Hi, I adopted a pitiful bulldog mix a while back. She was very underweight and had lived her whole life chained outside. When we got her, she didn't know what a toy even was. Needless to say she has a very different life now! But she has a behavior that I find odd. It isn't a problem in any way, just unusual. Whenever we have people over, once she isn't having attention lavished on her she collects every toy and bedroom slipper she can find and piles them in her bed. Doesn't chew anything up, just seems to want to collect them.

This happens on occasion when it is just me and my wife home, but it happens 100% of the time when we have guests over for dinner or such. Just wondering if anyone has thoughts on the reasoning for this.

 Quote: Chip Bridges

Hi, I adopted a pitiful bulldog mix a while back. She was very underweight and had lived her whole life chained outside. When we got her, she didn't know what a toy even was. Needless to say she has a very different life now! But she has a behavior that I find odd. It isn't a problem in any way, just unusual. Whenever we have people over, once she isn't having attention lavished on her she collects every toy and bedroom slipper she can find and piles them in her bed. Doesn't chew anything up, just seems to want to collect them.

This happens on occasion when it is just me and my wife home, but it happens 100% of the time when we have guests over for dinner or such. Just wondering if anyone has thoughts on the reasoning for this.

As a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings, she is rounding up her "puppies", IMHO -- One also sees this behavior in bitches (whether intact or spayed) who are experiencing a false pregnancy ... It's a protective instinct, so I wonder if in her previous outdoor-life-on-a-chain, she was ever bred & then had the litter removed from her care even before they were old enough to have been weaned (?) Just thinking aloud here is all, Chip.

Ah, that's a very insightful thought! She did have teats when we adopted her though the shelter was unsure she could have given live birth or nursed in her condition. But it's quite possible she had survivors that were taken away and bottle fed.

Years ago I had a female that had a false pregnancy and she would snuggle all the shoes, dolls whatever with her in a particular closet and she would also produce milk thinking she was feeding them and became protective and didn't want anyone messing with her "babies".

What your seeing isn't what I would call rare but possibly just hoarding things.

Unless she shows aggression when you try and move these things I don't believe this is a problem.

Chip, I'm glad to know you have a new dog in your family. She sounds like a real sweetheart, and she is very lucky to have joined your family.

If she is spayed, which I'm sure she is as a rescue, it's unlikely this is a false pregnancy type of behavior, and even if it was, it wouldn't manifest itself primarily when you have company over. False pregnancies are hormone-induced and happen over the course of a week or more, where you will see the symptoms on a daily basis until the flux of hormones wanes.

There is something called hoarding, which sounds much more like what you are observing. It's simply a leftover instinctive behavior from long ago when dogs were wild and had to hunt for their food and then protect it from being stolen by other dogs or animals. Food was and still is a valuable resource to most dogs, and their instinct tells them to protect it, to hide it from others. The presence of many other people in your home may trigger this ancient behavior, and she is gathering up her valuable resources, in this case, her toys, to make sure and let everyone know these are hers. With her coming from such a terrible, neglectful situation, I'm sure her instinct in this regard is pretty strong.

I would be careful and keep an eye on her, ask people to respect her and not approach her on her bed while she is doing this, as, in some cases, hoarding behavior can progress to resource guarding, and a dog can become very protective. I'm not saying this will happen in your dog's case, only that it's prudent to be aware of the possibility.

Thanks Bob and Cheri! I do keep an eye on her when she does this, but no aggression thus far in our time with her. She's the only dog I might have ever had who wags her tail when you approach her while she's gnawing a meaty bone. I still appreciate that she's a dog with dog instincts, of course!

 Quote: Chip Bridges

Thanks Bob and Cheri! I do keep an eye on her when she does this, but no aggression thus far in our time with her. She's the only dog I might have ever had who wags her tail when you approach her while she's gnawing a meaty bone. I still appreciate that she's a dog with dog instincts, of course!

IMHO, she's just a Sweetheart with MATERNAL instincts, which are not necessarily "hormone-driven" since some MALES may also display "mother hen" behaviors

Candi, yrs ago I had an intact, male GSD/Dane cross that had absolutely no use for another male around him but would bring up his lunch if ANY young puppy would lick his face.

 Quote: Bob Scott

Candi, yrs ago I had an intact, male GSD/Dane cross that had absolutely no use for another male around him but would bring up his lunch if ANY young puppy would lick his face.

Aw-w-w, EXACTLY "Bringing up Baby" is a shared part of Pack Drive behavior in many situations -- My Borzoi, Lazar, was saved from death-by-exposure as a newborn whelp when his SIRE made their owner let him outside so he could retrieve Lazar from the stone-cold doghouse ... The dam had begun labor out there & the owner didn't realize she'd already dropped 1 puppy before coming indoors !!! Lazar turned out to be Pick of the Litter too, and I named him Lazar, cuz it means "recalled from death" (thanks to his dad).

Cool!