You've heard of Emotional Support Dogs. Whether they're formally trained or not, having a canine companion can help ease anxiety, depression, fear, and more in all kinds of different people. But while dogs never seem to get tired of loving and taking care of us, sometimes they need a little something for their own comfort! It might be a favorite chew toy that they refuse to destroy, or a stuffed animal that they like to snuggle and suck on.
A 10-year-old very good boy named Ollie recently made a curious decision when picking his own comfort object. He plucked a pumpkin right out of a patch and hasn't let it out of his sight since.
"IT HAPPENED AGAIN!! 🎃🎃" Ollie's owners captioned the first Instagram post. "You guys all know that Ollie picked an emotional support pumpkin 2 years ago, well a few weeks ago he finally picked one again! He knew exactly which one he wanted."
Two weeks later, they posted an update. Ollie, a Chocolate Lab, still hadn't let the pumpkin leave his sight.
He's shown cuddling it in bed, carrying it around the house, and occasionally gnawing on the handle.
The handle, which eventually broke off! But Ollie's owners put the pumpkin in a little wicker basket with a handle so Ollie could continue to carry it with him everywhere he goes. It worked like a charm!
That's right. This isn't Ollie's first time turning a real live pumpkin into his personal comfort blankey.
Apparently he's been at it for years!
The videos go viral every time, to no one's surprise. They're just so sweet and joyful you can't possibly keep yourself from smiling when you watch Ollie snuggle his pumpkin. This is definitely the content we all need right now — and every fall, while we're at it!
(One commenter on Reddit noted that Ollie was becoming a great "Gourd Dog." There are puns aplenty to be made here.)
Why would a dog pick a pumpkin for comfort?
Photo by Marius Ciocirlan on Unsplash
Objects that humans (or dogs!) pick for comfort are sometimes called transitional objects. Transitional objects help foster a feeling of safety and help with separation anxiety.
Early definitions of the term "transitional object" actually used the comfort object as a stand-in for Mom "until the child has established an internal object, or mental representation of her, that provides a sense of security and comfort."
In young kids, they most often take the form of a stuffed animal, blanket, or lovey (which is a cuddly stuffed animal/blanket combination). But they can also be unique and bizarre, like a favorite water bottle, a Tupperware container, a rock, a feather. Anything, really.
Dogs have many different ways they go about choosing a comfort object. They look for the way it feels, smells, sounds, or even tastes. They usually want something they can carry around easily, and they may like things they can "interact" with.
You can kind of begin to see how a pumpkin might fit the bill! It may have interesting smells and tastes. It's easy to carry by the handle — which doubles as a nice chew toy. It has a pleasant, hollow sound when you place it down on the ground.
The one drawback, of course, is that pumpkins can't last forever. No matter how gentle Ollie is with it or how many tongue baths he gives it. Pumpkins rot and go bad. That's life!
But there's always next year to pick a new one. And judging by Ollie's Instagram history, you can bet he'll be eagerly awaiting his trip to the pumpkin patch next fall.
