Dogs, as we much as we absolutely love them, are full of zany idiosyncrasies and utterly bizarre quirks. Sometimes it can be hard to wrap your head around why a dog may be doing a certain thing, whether it's pretending to bury his food or obsessively digging up the yard.
Survival Mode
If your dog simulates burying her meals before she eats, she may be in "survival mode," a throwback from her ancestory. This instinctive behavior goes way back down your pet's ancestral line to a time when food wasn't so easy to come by. Your dog may be attempting to bury her food as a way to safely hide it from others. If her food is totally concealed, she can come back to eat it up at a later time, perhaps when she can't track down any prey. Pretty sensible canine logic, really.
Freshness
Apart from storing away precious food to save it for harder and hungrier days, burying it in dirt helps to keep it staying "fresh." Covering food with dirt shields it from aggressive direct sunlight, after all. Dogs aren't the only animals who do it. Although all his effort may be pointless since he's hand-fed in the comforts of a cozy home, the instinct is ingrained in your little one. Even if your doggie has access to all of the good, healthy food she could possibly ever need, she may continue simulating the act of burying anything it considers a snack worth saving. The behavior is 100 percent natural.
Digging
Your dog may be attempting to "bury" her food without you even realizing it. If you notice your pet seemingly frantically digging at the ground with her paws before she begins eating, she's in the midst of her natural "hoarding" process, so don't be alarmed. Your doggie is just being a doggie.
Other Items
Food isn't the only thing dogs like to bury for later use. Dogs also frequently bury prey, chew bones and toys. If you notice your doggie's beloved squeaky bone toy tucked under a thick rug in your downstairs den, you can be sure what's she doing -- keeping it safe and secret for later.