Why does my dog agitatedly dig at her bed before sleeping?

DEAR JOAN >> My dog digs at her bed, particularly when she’s agitated, like during a thunderstorm.

Often, she just wads it up and doesn’t use it; other times she moves it all around the bedroom. The other night, she wadded it up and actually pushed it into the corner behind a plant. What is going on in her little doggy mind? — Sandy McMullen, Carlsbad

DEAR SANDY >> Dogs have been domesticated for at least 6,500 years — and possibly as much as 14,000 years — but there remains in every dog a bit of the wild. Digging at their beds and circling before going to sleep are all vestiges of ancient dog behavior.

Before dogs became human’s best friends, they made their own beds by scraping together piles of leaves and dirt to create the comfiest bed they could. In doing so, they deposited their scent through special glands in their feet. The scent marked their bed as their property, and also helped them locate it again each night. Circling their beds before settling down served a similar purpose; those trips helped deposit their scent in a circle around the bed, alerting others that this spot was claimed.

Modern dogs often do the same thing, digging at their bedding, sometimes with zeal. In their minds, they are making their beds, but also simultaneously putting down their scent and stirring up odors that help confirm that they’re in their own beds.

Digging at the bedding when your dog is anxious could be a way of comforting herself. Familiar smells — her own — can be calming and centering for a dog that is upset.

If the bedding that she’s dragging around the room and stuffing behind plants is new, she could be telling you that she doesn’t like the smell and doesn’t trust it. Dogs often will reject comfy new beds, preferring the stinky old ones. She also could be hiding the bed because she feels threatened and is trying to throw animals off the scent, so to speak.

After she moves the bed, does she then sleep in it? If so, then she might not feel safe or comfortable in the spot you’ve chosen and she’s searching for one that better suits her.

Another possibility is that she’s trying to send you a message that something isn’t quite right. Dogs in pain are often restless and they’ll seek comfort in small places, such as under beds, in closets or behind potted plants. If she’s showing signs of this behavior, take her to the vet for a checkup.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t be concerned. Dogs, just like humans, have some strange bedtime rituals. My Chihuahua, Bailey, likes to sleep under the covers, but he doesn’t like being under both a sheet and quilt. Instead, he tunnels between the two and is out like a light.

DEAR JOAN >> In reference to your column about the dog that keeps pushing his nose into his food and then wiping his face, our dog, Fossie, has started to wipe his face on the bed before eating.

We’ve never seen another dog do this. We think it is cute. — Maria Murray, Bay Area DEAR MARIA >> Fossie obviously is a good student of Miss Manners and knows that it’s important to wash before meals.

It would be more polite of him to use a moist serviette, but any port in a storm.