I adopted a Beagle about 10 years ago. Beagles are curious creatures. If they are not constantly entertained, they will show you just how much trouble they can get into - TRUST ME.
So, we needed to find something to keep her occupied at all times. We found that rawhide bones would usually keep her busy enough to stay out of trouble... for a couple of minutes. You see, she would eat through them very quickly. We had to monitor them so she didn't eat too much. We found that when it got down to just be smaller pieces, and it was time to put it away for the night, that she would defend her bone with her life--biting clawing, scratching, etc. I always won - I had to, because I was alpha.. or was trying to be, but fighting her for them every night got old real quick, and really wasn't healthy for either of us.
Walking through Pets Mart one day, I saw a rawhide bone that was four feet long. That's literally, 48" of chewable goodness. I figured that at the very least, if she still fought for it, I'd at least have options for a place to grab that wasn't an interference fit with her teeth, and we could eliminate or reduce the fights for the bone every night before bed. Plus, it was going to be SO funny to see her walk around with that thing in her mouth.
We brought it home, and introduced her to her new chew toy. She was quite cautious about grabbing it and lifting it. Once she got started on it though, she seemed to enjoy it. She had to adjust her postures, and normal positions for chewy goodness because of the size of the bone.
This is a very smart dog.. usually. She knew that it was bed time, probably from our routines, and mannerisms. But she got up from her treat, grabbed it square in the middle of the bone, and began wandering around the living room with it. She walked it over to her food bowl, and tried to place it behind her bowl. But that didn't look right. There was just something about it that didn't satisfy her. So, a couple seconds later, she grabbed it again, and went over behind the couch, and placed it very carefully on the floor, trying to hide it behind the couch. But there was something about that spot that just wasn't sufficient. So, back she was, a couple of seconds later to grab it again, and search on for another hiding spot. She jumped up on the love seat, and paced back and forth, finally setting the bone down. She's getting smarter - this time, she turns around, and in the middle of the couch, she digs herself a hole in between the cushions, and places the bone in this hole, and then she used her nose to cover the bone back up. She turned around, ready to walk away, but there was something about this spot that wasn't quite right.
At this point, I am following her actions very closely, not out of concern - she's clearly occupied - but out of entertainment. I didn't want to interrupt what she was doing, but I wanted to watch.
A couple of seconds, and she was back at the bone, grabbing it from the abyss of a hole that she dug, and she was off looking for a better hiding spot. She started walking toward the bedroom, and that's when it got funny. With a thud, rawhide bone met door jamb. She was startled. Not quite sure what was going on here. What force-field is this, that she couldn't take the bone in the bedroom? She tried again, and bumped into the wall. She rotated her head as much as she could, and still couldn't get through. She was confused, but figuring it out. She dropped the bone, and clawed at it, turning it, trying to change her grip or something. Finally, she got herself turned around backward in the doorway, and grabbed the bone in her mouth, and backed through the doorway.
Once she got into the bedroom, I snuck around the corner, crawling on the floor, again, so as not to disrupt her. She took the bone over into the corner, where there was a built-in vanity in a kind of cut-out in the wall. Under the counter of the vanity, she clawed at the carpet several times from different angles, clearly digging a hole. She wasn't actually lifting the carpet, or anything more than some lint, or dust, really. After a minute of digging, she grabbed the 48" long bone, and placed it in this "hole" that she had dug. Then using her nose, she kind of bent over, and "nosed" the "dirt" from her "hole" back into place, "covering" her bone. Slowly. Methodicallly. When she was done, she turned around, happy as can be with the fine work she'd done.
I don't know if there's a morale to this story or not, but I hope that at least it entertained. Amazing the part that our pets play in our lives. Love that dog. Always will.
