Dear Curtis,

Why do I have the urges to eat grass? How can my humans tell if I’m bored or depressed? Why do I rub my face into the carpet every time after I eat anything? Could it be allergies?

Benson

Dear Benson,

Easy boy! You sure have a lot of questions.

Firstly, ever since we wildly roamed the countryside, we have been wolfing in vegetation, whether eaten directly or indirectly within the plant-eaters we consumed. Some say we eat grass because, quite honestly, it tastes good. Others believe that we eat grass to help cleanse our bowels, i.e., as a laxative, to remove worms and/or to induce vomiting. Others still, believe that we dogs know that plants or, more specifically, herbs have a healing/medicinal effect.

Whatever the reason, I know that when I have some digestive distress, I feel a need to munch the lawn. I also know that doing so almost always results in a nice green vomit stain on my humans’ carpeting. Hey, it’s a small price to pay since I almost always feel better afterwards. As far as grass tasting good. The dog-jury’s still out on that one.

Secondly, are you bored or depressed? Sounds like you might be since you brought it up. From my experience, bored and/or depressed canines are not that different from bored and/or depressed humans. Some symptoms include getting mopey or lethargic, stopping eating, and drinking only minimal amounts of water, stopping wanting to play, and even losing drastic amounts of weight. However, whether your humans can recognize if you’re bored or depressed will greatly depend on their awareness of these symptoms and on their sensitivity to your needs and moods. After all, many depressed humans are surrounded by friends and family who don’t have a clue that they’re depressed. Personally, I hope that your question is simply curiosity. Should you truly be depressed, get your humans to consult with your vet or with a canine-behavior specialist.

Lastly, I don’t believe that allergies have anything to do with your rubbing your face into the carpet after eating. I do it and many dogs that I know do it as well. Hey, humans have napkins and hand towels and washcloths and other items with which to wipe their faces and hands after eating. Why, I even understand that a human’s pants do quite nicely in this regard! We canines have nothing of the sort. So what are we left with? A nice carpet, a hand woven rug, a blanket, etc.! Can’t really blame us for wiping our mugs after chowing down, especially if our humans aren’t going to wipe them for us. After all, no human is going to allow us near them with a face that’s messy and gooey.

So Benson, I hope I’ve answered your questions and, again, I hope that your question about being bored or depressed is hypothetical. Life’s too short to have too many unhappy days…especially when that life belongs to a dog!

Curtis the Dog