Habits

Dogs have an exceptional sense of direction that is distinct from their keen senses of smell, hearing, and sight.

They have an uncanny ability to return home from a long distance by the shortest route, without any landmarks that humans can recognize.

There are many theories about why dogs dig, try to sleep in dark hidden areas, and why, before they sleep, they usually walk around their resting spot. None of them have been proven conclusively, however.

Dogs like to keep themselves and their living area clean. This begins at the time they are born, when the mother cleans her puppies. Once they are able to walk on their own, puppies will defecate a good distance from where they sleep and eat.

At this time they also start to fetch and hide things. Males will demarcate their territory (a trait believed to be a throwback to their wild canid roots) by urinating at various points within and outside their perimeter.