Hiding Bones

[Will90125]

My dog has a ham bone that he never completely eats, but at night or after he eats his meal, he will pick up the bone and walk around trying to find a spot to hide it in the house somewhere.  As he is trying to hide it, he moans and cries.  There are no other pets in the house.
Why is he hiding the bones and why does he cry when lookin for a spot?

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Jaybay does make some good points.  If your dog is not neutered the territorial drive is a bit stronger and the bone is his territory.  If sounds as if he has become frustrated and is not satisfied with the available hiding locations in the house.  Can you train him to one toy box, that he knows is all his own.  You must reward him for putting his bone in the toy box each night with a treat that he finds irresistible.  Additionally, is this a bone that was sold sterilized?  If not please discard it and replace it with a new bone once per week.

[Jaybay]

LOL!  Sorry, I'm not laughing "at" you, but rather "with" you.  I had a dog who buried half-chewed rawhide bones all over the house - in potted plants, behind curtains, even under furniture cushions.  It's an instinctive behavior for dogs, and some dogs simply have a higher drive for that kind of behavior.

That said, I suspect your dog may be a bit bored and frustrated.  Since this behavior is so common and your dog is whining at the same time, it's becoming more of an obsession than a game or an instinctive thing.  I know I sound like a broken record, but most dogs in this country don't have their basic exercise needs met.  While we humans enjoy being couch potatoes, dogs were not meant to enjoy that on a daily basis.  If you aren't currently walking your dog outside his territory at least once a day, and preferably twice a day, that's one solid reason for this kind of obsessive behavior to crop up.  

Often exercise for the tiny breeds like the Pappillon never happens because people have the mistaken belief that they can't handle it due to their small size.  That's why the smaller breeds end up being the worst-behaved, neurotic dogs I've ever seen.  All dogs need both physical and mental exercise, and I suspect your dog's obsession with hiding the bones is escalating because those needs aren't being met in any other area of his life.  With a little bit of effort, that can easily be changed.  It worked for my dog anyway.  :-)