In the latest article from The Happy Puppy Site, Pippa answers a popular question amongst Labrador owners: Why Do Dogs Roll In Grass?
Charlie rolls in grass. And leaves. And mud. And meadow hay. And sand....just about anything, really. I think he does it because he is excited, happy, and just loves life. He loves the smells, and the being outdoors so much he rolls in it. All of it.
One of my fave Charlie videos....that fresh mud, covered by leaves, just needed to be rolled in... [Click pic to play vid] IMG_0917 by julieandcharlie julieandcharlie, on Flickr
We have a patch at the end of our garden where the mud has all had to be dug up so it makes a perfect Thor sized hole. Saturday. just after cleaning the bathroom from top to bottom so it was sparkling clean, i looked out of the window to see Thor digging the wet mud up. As soon as he heard me call him, he turned his head and looked at me, then immediately lay down and rolled around in the wet mud so much so that i now know what he would look like as a brown lab! (I swear he did it on purpose having seen me just put the cleaning stuff away) Safe to say my bath was covered in dirt and he enjoyed his first bath so much he must have thought it was a reward for rolling in the mud. Whenever he goes out now he is straight to the mud hole!
Why Do Dogs Roll In Grass? Because its FUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNN! Holly loves a good roll in the grass, especially if it can be combined with a tummy tickle!
Molly loves to roll in grass and I'm convinced it's just for fun. She rarely rolls in smelly stuff these days (famous last words) but if she does the body language is completely different- with stinky stuff it's head and shoulder first, whereas on clean grass she lies down and then rolls. And she loves it if she can find a grassy slope so she can roll down hill!
Willow has taken to rolling in the grass over the last couple of weeks. Because the grass is pretty dead with it being winter, she always comes up looking like she's been getting up to mischief in the hay barn!
Oban hardly ever rolls in grass but he loves to roll in snow. I feel sorry for him each spring as it melts away and he searches out any last little remaining patch of snow to roll in. So did the Lab before him. Grass is only incidental to mud, rarely grass on it's own.