Grass Eating?

[Guest]

I have had dogs for as long as I can remember and all of them have eaten grass on occassion. I have always been told that they only do it when they are not feeling well and want to vomit. Is this true or an Old Wives Tale.

I have a friend who owns two Pappions and she bought a pot of planted grass (the soft, fresh green stuff) just so her dogs could eat it if they wished.

Can someone please tell me the real reason why they do this, I would be very grateful.

[Lab_Rat]

Hi Mickeymoo - I dont think anyone can answer that question - Not even the experts!!

My two eat grass quite often. Not very often though do they vomit afterwards.

The kelpie sometimes eats a small amount in the afternoon when they are running about in the paddock.

The ridgy goes through stages of wanting to go outside and eats grass quite manically, then she is happy to go back to sleeping on her bed. She has a few stomach issues so hers may be related to that??

I find it interesting to watch as both are very particular about what blade of grass they will eat! Obviously not all blades of grass taste the same!

I think if either of our girls continually ate grass and vomited then I would have them checked by our vet.

Rat

[supercharged]

Agreed! I have had an obsessive "cow" and she is still with us at ten years of age - never been sick a day in her life blut loved to graze - daily! Always particular about the type of grass, soft green and sweet smelling.

Worried me for a while but she never vomited after.

S

[alexandrite]

I have had dogs for as long as I can remember and all of them have eaten grass on occassion. I have always been told that they only do it when they are not feeling well and want to vomit. Is this true or an Old Wives Tale.

I have a friend who owns two Pappions and she bought a pot of planted grass (the soft, fresh green stuff) just so her dogs could eat it if they wished.

Can someone please tell me the real reason why they do this, I would be very grateful.

My Mom is a biologist and that's what she always said too - that dogs and cats eat grass when they're feeling unwell and want to cleanse their stomachs a bit or get rid of a hairball by vomiting it out.

She plants grass for her 2 cats in winter (in Canada) so they can have access to it year-round.

My Cocker Spaniel does eat grass at times, and I have seen it in his vomit when he wasn't feeling well, but just as often it seems to go through and come out from the other end as well...

[GRLC]

My three thought it was Christmas when we finally got grass at our newly built house , they were always grazing on it . My Rotti is the only one who seems to vomit after eating grass (not all the time but sometimes ). I did read on here somewhere that grass helps the digestive system and quite often when I'm doing poo patrol their poo will often have some grass in it !!!!

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

There's a study that Paul McGreevy quoted in his book "A modern dog's life".

They do it because they can. It's a normal part of a doggy diet. And if one dog starts on a patch of grass, other dogs may join in eating the "good grass". They may or may not vomit after.

For my dog, a post grass eating vomit seems to depend on whether she's swallowed long bits of grass whole or munched short bits. But even the long bits can go straight through (urk). She also sometimes vomits when she hasn't eaten any grass.

[W Sibs]

I was told that some dogs just like eating grass

Emmy likes licking the dew off the grass in the morning, but if she eats grass, she will sometimes throws up. Not all the time, but it has happened on one or two occasion.

Charlie always graze and he never threw up eating it.

My dogs will pull out the grass and eat the root of the grass too.

[bark]

My dog has always eaten grass since he was a pup and he's always had food allergy problems. I presumed it was helping my dog to vomit to get rid of whatever was causing his upset stomach. He's on antibiotics at the moment for a stomach bug and when I told the vet he was eating gras the Vet replied that it's common for dogs with food allergies.

[Odin-Genie]

Agreed! I have had an obsessive "cow" and she is still with us at ten years of age - never been sick a day in her life blut loved to graze - daily! Always particular about the type of grass, soft green and sweet smelling.

Worried me for a while but she never vomited after.

S

My goldy does the same. She walks around trying to find the perfect blade of grass, then happily chews it!! She doesn't throw up afterwards or show any signs of feeling unwell. It looks like she just enjoys doing it.

[jazawayaya]

Banjo loves eating grass aswell and he has never chucked after eating it.

You can even pick it and hold it in your hand and he will eat it straight off there :-D the soft muzzle fees like the worlds tiniest horse :-D

[shellbyville]

I have 5 labrador retrievers and every couple of days they all 'graze'. It looks like a small herd of cows. They literally walk along and pick the grass and eat it, just for a little while, then off they go. I haven't seen one vomit it back up. They do have grass in their stools occasionally. It doesn't do any harm as far as I can see and I don't think they do it because they are not feeling well. I think they quite like the taste. It is quite funny to watch though!