Buttered broccoli and asparagus spears, creamed spinach, sauteed mushrooms, tart salad – these vegetable side dishes enhance the taste of your rib eye or Filet Mignon steak. Yummy! We believe dogs to be omnivorous. Dogs would eat ANYTHING but if given a choice, dogs would pick meats anytime. Dogs would turn away from premium quality manufactured dog food if prey is available. If we eat vegetables with our steak would it be surprising for a dog to munch grass after having steak for dinner?
Eating grass is common in dogs. Munching grass is a perfectly normal behavior of mans best friends. Dogs are known for their indiscriminate eating habits. Our four legged friends have been eating rotten things as well as their own and other dogs feces. Surely, the dogs habit of eating grass is the least obnoxious among the dogs unwanted habits. Dog experts have varying theories about the grass eating habit of the dog. It is commonly believed that grass eating is the dogs way of filling a nutrient deficiency form their diet. Manufactured dog food may be low in fiber content. As dogs have an uncanny ability to discern what is wrong with their system, they can easily find ways to resolve the problem. Dogs are indiscriminate eaters thus stomach upset is most common. Eating grass is the dogs infallible cure for stomach upset. A few minutes after grass is eaten, the dog would throw up and be able to remove ingested substances or objects that were not accepted by the stomach. Eating grass can be a habit that was handed down to present day dogs by their ancestors. In the wild, ancient dogs have subsisted mainly on herbivores. Due to the scarcity of food, the prey as well as the green plant matter in the preys stomach will be eaten. Dogs therefore, have developed a taste for grass. Modern day dogs are fed commercially manufactured food with herbivores as the main ingredient. Dogs have insatiable appetites. Grass will be eaten as it would have the taste of the beef or the lamb kibble.
If the reason for eating grass is to supplement the diet, the dog can have his fill of grass. Grass is widely available and more importantly grass is free. Manicured lawns would be a huge salad plate. Green grass glistening with the morning dew will be very appetizing for the dog. Eating grass though can have harmful effects on the dog especially if it contains harmful chemicals. Dog owners will notice that the digestive zone of the pet is very tolerant to matters that are not normally ingested. However, pesticides, fertilizer and toxic substances in the grass can result to poisoning. It is therefore necessary to stop the dog from eating grass. How do you stop your dog from eating grass?
As eating grass is believed to be the dogs way of supplementing the diet, you can change the dogs diet into one with high fiber content. Eating grass would make the dog chuck up anything ingested that was not acceptable to the stomach. There are cases though when the dog would not vomit. This should cue you that your pet simply loves the taste of grass. Plant matter was once a part of canine diet. Why dont you include some vegetables to the dogs diet? The veggies can be cooked to prevent the dog from vomiting. Prevent your pet from walking on neighbors lawns as you dont know if it has been recently treated with harmful chemicals.
Eating grass, like barking is a normal behavior of dogs. To give in to your pets habit of eating grass, you can indulge the pet by allowing it to have a free go at your manicured lawn once in a while. Just be sure that the grass is not laced with toxic chemicals.