The Dog Behavior Answer Book - Arden Moore [18]
Stashing Away for a Rainy Day
Q My Brittany spaniel, Chelsea, has a weird habit. When I feed her kibble, she picks up each piece from her bowl and places it on the kitchen floor or in other rooms of the house. After she has removed all the kibble from her bowl, she tracks down each piece throughout the house and eats it. Why does she do this?
A Chelsea’s odd eating habits are a throwback to her ancient roots as a hunter and scavenger. Her ancestors could not count on people to serve them two meals each day. Because food was not always available to wolves and other wild dogs whenever they needed it, they would stash parts of their kill in various places so they could return to it later when they were hungry and couldn’t find prey. Some domestic dogs, particularly hunting breeds like spaniels, still retain this instinct. In fact, some dogs will actually hide each piece of kibble in corners or under furniture before they go back and eat it.
Even though Chelsea receives regular meals, this ancient instinct is telling her to stash the kibble in different places so she can return to it later to eat it. Of course, “later” may only be a few minutes after she has performed her food-relocation ritual. But in Chelsea’s mind, her behavior helps ensure a constant source of food in the future. Chipper does this occasionally with her chew bones. She will sit politely for me to hand over the meaty treat and then dash out the doggy door to bury it in the backyard.
To human observers, this food-spreading behavior doesn’t make sense unless you think about the instinct that is driving it. Just remember as you watch Chelsea spread her food around that she is heeding the call of the wild. If you don’t want kibble surprises all over your house, I recommend that you keep bedroom and bathroom doors closed during feeding time. Stepping on hard kibble with bare feet is no delight!
PART II
What Are You Talking About?
It’s easy to fall into the notion that people are superior to the rest of the animal kingdom because of our ability to talk. Some of us speak more than one language. Some of us know many mega-syllable words and can even pronounce them. Some of us, in fact, never seem to stop talking! That’s all great when it comes to speaking people-to-people.
As much as we may view ourselves as accomplished linguists, the truth is that our dogs are the truly stellar communicators, and often without uttering a single bark or yip. In dog-to-dog discussions, there is rarely a communication miscue. Dogs are more consistent in their “talk” than we are. They don’t tell lies and they don’t hide their feelings.
Dogs do their best to convey their canine cues to us, but sometimes we fail to interpret their signals accurately. There is no “dogtionary” published yet, but we can improve our communication with our canine pals if we learn some of their “language.” Along the way, we may commit a canine faux pas or two, but that’s all right. After all, we’re only human.
Canine Conversation
Q My dog is a very vocal miniature schnauzer. At times, it seems like we are actually carrying on a conversation. I never knew that dogs could make so many different sounds. She has several different barks, she whines, and she even makes singing sounds. How can I better understand what she is saying?
A Miniature schnauzers are among the chattiest of breeds. Like many of their terrier cousins, they were originally bred to bark, or speak up, as a way of alerting their owners to rats or other rodents in the home and while going to ground after small game when hunting. Beagles and other hound breeds bark to answer back to their two-legged hunting companions. Corgis, Australian shepherds, and other herding breeds yap to control the comings and goings of sheep, cattle, and other