And credit card bills and lint... Our chow has a hearty and diverse appetite. Normally he's quite picky about what he eats. For example, he has carefully sought out and devoured all the Verbana flowers growing in several large pots and placed handily on the patio of our back yard. He must have thought they were appetizers, artfully arranged for his noshing. He clipped all the purple flowers down to nubs, leaving  pots of brown dirt in his wake. So, we stopped growing Verbana.

We have some large stalks of Sunflowers growing in the center of a small bricked-off garden and surrounded by sturdy wrought iron fencing. Ever resourceful, he soon discovered how to hop the fence and very carefully, in his dainty doggy way,  pull the seven foot sunflower stalks down. He would then happily and quietly sneak the sunflower leaves, when we weren't looking. We keep him leashed and supervised now, even in the backyard.

He has also learned to seek out and beg for the crunchy, healthy green leaves which adorn the purple-flower Echinacea plants that hug the perimeter of our yard. All of our echinacea plants now look like some giant insect attacked them. Instead of leaves, the flower stalks bear little spikey shreds. With great success, he has learned that if you can't sneak the leaves, you can beg and try to look appealing about your addiction. We treat him to leaves occasionally and he will gladly perform any trick in his limited repertoire to get them. He seems to think they're better than any dog biscuit or food.

We often wonder why he has acquired such an exotic taste for plants. Research reveals that sunflower, Enchinacea and Verbana plants are all related. These plants all share the same attribute: when consumed, they stimulate the immune system. Is he self-treating his severe arthritis by an inborn doggie wisdom? Or do the plants share the same tactile quality on his tongue and give a similar taste?  For now, we limit his leaf and flower intake, just to be careful: one or two leaves every couple days is his generous ration.

He also eats paper, but very rarely, perhaps to amuse himself. I caught him once, very quietly and contentedly munching on some bills we had yet to file ... he surrendered the tattered shreds to me without any resentment and with some amusement 'I dare you to file that one ... see, the name and address are missing, heh heh..." And I've caught him gingerly sampling the wild wares when we go for walks in the park ... he will spit out any greens he finds distasteful.

Perhaps the herbal connection for illness theory is a little far-fetched. He may just be a dog of many tastes. We just don't know.