Today I gave Kody one of those beef esophagus toys/treats that I get sometimes when I go to buy new food.
What I like about these toys is that they are very interesting to Kody because he doesn’t get them very often. They are tube shaped and I’m sure they smell great to him.
My observation today is of Kody’s behavior after I gave it to him. He was really trying to find a good spot to hide it and trying out many different spots. I even opened up a few doors around the house that I normally keep closed to save energy so he would be free to try different areas.
You’ve probably seen this behavior with your dog too, and the funny Traveler’s Insurance commercial is based on this behavior.
It’s so interesting to watch this behavior because the dogs are really thinking. They also do cute things like moving pillows around and stuff like that. It’s really interesting to watch a dog working toward his own goals.
At one point, he came and dropped the toy off in my lap and then went to the slider to bark. There was nothing there that I could see, and I wondered if he was thinking, “I’ll leave this with this guy because he’ll keep it safe, and then I’ll go scare off any intruders that may be lurking nearby.” Then he came back and got it from me, and played with it some more.
I don’t know if it’s because we just don’t have very good hiding places or if Kody is just too excited by the toy, but he never leaves it in one place for very long. Eventually, he just starts to eat it.
What I like to think is that this behavior means Kody is really happy with the toy. I also like that this seems to be a good enrichment activity for Kody sort of working mental muscles that he doesn’t use all that often.
I feel like when I observe Kody’s behavior in this type of situation that I gain valuable insights into his behavior that I can use for training purposes.
Kody has stopped eating the toy and is not trying to bury it in the blanket on the couch. It’s so cute how he taps the blanket down to secure his treasure.