Eating Grass

[lablover]

I just brought home an 8 week old lab yesterday. He loves to eat plants. I try to keep him from eating leaves. However, he seems to really like grass. I also noticed that when we were at the breeders yesterday, most of the puppies were eating grass also. Is this okay or should I try to keep him from eating it?

[Carrie]

As long as it doesn't have pestisides or fertilizer on it, it should be fine. Watch out for that wide crab grass stuff that has sharp edges and grass clippings as they mold quickly and clump together. But dogs do eat grass from time to time and that's normal. They like a little vegetation.

If your dog is really into plants, you'll have to really watch him as there are poisonous plants out there. So, it's probably good to allow the grass, but discourage the dog from eating everything so it doesn't get too much in the habit of gobbling everything it sees, including your good flowers and stuff. But a little grass they all seem to love....most of them.

Carrie

[lablover]

What about the chunks of clippings that the mower didn't mulch correctly? Will he choke? How about weeds?

[Rip's Girl]

I wouldn't let him eat the clippings, or the weeds. Grazing on a lawn without fertilizer or pesticides, as Carrie said, is fine, just use common sense and don't let him munch down your whole lawn. (As my lab tries to do)

[Pugdawg1]

All three of mine will occasionally munch on a bit of grass, but if they keep at it, I stop them.

[Barrett]

Bailey ate grass everyday and would get sick. Once I found out she had allergies to her food and switched to a better brand she stopped completely. She hasn't eaten any grass in 3 months.

[Dogz-Rule101]

Also I have heard it means they have a stomach!
Mowna

[kerriebeth21]

My dogs eat grass all the time...and I've only had one incident where one threw up because of it.

[Swiftwind]

My dogs also eat grass (only on their walks.. we don't have a lawn). It is normal, though sometimes it can mean the dog is lacking in some kind of nutrients. My older dog, Harley, used to love eating Bougainvillea spectabilis (those pink, papery flowers) when he was younger, though he has been known to eat some 'interesting' things, like goldfish and dirt!

[calgal]

Just stay one step ahead of the "grazing". They are like babies. To learn is to taste, however we do need to distract them so that it doesn't get to be a serious problem or habit. My two girls love the bougainvillea plant, and I have to be right on top of this problem. I've even sprinkled the dog stop pellets around those plants, but it doesn't work. I have to pick them up and carry them into the house if they are persistent.

[rmci]

I heard dogs also eat grass to settle an upset tummy.

[mistyd5770]

When I first brought Harley home he ate grass all the time. He grew out of it after about a two months

[Aussie_Dog]

Originally Posted by Barrett

Bailey ate grass everyday and would get sick. Once I found out she had allergies to her food and switched to a better brand she stopped completely. She hasn't eaten any grass in 3 months.

That's the problem with my dog. He's on the chicken formula of California Natural, but I think he's allergic to chicken (he was on a chicken formula of another food once and got itchy, but it cleared up when I switched formulas). He's been eating grass a LOT lately. He injured his leg and had to have surgery, and has therefore been confined to his crate a lot last month, so when he goes out to poop and pee, he always has to chew grass on his way back to the door. I'm going to be switching his food, and here's to hoping his itching and grass fetish clears up, lol