[HersheyK's Dad]

I have often wondered why dogs eat grass. All the dogs we had before did it and puked shortly after. I had myself convinced they had an upset stomach and knew the grass would make them puke and give them relief. Shows how much I know. The Dr. Jon's Newsletter I get finally posted a concise article explaining the whole thing. (Have you detected sarcasm yet?)
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Why Do Dogs Eat Grass?
By: Virginia Wells

Dogs are not known for being fussy eaters. Put it in your dog's path and he'll gobble it up, whether it be table scraps, garbage ... or grass.

Dogs are primarily carnivores (meat-eaters). Although they like to eat meat, they can also survive on a well-balanced vegetarian diet: Cats, on the other hand, may die without animal protein. Like all living creatures, dogs need a combination of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water in a balanced diet that provides enough calories to meet their daily needs.

We're not sure why your pup likes grass, although there have been many theories offered. Primarily, dogs are descended from wild canids (wolves and foxes), which ate the entire "kill" when they hunted for food. Since they consumed many herbivores (plant-eating animals), they wound up eating a lot of plants and even berries found in the stomach and intestines of their prey.
Interestingly, carnivores tend to go for the stomach and its contents first, so it's likely that dogs may eat grass because they like it and it was once part of their normal diet.

Then there is the great mystery: Do dogs eat grass to make themselves vomit? Or do they vomit because they eat the grass? Most veterinarians believe that dogs eat grass simply because they like it, and vomiting just naturally follows. When dogs eat grass, the grass acts as an irritant and causes vomiting. However, they may not be smart enough to use grass as a medicine when they have an upset stomach. That said, one of us has seem a dog with burrs stuck in his throat pounce on a Ficus plant and voraciously start scoffing great scads of leaves until he threw up, presumably in an attempt to dislodge the foreign material.

Some veterinarians believe that dogs eat grass because their prepared diets are lacking in greens and so they eat grass. And as some support of this contention, dogs sometimes seek out a particular variety of grass to nibble.

 

[gailatmsu]

That's interesting. I've always wondered why mine do it too.

 

[Bob Pr.]

Interesting article -- and it goes along with what I've seen and read. Puff often eats grass (in spring and summer) without subsequent vomiting. She seems to seek out and eat certain blades for their flavor.

 

[Paddysmom]

Paddy, Seamus and Flynn - all regular grass and leaf eaters. Just because. They never throw it up afterward. It's like a yummy snack to them, especially the bamboo leaves!

 

[Snowflake]

Sally eats grass when she is thirsty....like after a workout as we are on our way back to the car to get her some water. She'll eat grass then.

Spud never eats grass.

Hoppy grazes like a goat while Sally and Spud workout!

None of them ever throw it up.

 

[justine]

Interesting article!

 

[Emma the Lab]

Emma only eats grass when she needs to vomit. She can wake me up early in the morning just because she needs grass. It's always in her shedding periods, when she gets a lot of fur in her stomach.

 

[Samson]

Jasper defintely heads for a grass snack when he has over indulged ! As far as he is concerned it's a stomach settler but I have neve known him to vomit.

Samson would sometimes vomit and there was nearly always grass in it ! All of our dogs are grazers whatever the reason !

 

[cinderbay]

I think they do it because it is natural for them to do. I don't believe in the theory they do it to make t hemselves vomit. Cinder eats grass all CONSTANTLY in the summer. So does Gryph. Roo is a little cow too. The only time they throw up is when they do not pluck them grass short. When they try it ingest long blades.

 

[CJs Mom]

CJ likes the tall fat grass that grows at the back side of the pool.

 

[sarah]

I've never seen Milly really graze at all yet. And she's almost 15months....

there is a golden at our obedience class --- he's a freaking goat. Milly just stares at him and looks a me puzzled as if to say "mum.. why does he eat the stuff I pee on?"

 

[millstonekennel]

Mine are like cattle. They only vomited grass every now and than. Samantha some times eats grass to settle her stomach.

 

[Neska74]

Saba turns into a regual grass eating cow in the spring/summer. Never vomits though.

 

[vickig]

Gus loves grass. Bo not so much. Bo seems more to do the "medincinal" use. Gus will eat any grass anywhere, anytime. Rarely pukes.

 

[PhoebeJeebies]

Jeebies will eat a ton of it - especially the long, thick stuff...but I think that's what makes her throw it up...how long and thick it is and how she just ingests huge pieces of it. There's a specific field we'd go to play fetch with her and Henery and if I didn't watch her closely she'd eat a TON of it and barf it all up on the carpet for her daddy to clean up later on.

 

[chocolatecoverdlab]

Very interesting article!

I always assumed they vomit the grass up since grass contains cellulose, and dogs (like humans) don't have the digestive enzymes to properly break down the cellulose.

However, Bali eats grass all the time, but never vomits. I do notice that the grass is in his stool undigested though. Lovely!

 

[Jayberd4]

Gus loves grass. Bo not so much. Bo seems more to do the "medincinal" use. Gus will eat any grass anywhere, anytime. Rarely pukes.

My Yellow Lab's name is Bo too. Great minds think alike!

 

[Retriever Mama]

Remy could care less - he's more of a stick guy...but my Brooklyn? Whew! The issues with the grass eating and her! She would graze from one of our yard to the other without stopping if we let her. She is never tummy sick. She can get a little frantic in the winter when there is no grass - she'll tug you across the street if she sees a clump that has been upturned by a snowplow.

We actually think it helps keep her, er, "regular" if you know what I mean. So we've kind of given up on the whole thing. Just try to corral her to one area of the yard.

The downside (besides the condition of our yard) is that the bubblehead is allergic to grass. The paw licking has already commenced for the season.

 

[theoconbrio]

Here in Northern California we've just started the best time of year for the grass connoisseur. For those dogs who must have only the finest organic, locally grown grass, the long, tender fresh shoots are coming up. Thanks to the availability of these delicacies, our morning walks have gotten ca. 30% slower, and Theo now sometimes needs help with the grass hanging out of his ass. But no one ever said that delivering fine dining to the masses was easy!

 

[BigBrownDog]

Whenever my shepherd ate grass she puked almost instantly - every single time. She also had a touchy stomache as many shepherds do.

Diesel eats grass and only occasionally harfs. The jury is out on Blaise - no grass eaten yet.