Here’s a short video of my dog, Tesla, burying a log. Some dogs like using their nose to bury things. A few days after I filmed this, Tesla dug up the log, played with it for a while by herself, and then buried it again.
I’ve had a longtime fascination with this behavior, so I finally looked it up. I learned that wolves and other canids often cache food by burying it for another day. After they’ve put what they’re caching into a shallow hole, they cover it with loose soil by using their nose. Here’s a video of a wolf using its nose to bury food.
You can easily tell when dogs and their wild relatives have been using their nose to bury things. Their snout will be covered in dirt. Yeah, it looks pretty funny!
I’ve seen my dog bury bones and sticks, but she also buries toys. Her one-time favorite duckie plush toy is buried somewhere on our property. Perhaps she thought if she planted it, more duckies would grow. 😉
