# Treat-hiding



## Newbie (Feb 15, 2011)

Yet ANOTHER question from me...!!

Noodle is learning very quickly and responding to her treats - however, she keeps hiding them in places. I just found her stash behind the sofa. We had another little training session and she took her treat and hid it behind the sofa again...

I'm not giving her very many a day (less than 10). And she's responding and doing what I ask in anticipation of being rewarded by the treat. Does this mean she doesn't like them??!

Thanks!


----------



## kendal (Jul 16, 2009)

what are you using as a treat and how big is each bit you use, a training treat should be small and prefrable soft so they dont spend time crunching, its ment to be instent gratifacation. 

Delta used to hide food, she would take a chiken with and hide it them come back for another, she would eat that one then go back for the other one if we wouldnt give her another one. 

my broathers girlfriends dog totts hides food, they tested her to see how long she would do it, so they gave her a chew and she went and hid it then came back for another, i think she did it 12 times then just took the tnext chew and dropped it at her feet and looked for another think she ended up with 6 at her feet before they gave up. 

i wouldnt say she dosnt like them i would say she is greedy but clever, like a squirle lol


----------



## Newbie (Feb 15, 2011)

I've got 2 different types - tiny little bone things (they are crunchy and about a centimetre long) and some that look like white chocolate buttons that I break in half (and look quite nice - am half tempted to tuck into them myself).

She doesn't seem to go back to them...

Oh well! Good for her waistline I guess!!


----------



## kendal (Jul 16, 2009)

talk me thugh what happens, does she go away after getting each treat ? or will she eat a couple then run off with the last one. 

try cheese, chicken little bits of cut up hot dog, always do training before a meal or puppy wont be hungree(lol well Delta is alway hungree lol)


----------



## Newbie (Feb 15, 2011)

Goes and hides them each time I give her one - but doesn't seem to go back to them afterwards. Maybe she's not that clever and forgets she hides them!!! Some of her hiding places involve quite alot of effort to get to.

Maybe her brothers and sisters used to be greedy guts and she never got enough food and she's hoarding. 

I don't know...!!


----------



## Newbie (Feb 15, 2011)

I just gave her a one off treat for staying and she kept it in her mouth for about 5 minutes (I didn't know this) and I then had her on my lap on the sofa and she wiggled between the cushions and left the treat there. She never seems interested in going back to them... V strange. I had a retriever who was the biggest greedy guts ever.


----------



## Enneirda. (Mar 5, 2010)

Odd, I've never had a dog do that.  My sisters mutt will hide socks, but not treats. Try making them smaller, like the size of a pea or so, and see if she acts the same way about them.


----------



## kendal (Jul 16, 2009)

i know some dogs who will take a treat them spit it out on the floor. 

i would deffonetly try something like chicken or cheese, small to she doesnt realy have a choice but the eat it.


----------



## Dylansmum (Oct 29, 2010)

Sounds like she doesn't really like them. I would go with Kendal's advice and try chicken, cheese, liver or liver cake.


----------



## Newbie (Feb 15, 2011)

I have tried with other treats, and have just watched her "bury" her hide chew (which she loves) under a table leg (there's a one inch gap) and she actually did digging and burying motions on our wooden floor (well, lots of scratchng). She's obviously trying to hoard all of her goodies.


----------



## weez74 (Feb 9, 2011)

Hi, I googled this because I found it so interesting! I found lots of references to burying things alongside references to treat-hiding and it is generally considered to be the same issue, I think. There seems to be two differing views about why it happens. One is that it's a basic instinct in dogs - to bury food in order to save it for later. Some dogs have the instinct strongly and some dogs don't. 

The other view is that it is a reaction to something. That something has happened to make Noodle feel insecure and this has awakened the instinct to save her treats for a rainy day because that makes her feel miore secure. Now, how you find out what that is and make Noodle feel more secure about it is a hard question!

From what you've said, it sounds more likely that you've just got a dog with a burying/hiding instinct. Although some of the things I found suggest that dogs do it with food they don't really rate that highly, someone mentioned that their dog only does it with the bits of food that she absolutely loves. And others do it with all food! 

I think you're just going to have to accept it as one of her little quirks! Does she still work hard to get the treat? I guess all that matters is that she views the treat as a reward, so it is still useful from a training perspective (obviously the pile of festering treats hidden under your chair matters to you on a different level though!).


----------



## Dawny (Mar 28, 2010)

hi wispa hides big treats like pigs ears and any new bones or large chews that we give her, i find them under my pillow and under cushions on the sofa. she does eat them but it could be months before she does. its really funny to watch pick a hiding place. lol


----------

