing this. Someone at Petco gave her a treat last night and she carried it in her mouth for the longest time only to drop it and leave it. I feed her dry food, she dumps the bowl in her crate and is furiously and endless trying to bury it within the blankets. I have no idea if she isn't hungry at the time, if I should take the food away and wait until she "is hungry" or just let her do it and not feed her again until she eats what she has buried!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wouldn't feed her in her crate. We have dogs that come into the clinic and sometimes if we feed them in their kennel they will bury their food. I think it's because they aren't 100% comfortable in the kennel and don't want the food to be there. I would take the food away when she starts to bury it. She has to get hungry eventually, she needs to learn that the food won't always be there, so when it is offered she needs to eat it.

Why would this DOG be "burying" food in the house? +++

carrie640

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lauren751

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momofmany

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kittybernard

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white cat lover

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nekkiddoglady

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wellingtoncats

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2dogmom

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baloneysmom

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carrie640

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faith's_mom

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plebayo

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