Jump to content
BC Boards

Does your BC collect?


Recommended Posts

I am noticing a pattern with Daisy. When outside and inside she collects and organizes items into piles. She first had a collection of cans and plastic bottles that she got out of the recycle bin. They were not thrown all over the backyard, but in two very distinctive piles. Since the cans and bottles have been cleaned up, she has started collecting sticks. Inside the house she collects bones and places them under the pillow in her bed.

 

I have always seen in movies where dogs collect and dig a hole in the backyard to hide the bones, but I think Daisy is taking her collection to a whole new level!!! :rolleyes:

 

I hope she is not doing this because she is bored. She is always with me, gets lots of exercise for her age (But I could also be too cautious about this one because I don't want to damage her growth plates) and we work on tricks and obedience every day. She does get some alone time when she goes out in the backyard to run her crazy puppy laps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am noticing a pattern with Daisy. When outside and inside she collects and organizes items into piles. She first had a collection of cans and plastic bottles that she got out of the recycle bin. They were not thrown all over the backyard, but in two very distinctive piles. Since the cans and bottles have been cleaned up, she has started collecting sticks. Inside the house she collects bones and places them under the pillow in her bed.

 

I have always seen in movies where dogs collect and dig a hole in the backyard to hide the bones, but I think Daisy is taking her collection to a whole new level!!! :rolleyes:

 

I hope she is not doing this because she is bored. She is always with me, gets lots of exercise for her age and we work on tricks and obedience every day. She does get some alone time when she goes out in the backyard to run her crazy puppy laps.

 

 

Oh, yeah. All summer long, I"d see Brodie kiting across the yard with some new treasure...everything from a soda bottle to a dog leash and ALL the toys found their way to his den under the pine trees. Any new toy we'd through out, within a half hour, Brodie would have it and be off to the pine trees.

 

I noticed this week that he'd started this up inside...the stone ledge along the fireplace has an opening on one side to the floor, which was intended for wood storage before we converted it to gas. He's tucked a few things away in that hidey hole. He also spent most of the night flipping his food dish upside down and hiding all of his food underneath it as he was a picky eater until I started putting gravy on his food.

 

I think of it as a hobby :D. It's interesting to watch him acquire treasures.

 

Oh - when Ladybug first came to us, she hadn't been spayed. One of the first indications that she was coming in heat was that she collected all of her stuffies in her dog bed and started caring for them as if they were puppies, licking and nudging them around. We'd never had a female come into heat and we'd been told she had been spayed (we don't go to that vet anymore :D ) so imagine our surprise when she literally started howling at 2 in the morning. We caught her early enough that she was spayed pretty promptly, but if Daisy hasn't been "fixed"....and this is a new behavior...maybe she's cycling into heat?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

She was spayed before I adopted her. According to the certificate the rescue gave me, it was done when she was 12 weeks.

 

Oh, yeah. All summer long, I"d see Brodie kiting across the yard with some new treasure...everything from a soda bottle to a dog leash and ALL the toys found their way to his den under the pine trees. Any new toy we'd through out, within a half hour, Brodie would have it and be off to the pine trees.

 

I noticed this week that he'd started this up inside...the stone ledge along the fireplace has an opening on one side to the floor, which was intended for wood storage before we converted it to gas. He's tucked a few things away in that hidey hole. He also spent most of the night flipping his food dish upside down and hiding all of his food underneath it as he was a picky eater until I started putting gravy on his food.

 

I think of it as a hobby :rolleyes:. It's interesting to watch him acquire treasures.

 

Oh - when Ladybug first came to us, she hadn't been spayed. One of the first indications that she was coming in heat was that she collected all of her stuffies in her dog bed and started caring for them as if they were puppies, licking and nudging them around. We'd never had a female come into heat and we'd been told she had been spayed (we don't go to that vet anymore :D ) so imagine our surprise when she literally started howling at 2 in the morning. We caught her early enough that she was spayed pretty promptly, but if Daisy hasn't been "fixed"....and this is a new behavior...maybe she's cycling into heat?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

She was spayed before I adopted her. According to the certificate the rescue gave me, it was done when she was 12 weeks.

 

 

She must then be playing a game, relaxing on her own. I let Brodie do it, figuring if I stopped him, he'd think up something much worse. :rolleyes:

 

Liz

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does collecting tennis balls and keeping them in his crate count? :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does collecting tennis balls and keeping them in his crate count? :rolleyes:

 

Oh Yeah -- he with the most toys at the end of the day wins. Robin won't take his lion out of my bedroom because Brodie stole his bunny and Ladybug found it and systematically gutted it :D. All that's left is the ears.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All these stories are pretty funny. I love the picture of Sea with allthe bowls , too funny..LOL.

My girl Nem only did this the first day I got her. After the meets and greets outside the home on neutral turf was done, I brought her crate in the house and left the door open forher. She would come out a and go back in for quite a while.

But once she caught site of the toybox , she promptly made her way over to it , being very slinky about it too, took every toy , one by one , into her crate and piled them in the back of it. I was sitting on the couch watching this for about 10 minutes , laughing quietly to myself so as not to startle her. It was so cute.

 

One of my husbands Shepherds , Ronja , collects pine cones . She always has one in her mouth , running around at top speed. She never eats them. She has her own stash inside her kennel , which we clean out a few times daily , so she is kept busy putting them back into her piles. I think she gets a little peeved about us messing with them , because she seems to saying to us , "look , mom , dont clean my room , its off limits" . I think she would have one of those signs kids hang on their bedroom doors that say "keep out". LOL.. :rolleyes: When she woould stay in the house , she would deposit a pine cone in my husbands boots. She's a comedian..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sea has a littermate whose behavior is almost identical, although they were not raised together. I live with 12 border collies. Out of them, Sea is the only one who takes collecting to this length. I have her mom, Maggie, littermate, Joe, uncle Tam and had grandma Tib. Sea is the only one here who "collects". When I open the door to let the dogs out, Sea will run out the door with a bowl in her mouth. Sometimes she'll put it down to potty. Other times she'll just squat holding the thing in her mouth and come back in with it. If she puts it down, she always picks it back up when she's done. I've had other dogs who love to pick things up, as many things as they can, but Sea's in luck. She can carry a lot of bowls at one time. Bowls stack so I've watched her stack them, one inside the other, then pick up the bowls and run outside with them.

 

At the dog park, she would pick up some huge toy, her head disappearing behind whatever it happened to be --- mostly a flattened soccer or basketball, and run directly at a bunch of dogs hanging around with their owners. Most dogs couldn't figure out what it was coming at them and it upset quite a few dogs. If they ran, she'd single out one, run after him and tag him on the butt with her toy. Sometimes she'd stop and lie down, eyeing the pack of dogs who were looking at her. She'd carefully place her "object" close beside her so it was right there in case she had to move quick. She's hilarious. All 29 lbs. of her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I first got Sugarfoot she was so skinny. You could see her ribs from across the room. She had evidently never had toys or chewies. She would go around and gather them all in a pile and lie on top of it chewing on one thing or another. Sometimes it must have been pretty uncomfortable. My Lurcher would just give me a look that said, "What's up with that?"

 

She got over it though. That and the stool eating. :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My Loki has mostly outgrown his insane piling habit. He used to grab anything that wasn't nailed down and add it to his pile. When I went to bed at night, he'd move the whole pile into my room. When I cooked, the pile was moved into the kitchen. I'd amuse myself by counting the things in his pile.

The piling was discontinued by his discovery of the fact that The Blessed Supper Dish scoots around the floor like a giant air hockey puck and the pile gets in the way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am noticing a pattern with Daisy. When outside and inside she collects and organizes items into piles. She first had a collection of cans and plastic bottles that she got out of the recycle bin. They were not thrown all over the backyard, but in two very distinctive piles. Since the cans and bottles have been cleaned up, she has started collecting sticks. Inside the house she collects bones and places them under the pillow in her bed.

 

I have always seen in movies where dogs collect and dig a hole in the backyard to hide the bones, but I think Daisy is taking her collection to a whole new level!!! :rolleyes:

 

My Fleet piles toys up in the back yard and lay's down & stares at them. When they fail to move he barks then aggressievely reorganizes them, lays down & stares again. I have learned if I'm down at the barn and only hear Fleet barking it's because his toy's wont play - not that someone is at the house.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The pic of Sea is so funny! My lab will also pile-up doggie dishes, toys, and shoes. The shoe thing really annoys me because it's often difficult to find a matching pair! But on most days I do my best to keep the doggie dishes and shoes picked up (key phrase, most days).

 

To the original poster: I would not be overly concerned unless your pup begins resource guarding the things that she is collecting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Dexter is only 12 weeks old and he already has three spots in the backyard where he puts his favorite sticks and palm husks.

At first my wife and I thought that each other were leaving the sticks in neat piles, today he took his stuffed hedgehog out and added it to one of the piles.

Too cute!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just love the picture of Sea, fabulous.

Wish Meg was a collector. I wonder if there is any correalation between the dog having toys as a puppy compared to Meg who would have been almost a year before she had toys?

With reference to bones. Do you give your dogs real bones? I was told not to do this and yet it seems a very natural habit for them to have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wish! Mine throw toys all over the place and drag their blankets from room to room. The good news is that they will go get them when it's time to clean up.

 

I do remember Kate (Georgia & Tex) saying that when stuff goes missing, it's usually one of hers that is stashing it someplace. LOL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been meaning to post this since the thread started but I couldn't find a copy anywhere. This was published in the Raleigh N&O in Aug '08. All about my girl...

 

Georgia is a thief!!

I have long suspected her of stealing, but I've never been able to catch her or locate her stash. So I was beginning to think I was losing my mind ... along with my socks, bras, T-shirts. ... Last night I was cleaning out one of the closets upstairs. (We rarely go upstairs except to do some training when it rains. Sometimes I iron there. The dogs like to run around in the bedrooms upstairs.) Well, my little assistants follow me everywhere in the house. So off we go. I fiddled around dusting, and Texas was lying on the bed with a toy and Georgia was in front of her closet. (This closet has bi-fold doors that don't quite close.) I think to myself, "Oh, I haven't cleaned that out in forever. I better go through it." Moving Georgia was a project. My little 28-pound girl made herself dead weight and dug into the carpet like a cat. I get her out of the way and behind me and she's bark-screaming away at me. I open the door to the closet and OH MY!! You can imagine my surprise when I found the following: 19 socks, 5 bras, 3 T-shirts, 1 fleece sweatshirt!, 5 gloves, 2 mittens (an actual pair), 2 big Nylabones, my hairbrush that I was miserable thinking I'd lost, 4 hair scrunchies, lots of plush toys (mostly ones Texas plays with ... or at least used to ...), and one red plastic cup.

 

After I'd pulled everything out and put it in a basket to take downstairs, I went to check the other upstairs closets; they were all clear. I left her closet door open, and I could hear my little felon rustling around in the basket. When I came back to the room she was pushing the closet door closed, standing on her back feet pressing it closed with her front feet. I opened it up and she had already put a couple of items back. I've always said that if she were a person she'd be in jail...

 

I have no idea what the cup was for ... maybe for running along the bars of her crate!

 

A year and a half later she's still stealing my things; mostly socks. I try to buy socks in bulk now so I don't have to worry about when she takes just one. For a while she was hiding her stash in the space between the day bed and the trundle, then in the back of my closet under some pillows. She never destroys anything, she's just a thief.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How funny. Reading this turned my frown upside down! Thanks for sharing, I needed this.

 

I've been meaning to post this since the thread started but I couldn't find a copy anywhere. This was published in the Raleigh N&O in Aug '08. All about my girl...

 

Georgia is a thief!!

I have long suspected her of stealing, but I've never been able to catch her or locate her stash. So I was beginning to think I was losing my mind ... along with my socks, bras, T-shirts. ... Last night I was cleaning out one of the closets upstairs. (We rarely go upstairs except to do some training when it rains. Sometimes I iron there. The dogs like to run around in the bedrooms upstairs.) Well, my little assistants follow me everywhere in the house. So off we go. I fiddled around dusting, and Texas was lying on the bed with a toy and Georgia was in front of her closet. (This closet has bi-fold doors that don't quite close.) I think to myself, "Oh, I haven't cleaned that out in forever. I better go through it." Moving Georgia was a project. My little 28-pound girl made herself dead weight and dug into the carpet like a cat. I get her out of the way and behind me and she's bark-screaming away at me. I open the door to the closet and OH MY!! You can imagine my surprise when I found the following: 19 socks, 5 bras, 3 T-shirts, 1 fleece sweatshirt!, 5 gloves, 2 mittens (an actual pair), 2 big Nylabones, my hairbrush that I was miserable thinking I'd lost, 4 hair scrunchies, lots of plush toys (mostly ones Texas plays with ... or at least used to ...), and one red plastic cup.

 

After I'd pulled everything out and put it in a basket to take downstairs, I went to check the other upstairs closets; they were all clear. I left her closet door open, and I could hear my little felon rustling around in the basket. When I came back to the room she was pushing the closet door closed, standing on her back feet pressing it closed with her front feet. I opened it up and she had already put a couple of items back. I've always said that if she were a person she'd be in jail...

 

I have no idea what the cup was for ... maybe for running along the bars of her crate!

 

A year and a half later she's still stealing my things; mostly socks. I try to buy socks in bulk now so I don't have to worry about when she takes just one. For a while she was hiding her stash in the space between the day bed and the trundle, then in the back of my closet under some pillows. She never destroys anything, she's just a thief.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Jack has some hording issues LOL :rolleyes: this is just the pile that makes it to bed everynight he has 4 sepetate piles one in our room for bed as you can see one in each of the kids rooms if one toy that was in matts room ends up in niccis room he has to go through them and arrange them just right. He has another pile in the living room that he keeps pretty neat those are the ones he likes to take out side and run around the yard with. I think he has doggy OCD LOL :D

 

post-10871-1263920167_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...