[RubyLove]

Some treats are fine, peanut butter, small pieces of fresh cooked meat, small pieces of cheese, and a couple of store bought treats that can be broken up really small. She loves her kong, whether frozen or not, and it usually has a mix of peanut butter and pumpkin in it.

But if I give Ruby a treat that is too big or any type of biscuit of any size it seems to really upset her. She loves slices of pear if I freeze them first, but if I give them to her unfrozen she has the same problem, and with almost any store bought treat. She will walk around with it in her mouth for ages, whining, until she finds a place to hide it. Then she will keep wandering around whining until she goes back to it. Sometimes she will eat it after that, but more often she will pick it back up and find another hiding place, whining the whole time. She will go through it several times, sometimes ending with it staying hidden and sometimes she will eat it. Most often it has gone on too long for me to listen to the whining any longer, so I distract her with something else and remove it. She never goes back to look for it after that.

Of course, I will just give her small treats, and I don't mind that she doesn't go crazy over store treats because I know I can make things that are better for her, but I don't like how anxious she seems to get.

Has anyone else had any problem like this?

 

[HORSEandHOUND]

the only thing i have experienced that sounds even remotely like that is a retired brood bitch that used to take her stuffed animals (that she killed regularly) and treat them like her babies when she was in estrus.
I wonder if she's causing some sort of similar instinctual response.

 

[MegaMuttMom]

My dog does this but he doesn't whine about it. It's like he thinks anything that is really special needs to be buried and saved for the future. Sometimes he "buries" (in the corner of the kitchen or the cracks of the couch) his pieces of kibble instead of eating it. I find it amusing as well as confusing.

 

[Kina_A]

My dog Sadie does that with larger treats. She doesn't whine though, she just tries to hide it in her mat, or will just walk around with it sometimes for days until deciding to eat it.

Sometimes she'll also try to hide her kibble in her mat or under her mat at times.

Weird, but that's my Sadie girl for ya!