Many dog owners have witnessed their pooch burying a bone in the backyard and then digging it up later to enjoy more chewing time. This behavior leads to an obvious question: do dogs actually remember where they buried their bones? Let’s take a look at the evidence.
Dogs have good spatial memory in some contexts
There are several studies showing dogs can remember locations quite well in certain contexts. For example, dogs that participate in competitive nose work events are able to remember the location of target odors as they search a series of boxes or rooms. Dogs have also demonstrated skill in remembering where food is hidden in order to obtain delayed rewards.
In one study, researchers tested dogs’ ability to remember which cup or container had food hidden inside after waiting periods of up to 4 minutes. The dogs were successful in choosing the right cup, indicating they were able to hold the memory of the food location in their minds during the delay. A similar study found dogs could remember toy locations in a room after being removed for 1-2 minutes.
Overall, dogs appear to have good spatial memory for recently encountered places and things – but burying a bone adds some additional challenges.
Remembering a bone location depends on how it was buried
While dogs clearly have adequate memory to remember recently buried objects, there are a few factors that likely influence how well dogs remember specific bone burying episodes:
- How long ago the bone was buried
- Whether the dog was focused and paying close attention during burying
- How distinct the burial location is
- How often the dog has buried bones in the same area
Studies have shown that even species with exceptional long-term memory like elephants can struggle to find food they hid more than 3 days prior. Dogs also seem to have better recall for events they were focused on compared to periods when they were distracted.
Burying a bone in a unique spot in the yard is likely easier for a dog to remember than hiding it in a regular buried food cache. Some researchers also believe dogs may rely more on scent than spatial memory when trying to find bones they buried long ago.
Observational experiences of dog owners
While controlled scientific studies on dogs burying bones are limited, many dog owners have made observations that lend some insight into the question of whether dogs remember their bone locations:
- Some owners report witnessing their dog successfully digging up a bone days or even months after burying it.
- However, owners often note their dog seems to struggle to find a bone after returning to the yard hours or days later, even with focused sniffing.
- Dogs will often dig in numerous spots around the yard during their search, suggesting they don’t pinpointly recall the exact burial location.
- If a bone is buried in a high traffic area, dogs seem to have difficulty remembering the precise burying spot.
Based on owner observations, it seems likely that dogs can remember approximate bone burial locations under favorable conditions, but their memory tends to become less precise over time.
Why do dogs bury bones?
Before examining dogs’ burying behavior further, it’s helpful to understand why they stash bones in the first place. Researchers have proposed several possible reasons:
- Caching for later – Burying food for later consumption is an adaptive survival behavior in the wild. Dogs may retain some of this instinct even in a home setting.
- Hiding from other pets – Dogs may bury bones to prevent other household pets from taking it.
- Reducing attention – By burying a high-value item, dogs can reduce attention from other pets begging for the item or trying to steal it.
- Playing/exploring – Digging and burying bones satisfies a dog’s curiosity and provides mental stimulation.
These explanations are not mutually exclusive – a combination of factors likely motivate dogs to bury bones. But it illustrates that remembering the burial locations later is not the only driver behind the behavior.
Do certain breeds have better bone memory?
Certain dog breeds like Labrador Retrievers and Beagles are nicknamed “nose breeds” for their exceptional sense of smell. This raises the question – are these breeds better equipped to remember where they buried bones compared to breeds with less keen sniffers?
There is little research directly comparing bone memory across breeds. However, we can examine a few key factors that influence odor memory:
- Number of scent receptors – Nose breed dogs have more olfactory receptors. However, every dog has millions more than humans.
- Nose moisture – Wetter noses retain scents better. Some breeds like Bloodhounds have wetter noses.
- Fold size – More nasal folds provide more scent membrane area. But many breeds have ample folds.
While nose breeds may have slight advantages, most healthy dogs seem to have the sensory capabilities to remember and relocate buried bones reasonably well if conditions are favorable. Training also plays an important role – dogs trained in odor detection and retrieval tasks like search and rescue may excel at bone finding compared to untrained pets of the same breed.
How to improve your dog’s bone-finding ability
Based on what we know about dogs’ memory capabilities, here are some tips that may help improve your pup’s success at digging up old bones:
- Bury bones in unique, distinct locations away from high traffic areas where other scents or dug earth may confuse your dog.
- Let your dog focus closely on watching the burial process so their memory is firmly established.
- Retrieve the bone within a day or two before memory decline sets in.
- Take your dog to periodically sniff around the burial area to reinforce the scent memory.
- Train games that involve finding buried toys or rewards to sharpen your dog’s scenting skills.
While their memory does have limits, dogs can astonish owners with their ability to recall the location of a bone days or weeks after last seeing it go into the ground. With some added training and burying in scent-friendly locations, you can likely extend your dog’s bone retrieval successes.
Key research studies on dogs’ object memory abilities
For additional context, here is a summary of some key scientific studies investigating dogs’ spatial memory in burying and finding objects:
| Study | Method | Results |
|---|---|---|
| Fujita et al (2012) | 8 dogs tried to find treats after delays of 1-4 mins | Dogs recalled treat locations up to 4 mins later |
| Miller et al (2009) | Dogs searched for toys after 1-2 min delays | Success rate declined after 2 mins but still above chance |
| Willis et al (2014) | Dogs dug up bones buried 3 mins to 3 days prior | Success rate declined steeply after first 24 hrs |
| Lazarowski et al (2014) | Compare dogs searching near vs far from bone burial spot | Dogs searched closer to original location |
These studies help confirm dogs can remember object locations over spans of minutes to days, but their precision and accuracy appears to diminish over time without reinforcement.
Conclusion
Dog owners have long wondered if their pets know where they buried their treasures. The evidence suggests dogs do retain spatial memories that allow them to successfully retrieve bones and toys hours or days later under certain conditions. Their ability seems to rely on factors like how recently the object was buried, distinctiveness of the location, and environment scents. While many mysteries remain, what is clear is that man’s best friend has a keen ability to remember where the treasures lie buried, even if it was weeks ago.