Why do dogs bury bones?

Dogs have been at people’s side for longer than any other animal. But a lot of their actions can only be explained by their past before they were tamed by humans. For example, you may have noticed that a dog turns round three times on the spot before setting down to sleep – this may be because its ancestors had to flatten down a nest in the leaves of the forests or jungles where they lived, before they could sleep. And when a dog stands and bays, it may be doing what its ancestors did when they roamed in packs and had to keep in touch with one another. The same may be true of the bone burying routine. Before people fed dogs regularly, they had to hunt for food themselves, and burying it was the best way of keeping what they found, where their sense of small could easily find it again.