# Grass Eating



## Dominion (Mar 25, 2010)

More questions from me  First dog I've raised myself and I have a ton of questions 

Today was the first day we had a chance to cut the grass at our new home and an unexpected side effect of that popped up. Everytime we went outside Lily was totally preoccupied with eating the grass clippings (Mower we used did not have a bag). She would do her business, pee, poop, then off to the clippings (all over the yard). We had to almost drag her by her leash to get her back in, if you tried to pick her up she would snarl and snap at you.

Now I know dogs eat grass, my parents dog used to eat grass all the time, however typically he would vomit and that would be the end of it. Lily doesn't actually vomit from it but I have no idea what type of ground covering we have that could possible be toxic. 

As far as ill effects of it, I hadn't noticed any all day. She's been eating the 'helicopter' seeds and plain grass for a few days now. However I just took her out and she had a VERY runny bowel movement. I took and look and found nothing out of the ordinary, it was normal color just very runny. We've had very solid poops since a couple weeks ago when she had diarrhea (got probiotics and a stool hardner from vet for that...cleared it right up). No change in food, she got one new single piece of Zukes Salmon treat (this is a new flavor for her) and a nylabone edible which is the first time she's had that. 

I'm mostly curious about the effects of eating the grass/clippings/seeds and the effect on her from them.


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## Annamarie (Oct 14, 2007)

grass isn't good for dogs and they typically eat it when they have an upset tummy. either from excitement or from food that is making them feel off. usually they throw up. then again some dogs eat it regularly and nobody knows why. 

but especially grass clippings from cutting the grass i wouldn't allow her to eat. there is oil in the blades that gets on the grass and she shouldn't be eating that.


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## Dominion (Mar 25, 2010)

I kinda figured as much, it's EVERY time we go out and it's everywhere. IT has been a HUGE problem today, we go out. She eats grass and it's hard to get her to come back in. Next time it's cut I'll have to bag the clippings. 

Just woken up for a bathroom break and again, middle of teh night she's eating the grass, not going to the bathroom and being extremely hyper. Just some new reactions that we haven't seen out of her yet. Usually she's an all night kind of dog when it comes to sleeping. We have yet to have a night where she is hyper at this time =/

Well we'll keep an eye on her, we have a vet appt the 30th for followups but will have to take her earlier if this all keeps up. I still have about a 45 day supply left of the probiotics so I may call the vet and see if she wants me to go ahead and give that to her again.


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## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

Oh yeah, Cadence LOVES his grass salad. But he also loves twigs, cigg butts, pebbles, soil, leaves....... yeah, he eats everything. So be glad that you only have grass to worry about! Maybe you should get rid of all the clippings to solve the problem?


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## Poly (Sep 19, 2007)

Dogs do NOT eat grass because they "need to vomit". That's an urban myth.

Yes, dogs will vomit _sometimes_ after eating grass, but dogs will vomit sometimes after eating a lot of things. Including on occasion their regular food. 

There are two possible "reasons" why dogs eat grass. 

One reason is a behavioral condition called _pica_, which is when a dog - or any animal - regularly consumes things that are not considered food. Not just plants, but rocks, pebbles, wood, and all kinds of things. 

Another reason, which I believe applies most of the time, is that dogs eat grass because it tastes good to them. During puppyhood, dogs will sample most anything. If it tastes good, they will remember that and eat it again. Pretty simple. 

As long as the grass has not been treated with weed killer, insecticide, or other poisons, eating some of it will not cause any problems for your dog. Just make sure that she doesn't overdo it.

That isn't true of all plants, some of which can be toxic. Here's information on common toxic plants:

Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants


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## Dominion (Mar 25, 2010)

Yea I've seen that list but couldn't tell you what species of plants we have in our yard.

I'm not suspicious of pica at all because she doesn't seem to eat anything else. Just grass, leaves, and seeds  No bad treatments in our grass at all.

I think next time I cut the grass I will get one of those bag attachments. Just gotta figure out what to do with em our city trash doesn't pick up yard refuse all that often.


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Fresh grass w/o pesticides/fertilizers is ok, but not grass that has been mowed by a power mower, or grass that is cut and sitting. It can ferment and cause problems, or have oil/gas residue on it.


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## Max'sHuman (Oct 6, 2007)

I have another theory as to why dogs sometimes eat grass. I think when it's new and fresh it not only tastes good but has moisture in it. Because I notice that when Max gets hot or we've been outside awhile he starts obsessively trying to eat grass. That's our cue to take him inside and then he always goes straight to his water bowl. So I think dogs might eat it for the moisture and to sort of cool down.


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## Annamarie (Oct 14, 2007)

I've owned several dogs and every dog every single time it ate grass it was because it had a digestive problem of some kind. sometimes they would throw up and sometimes not. some dogs do eat it because they just like it, but i would rule out problems with the dog's diet first. and treats.


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## Foggy (Mar 17, 2010)

Our Boston Terrier eats grass and is perfectly fine afterwards. Some dogs do it, some don't.


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## Dog Tuff (Apr 9, 2010)

When Dante was a pup he chewed it all the time, Now a day's when ever the dogs are out back running around he'll come to a quick stop chowdown on some clippings and then take off again, He's never vomited after eating it though. I thought it was normal, really depends on how much niblling they did as a puppy I think.


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## Dominion (Mar 25, 2010)

Well the diarrhea was only the one instance, so I'm thinking it was the new nylabone edible we gave her that day. We were out all day so she got a meal late and had the nylabone instead (I honestly did not think she'd eat the thing so freaking quick...maybe 5 minutes and a normal nylabone edible was gone).

Guess she is just enjoying the flavor of grass


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## devildog (Feb 25, 2010)

my dog is constantly eating grass now. Before she use to do it to get a reaction out of me as to say it was time to "chase me" and get her running around. Now she just picks at it. Its normally the longer strands of grass that stick up higher than the rest. She hasn't been sick yet and the vet said all her tests are in the clear so who knows. She was a stray for a while before she was caught and taken to the pound so who knows, she prob lived off it for a while when times were tough.


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## Poly (Sep 19, 2007)

Here's the thing, folks. Humans think analytically - dogs don't.

If a dog's digestion is disordered, it doesn't analyze the situation and conclude it's time to eat some grass. It doesn't analyze the situation at all. It just behaves the way it's been taught - maybe self-taught.

If *you* think your dog has a problem with his digestive system, or has some kind of gastrointestinal infection, or has eaten something that could be dangerous, or if your dog is vomiting repeatedly, or if your dog stops eating for an extended period, or if he is in some kind of distress, or any combination of these, do the responsible thing and get him to a vet to have it checked out. 

If none of these are the case, then eating a little grass is nothing to be concerned about.


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## chrisn6104 (Jun 8, 2009)

Eating clippings might be a little weird.
My dogs eat grass every time I'm in the backyard. They only eat grass that is growing and always look for the tallest blades. They never throw up from it it just comes out in their poop. Nothing unusual about their poop other then it's wrapped in grass. I don't really see it as a big deal.

Although sometimes my BC will just reach down and grab a mouth full of grass where she is standing tall grass or not while waiting for a ball to be thrown. She doesn't hunt for the right grass like the other two but just grabs whats in front of her.


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## Finkie_Mom (Mar 2, 2010)

Eating grass is seriously Kimma's favorite thing. Though she doesn't really eat it, she just likes to pull it out. Especially any weeds that are growing (which is actually helpful for me ). 

She hasn't thrown up, and I can't see it in her poop, so I'm thinking she's not actually ingesting it.


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## Jod-dog (Mar 28, 2010)

Scrappy eats the grass every time we go out. He doesn't do it anywhere else, just our yard--the front yard only. And something must be in ours that tastes good because 3 other dogs in the neighborhood only eat my grass. It's strange...no one pukes after eating it either.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

I have noticed that several of my dogs, now that some green grass is finally showing up, munch away on it. It never seems to bother them and I just figure that the new green grass must taste good to them.


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## lauren17 (Apr 14, 2009)

My dog has been eating grass like crazy lately. He has a leave it command thoough so everytime he goes for it I tell him "leave it". 

Last year I remember one of my professors for animal science saying that grass is bad for dogs to eat because if they eat a lot of it, it can block their intestines and cause serious problems. I wish I had my notes on me to see what else he said about it.


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