This entry was posted on 2015-09-02 by Schalk.

Your lovable companion has this strange urge to eat grass…Often he can’t contain himself, you open the door and immediately he is engulfing large mouthfuls, moment’s later vomiting. Or possibly your dog is more interested in finding just the right patch of grass to have an occasional snack, without any negative side effects. This strange but not unusual behaviour may make you worried. Why does my dog do this? Is this bad for my dog? How can I prevent this?

The truth is that we are not actually 100% sure of the cause. As dogs are all different they may eat grass for different reasons. Understanding why your dog may do this can help you better interpret this behaviour.

Natural instinct

Dogs are not carnivores but they are not omnivores either. For many years these animals, the opportunistic scavengers have consumed everything and anything they can find.

In the wild they would eat their entire pray including the plant matter within its stomach. They would also eat fruit, vegetable matter and berries. Today the dog is no longer like its ancestors. To compensate for this instinctual behaviour dogs try and seek out other foods, mainly grass as its most readily available.

Is he bored?

As dogs don’t live very exciting lives, eating grass could simply just be something to do. Do you give him regular exercise and challenge him mentally? Is it common for your dog to eat more grass if you neglect to play or exercise him?

Prevention – At times the most ordinary solution to this is buying your fluffy toys or just playing/exercising him regularly.

Stomach upset

Specialists have found that grass can be a form of self-medication. So when your fluffy feels that he has an upset stomach he turns to grass. This would be relevant to your dog if he suddenly decides to eat grass or if he is very anxious about wanting to eat grass. Often he would enlarge his neck, making swallowing motions and then vomiting. Less then 25% of dogs do this; furthermore only 10% of these dogs would show any signs of sickness beforehand.

Prevention – This could be an indication of a more serious issue. Your fluffy could be suffering from gastric reflux or inflammatory bowel disease. So it would be a good idea to take him to your vet for a check up.

It tastes good

Canines have a natural instinct to look for extra nutrition wherever they can find it. They may also find the flavour and texture of grass tasty. Possibly he could just be trying to compensate for the lack of fibre in his general food.

Prevention – People find that once they change their dog’s food to a higher fibre food, grass is no longer appealing. If this seems relevant to your dog be sure to consult your vet for advice first before changing foods.

Still not 100% sure

Specialists classify grass eating as a general dog behaviour. Dog’s don’t gain any nutritional value from grass but don’t worry it won’t harm him either, unless you have pesticides, fertilizes or herbicides on the grass.

Prevention - Use no-toxic products in your garden to protect your fluffy. Alternatively you could create a grassy patch or herb garden, just for him to snack on.