Eating Grass

[Sticks1977]

Henry has just come into my life (it is his first day at home) and I have noticed as I have been house training him that he will come outside with me, sniff at the grass and then proceed to eat some of it or pull and break off small roots in the grass.

We have that kooch or buffalo type grass that has a massive root system and is quickly taking over the backyard (but turning brown) at this time of year. Should I be telling Henry to stop eating the grass and pull small pieces out of his mouth or simply ignore the behaviour as grass may not do too much damage?

He is on two meals a day at the moment, 3/4 of a cup of Supercoat Puppy in the morning, and 1 Cup of the same in the evening. He is doing really well with toilet training so far and has only had a wee inside twice since last night. I have also noticed that the past one or two times his wee has been clear - similar to water - when he has been passing urine.

Thanks to all for any assistance and help, this is my first puppy in two years and I am experiencing grass eating for the first time. I just do not want him eating something that he shouldnt and making his stomach possibly upset.

Regards, Shaun (Sticks1977)

[indigirl]

My 4 yr old golden retriever has always eayen grass, I think she is part cow LOL. Dont worry about it, most dogs eat grass.

[pixie_meg]

my boy loved grass when he was a little pup but 2 months later he leaves it alone. I don't think there's any harm in it.

[persephone]

Pups chew/eat grass - don't panic. Also provide him with good edible bones, so he does not become fixated on the grass Also- as soon as practicable- change those soft toys full of stuffing to something a bit more solid-it only takes a minute to rip the covers and eat stuffing

Maybe look at the turbochook toy, from Aussiedog toys Not cheap- but very sturdy!!

[spottychick]

Oh it's definitely not something to punish him for!! I think all dogs do it for one reason or another.

Sometimes they eat grass because they don't feel well. It's a natural response to an upset tummy - I've been told several theories on this - one is that they are trying to rid themselves of something in the tummy by making themselves vomit and another is they're looking for particular nutrients in the vegetation. Either way I have seen my dogs eat grass when they are ill on many occassions.

Have you thought about giving him a bit more variety in his diet? Some fresh pulped veggies would be good for example and/or cooked pumpkin (good for their tummies) or sweet potato. He might be having digestion problems so a probiotic could also help.

ETA: I should point out my dogs have also been known to eat grass just coz they're bored tho LOL, so it doesn't ALWAYS mean anything is wrong. It's just a good thing to keep in mind.

Edited January 28, 2010 by spottychick

[loeka]

I don't have too much experience with dogs but my 15 week puppy was only interested in grass, flowers and bushes for the first few weeks. He even ignored his toys and munched grass instead. It's gotten much much less over the past couple of weeks but he still enjoys biting flowers off their stems and tasting the grass everywhere he goes. We joke around that he's secretly a botanist, not a real dog. : )

[Sandra777]

Definitely not something to punish him for - he's exploring his world in the same way a human baby will, but because he doesn't have hands he has to explore with his mouth. Wait until he starts exploring the curtains and the couch

[dancinbcs]

All my dogs have always eaten grass. Perfectly normal behaviour.

[Tapferhund]

Yes , mine are big grass and grass root eaters too. Must be the buffalo grass...cos they love it !

Its perfectly natural ......so whatever you do don't punish him for it Sticks 1997

[Tilly]

My older boy is part cow ... he is always eating grass. Now if I could just get him to do it around the edges a bit more I wouldn't have to struggle with the whipper snipper and do the edges of the lawn.

Younger boy tend to eat wood ... he has a stolen hard wood tomato stakes out of the garden bed and chewed them up. He is also obsessed with plastic ... loves chewing up his little kiddie pool. He has now killed number 3!!!!

[LuvMyCav]

My dogs love grass. I buy them pet grass specifically for them to have a chomp on whenever they feel like it and they'll usually have a nibble every day. If ever they feel ill, they'll go out and eat some and vomit and then seem to feel much better.

[macka]

My dogs love grass. I buy them pet grass specifically for them to have a chomp on whenever they feel like it and they'll usually have a nibble every day. If ever they feel ill, they'll go out and eat some and vomit and then seem to feel much better.

That's so cute!!

Sticks sounds normal to me as others have already said.

I hope we get to see some puppy photos of Henry in the lab thread!

[BooBooBear]

Congratulations on your new little edition! We are at the same stage, my little Golden Retriever Humphrey is the same age and arrived last week he ate some grass this week but I just made sure it was actually grass and not a weed that could be dangerous. My old poochie loved grass too

[pmiller]

Henry has just come into my life (it is his first day at home) and I have noticed as I have been house training him that he will come outside with me, sniff at the grass and then proceed to eat some of it or pull and break off small roots in the grass.

Shiraz as a pup loved to pull up grass and chew on it. He grew out of it pretty quickly though. Pretty normal!

LuvMyCav - very very cute pics!!!!

[ellz]

Grass is a natural part of a doggy diet.

It could be that your dog is telling you in the only way he can that he needs some vegetable matter in his diet, particularly if you feed a dry food based diet with no "extras".

Dogs are omnivores. They function best on a varied diet. A dog in the wild will go straight for the stomach of the kill. And will find lots of vegetable matter including fermenting grass and other delights.

[Bullbreedlover]

All of my dogs are grazers.

Hubby said it would be a lot cheaper if we just fed them grass

They get a varied diet but still like to munch on the green stuff.