Changing instincts

[WV Sawmiller]

   I remember when I was a kid if your threw your dog a bone or a big old scrap of meat too big for him to eat when he finished what he could he would go bury the rest and come back to it later. Have any of you seen that instinct in your dogs in recent years? I think we have bred it out of them by spoiling them so rotten.

   I cleaned a deer I shot this week and threw Sampson and our old Aussie the liver and heart and such that we don't use and they chewed a while but mostly looked at me as if to say "Aren't you going to cut it up in smaller pieces or cook it for me?" They made no effort to go bury any to hide or preserve it.

   I did think for a while when I was skinning the deer that Sampson was going to help as he grabbed the hide and pulled a little but all 13 lbs was not enough to help me get it off the deer. At least he tried.

[starmac]

I don't have a dog, but my neighbors dog will even bury her fake bones and get them later.

[coxy]

my dogs are to lazy to dig a hole if my 11 year old don't hand feed them they just look at it in less its a slim jim then look out your fingers my go to they only eat a few treats the milk bones raw hides and pig ears they wont even sniff them they love fish 

[Ljohnsaw]

   I remember when I was a kid if your threw your dog a bone or a big old scrap of meat too big for him to eat when he finished what he could he would go bury the rest and come back to it later. Have any of you seen that instinct in your dogs in recent years? I think we have bred it out of them by spoiling them so rotten.

My dogs just dig holes all over my yard for fun :  But one is a pretty good hunter - she gets gophers, voles, mice and rats all the time.  She put them either on the back step or on the stairs going down to the pool.  She acts like a cat in that respect probably because she was raised in a cat rescue center until she was 6 or 7 months old.  Our second dog has learned to hunt a little too, but mostly likes to dig up the yard going after subterranean critters. :-\

[Kbeitz]

My little Jack Russel will hide his dog food under the carpet.
Sure is fun to watch but the wife doesn't think so.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Sampson, my rat terrier, expects his food cut up bite size. He normally walks around on 3 legs so he can keep his other foot dry and clean.

   He does trail wounded deer for me and he loves to ride on my ATV and to bark at a catfish so I will probably keep him.

[thecfarm]

I had one,part golden and terrier. That dog was a hunting dog. He would hunt the walls for wood chucks all by himself. Than when he started barking,non stop,I knew he had one. I would get them out of the wall and as soon as the woodchuck would start to run,he would be on it. Somehow he knew to flip them over and bite them at the base of the neck. Instincts? He did not like to see anything in his fields.  ;D
The dog I have now does OK. If I am around the walls,she will found the wood chunks too. But she is part porm and shi-shui so her teeth don't line up. She can't kill,but she don't have the courage for that either. Soon as the woodchuck comes out of the stone wall,she is on top of the wall barking at it.  : This one here will bury her food.

[TKehl]

My dog doesn't bury things very often, but would much rather raid deer guts than eat dogfood. 

During deer season I'll set out his food and tell him he's a good boy.  More often than not, he will look at his dish and give me a sheepish look of, "Thanks for the food, but I'm not really hungry, but thanks for thinking of me."  I just put it back in the bag. 

Now bones in the yard, that's another story.  Have a deer spine in the yard now he drug up and is chewing on.  Usually find a bunch of deer legs and a few rib cages.   A couple years back my wife insisted I clean up the yard to look a little less redneck before her sophisticated parents got there for Christmas.  The yard was perfect until 2 minutes before they got there when Timothy drug a rib cage to the middle of the sidewalk without me noticing.   :D :D :D  I still laugh about it and my wife no longer reels in horror at the memory.   :D

I think he leaves the bones lay because he is the only dog around and doesn't have to hide them.  The cats are the only competition.

[pineywoods]

When the kids were small, their granpa gave them a catahoula cur pup. Dog loved to chew on ice cubes, but sometimes he would bury the cube. He would always come back later and try to dig it up. Frustrated dog, but they are not known for being intelligent.  ;D

[WV Sawmiller]

   I think dogs today are like our kids. They are so used to everything being given to them they don't worry about where their next meal is coming from or taking care of what they do get.

   Sampson is definitely not an "Alpha" dog. He likes to run in the woods and bark at things but I can't imagine him attacking anything as big as a coon or woodchuck. He even stands pretty clear when barking at catfish.

   I remember hearing someone talk about his dog rolling in a dead animal carcass or a fresh pile of cow flop. He said it was hunting instinct so he could hide his smell and sneak up on his prey - in his case which was his food dish.

[drobertson]

 

 
I have to laugh WV! I said the same thing this morning to Christy,  while giving Miss Dolly her joint supplements,,but in defense of her (wolf) instincts,?? she still does bury things, bout everything, the funniest is live moles she's worked hours for, only to dig another hole and politely bury it for her next visit :D In all my days, I've never seen anything like it,,

[Grizzly]

We live in cattle country and have to be careful to train out some hunting instincts or our dogs will get shot. If I ever see a cow being chased I don't like it for a couple of reasons. One thing I don't like about the cows is seeing them chase off coyotes or wolves but running from a dog. So in the future we'll need to get guardian dogs instead of hunter type. Ours digs but we haven't seen any purpose in his digging yet. He loves to play but 115lbs of dog isn't fun for a 65lb child!!

[BradMarks]

Current dog falls under the "it's the easy life". Aussie/Corgi mix, doesn't bury a thing or dig!!, but can't stand Mr. Squirrel or the Cat Burglar, which is fine by me. Growing up, Mom used to burn a lot of toast, and our Border Collie would bury the blackened slab for me to find when weeding the flower beds -even months later.  Now where did I bury that digin1

[thecfarm]

Now I know why dogs roll in that nasty smelling stuff.
My Aunt came over,and her dog and my dog was running around. One of the dogs found something to roll in,so Monkey See Monkey Do,they both came back stinking.

[goose63]

Hershey will role in that dead stinky stuff or find a skunk kill it bring it home and give me this look like can i keep it dad

But she likes saw dust and planer shaveings best


 

[thecfarm]

That dog really loves you and trust you!!!!