Why is my dog suddenly hiding and burying food? Is she sick?

I can understand your concern. It seems you have done the right thing by checking her vital organs with baseline bloodwork and her poops are normal. At her age, she is entering senior/mature dog status, so this is most likely the reason Hazel is slowing down and no longer behaving like a puppy or young adult dog. I would also suspect that Hazel may be experiencing some arthritis in her joints, which tends to enable pets a bit. I would recommend getting her started on some joint supplements such as Dasuquin, Synovi- G4 or Duralactin to see if that makes any difference with her activity level. And if you are overly concerned and start noticing an abnormal gait, then I would consider getting an x-ray done of her joints to look further into things. I hope that Hazel does well moving forward. Best wishes and take care.

Since it sounds like this is a new behavior for Nala, I would be suspicious that she may have an underlying medical problem causing her to be hungrier than normal. This can be caused by a variety of different things including Cushing's disease, diabetes, or even a thyroid tumor. I would recommend taking her to the vet for a full check-up and some basic lab work to help check for these problems. If nothing is found on her medical work-up, you may need to consult with a behaviorist to determine if she has developed an anxiety problem or some other issue - this can occur later in life in some cases, and may require a bit of "detective work" by a skilled professional to determine the cause.

If she’s eating/drinking, pooping normally and does not seem to be limping or painful when touched around her legs or belly….it is most likely stress. Possibly there was a super loud noise/siren/crash etc. that scared her. Vetriscience composure chews (available without a prescription on Chewy.com) can help with stress, including separation anxiety stress/firework stress, etc. Hope she feels better soon!

Poor Zena! She is a cutie pie! Since it has come on so suddenly, I worry that she may be painful somewhere or not feeling well. It is common for them to act this way with neck or back pain. I would have your vet do a thorough orthopedic exam on her. If he cannot find anything wrong with her, your vet may decide to do a trial course of pain meds to see if that perks her up. I hope this helps and she starts to feel better soon!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If he is fine otherwise then this is likely just a transient change. It may be due to something that has changed in the environment. Please check for anything that may be causing him to be different such as new tall objects in the house that may be causing to be scared. Best of luck!

Thank you for your question. Many dogs like to hide things, including treats and food. This is probably a remnant from their ancestors who may have had to hide some of their food items to protect it from other members of their pack or predators. We would not consider this a problem behavior unless he is becoming aggressive around his buried food/toys.

This does sound like strange behavior but if Sasha is otherwise acting normal I would not worry to much about it. She may be just enjoying the changing of the seasons or, due to her age, she may not be able to walk around as much due to arthritis. If Sasha stops wanting to eat or her bathroom habits change then I would be concerned. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.