Dog owners may have noticed that their pets hide away their things. Anything from toys to food can be stashed away in the most unlikely places. This can even include items that belong to owners. When a dog chooses to hoard, it’s not often understood why. In reality, the reason why dogs hoard is rather simple.
Ancestral Behaviour
Although it may seem strange and bewildering, it is actually normal, canine behaviour. Dogs have an instinctive behaviour once held by their ancestors that remains with them. Their predecessors had a much more difficult task of foraging food, compared to having an owner feed them. As a result, they would stash food away so that they could find it again later. Essentially, hording is a long-standing survival method for dogs and wild animals still rely on it today.
Hoarding to Get Attention
There are other reasons as to why dogs hoard. When they take something belonging to their owners, it’s a way of gaining attention. By purposefully taking their owner’s belongings, they are hoping to be followed and played with. They can also take things because they feel bored, lonely or simply have too much energy which they don’t know how to deal with.
Sometimes, dogs will take items just because they don’t have them. This is particularly common for stray or rescue dogs who didn’t have toys previously. There isn’t usually much thought behind this behaviour, it is simply about acquiring a resource they haven’t had before.
When Dogs Hoard Too Much
Hoarding only becomes a problem when dogs become protective over their items. This is usually known as “resource guarding”, where dogs become aggressive about keeping their stash away from others. If there’s an issue with safety, tempting items should be kept away or keep the dog confined to a separate part of the home. An occasional episode shouldn’t be cause for concern. However, if a dog takes a valued item, offer to swap and reward them when they do so. If a dog begins to show escalated behaviour like growling, snapping or lunging, they should consult a dog behaviourist.