There has been only one occasion in Lila’s life when she has refused her breakfast. And that was worrying. Very worrying. Until I noticed her stowing bits of kibble in her cheeks to transport them to her bed where she carefully stashed them in the folds of a blanket. She was clearly planning for a brighter future. One with a renewed appetite (as depicted in a dog with her bone).
This behaviour harks back to a canine history where food was scarce and competition for it fierce. Not just from other dogs, but all sorts of carnivores. A world with reason to hide uneaten prey before someone else got a whiff of it. Burying bones and carcasses also made sense in times of bounty. If there was too much to eat, a dog might save something for leaner times. And buried meat would naturally age. [read more below]
Despite the logic behind dogs burying bones, I found myself amazed when I first observed our two-big-meals-a-day-with-lots-of-snacks-in-between Lila doing this in the backyard. And with such grace and expertise. Finding just the right spot. Skillfully digging a hole with her front paws. Placing the bone at the very bottom. Shovelling dirt back over it with her snout. And even tidying up a bit afterwards.
Merriam-Webster defines “instinct” as (1) a natural or inherent aptitude, impulse, or capacity, (2a) a largely inheritable and unalterable tendency of an organism to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason and (2b) behaviour that is mediated by reactions below the conscious level. And that’s all well and good, but I’d like to add (3) knowledge mysteriously passed down through the generations like the most precious of gifts.
[If you have received this post by email, please click “dog downunder” or “bone burial” in order to view accompanying video in a web page.]
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I’m absolutely amazed by your video of Lila burying a bone!! She looks like a dog actor who has been trained to do that! My favorite part was when she tamped down the earth with her snout. How many times have you witnessed this?
Aunt Bonnie
April 10, 2011 @ 7:10 pm
I’d love to take credit for Lila’s performance, but she’s a natural! I imagine I’ve seen her bury a dozen or so bones. Sometimes underneath a shrub which would have been tricky to film. Mostly I see evidence of bone burial… Lila carrying them coated in dirt after digging them up.
April 11, 2011 @ 5:23 am
What’s amazing to me is that she let you spy on her doing her instinctual thing–with a camera, no less. Reminds me of Jane Goodall & her chimps!
April 12, 2011 @ 2:18 am
She knows I won’t eat her bones.
April 12, 2011 @ 6:45 am
Impressive indeed. Do you suppose that is why our Millie dug a hole in the paved driveway? I wish she would fill it back in.
May 8, 2011 @ 10:47 am
Did you say PAVED driveway???
May 8, 2011 @ 2:06 pm
Our previous two dogs wouldn’t let us watch them bury things, but our last one didn’t care – unless it was a bird – for that he needed privacy. He once buried a snack right in front of us while we were doing yard work, waited five minutes, then dug it back up and ate it. Weirdo.
June 2, 2011 @ 3:44 pm
How funny…maybe he thought the snack might be too big a temptation for you! With our Lila, I get the feeling she sometimes forgets where she has buried things and then, as she walks past the spot, suddenly remembers and then digs it up.
June 2, 2011 @ 6:14 pm