To Eat Or Not To Eat!

[Josie]

I'm dogy-sitting a friend grey Elliot(gosh is feels good to have a greyhound in the house!) and he is obsess with grass!

he eats the new spring shoots... I'm thinking Elliot is part goat...

 

so the big question: let him eat it or not?

sometimes it make him trow-up... but not all the time...

some people told me that he does this because something is missing in his diet... ???... fiber?

[Guest greybookends]

I stopped fighting the hounds on this issue long ago. They eat it with no ill effects so we are all happy.

[Guest BrianRke]

two of mine love to eat grass, but it does make them throw up. Fortunately, I have no grass in my back yard.

[Jerilyn]

I try to stop Lila from eating grass. She coughs and gags after just a couple pieces and will throw up if she eats too much.

 

I have also learned that a blade of grass can pass unchanged through a dog’s digestive system. This causes some problem with the…um…output for the dog and causes the owner to have to chase the dog around the yard with a piece of paper towel.

 

I think it just looks delicious to them after a long winter.

[OwnedBySummer]

I don't worry about dogs "eating salad". I find the hounds seem to do it more than other breeds but it doesn't seem to consistently make them puke, like other breeds. Hounds are weird! I think they are just enjoying the fresh greens and I let her have as much as she wants. She had a good graze this morning at a baseball diamond .

[DevilDog]

Ugh. Grass. I discourage it with Sage. She will occasionally throw it up.

 

This past weekend she was at the sitter.. they have a back yard. Sage must have eaten all the grass in their yard because now I have a hound that is pooping pure liquid mixed with clumps of grass..... and she's filling the house with the smell of fresh turd. Absolutely horrendous.

[Guest kydie]

Grass,,, I think I live with a herd of cattle they are always looking for new shoots,, I try to stop it,, but ,,,,,,,,,,, I never win

I asked the vet years ago,,, why they eat grass,,, He said " because they want to"

Edited May 10, 2011 by kydie

[Guest manawatugal]

My boy eats grass everyday on our walk, doesn't make him throw up and you can see it in his poops. I have no definitive answer either as to why they do but I don't mind, after all we all feel like different things to eat at different times I suppose. In fact as I have only short grass at home we are going to grow a patch especially for the boy, mind you it will have to be big as eats quite a bit.

[Guest AhSookieSookie]

I have to say this had me laughing... especially about chasing around the yard with a paper towel for those "hangers-on." Sookie LOVES grass. Especially the stuff by my mailbox. I guess I wont worry about a little side salad after reading this.

[TwiggysMom]

My goathound Twiggy loves herself some grass! (So do most of my fosters). As long as I'm sure it's not treated, I guess it's not too bad - greyhounds rarely seem to throw it up.

 

However, I had to perform my first "grass-assist" of the season this morning. Fortunately there weren't too many other people out on the sidewalk at that time. I really hate having an audience for that

[Guest june]

I'm always careful not to let my girls eat grass away from home. I don't know if it has been treated with anything and I always wonder if they couldn't get worms from grass that another dog has dirtied. Maybe I'm a bit paranoid, but that's just me. I discourage them eating it in the back yard because I hate picking up the messes.

june

[Guest happygrey]

2 of mine eat it and have never thrown up from it. I find it can actually help with poops. They must take little bites or something.

 

Tatam grazes so much you'd think he was a miniature horse.

 

I won't let them eat it out of my yard, however. We use no chemicals -- but that isn't always the case elsewhere. So no off yard munching for my goofy boys.

[TheFullHouse]

Mine throw up after eating it so no grazing allowed here. They wear muzzles with stool guards.

[Guest zombrie]

Doolin grazes like a cow. He hasn't gotten sick from it (yet) but I try not to let him eat it because of his tummy issues

[tydyelady]

Opie eats grass too. I worried about this a few years back, but he just likes grass. Sometimes he does need "help" though when it comes out (or doesn't!). He's been known to just sort of stand there with his tail in the air until someone pulls out the offending piece of grass!

[greysmom]

In Spring it looks like I have a small herd of very long-legged sheep in my backyard! They all are obsessed with eating new grass - not so much later in the summer thank goodness. It doesn't seem to cause any stomach problems for mine, but Copper will gag and choke if he gets into some long blades so I try not to let him do it too much.

[greytpups]

Bailey ate a lot of grass without any issues, Ben eat grass occasionally without any issues and Brooke eats a lot of grass without any issues. Our parks here do not use pesticides nor do we so I'm not too concerned.

[Guest FordRacingRon]

Yup,,Leia is a goathound too. I can't stop her so I gave up. I still yell at her to stop so she will walk 5 feet and start in a new patch. I guess in her dog brain she did stop but I can't convince her I mean stop period..

[Guest Sunset123]

Mine LOVES it. I gave up on trying to stop her.

[Guest RichardUK]

Here - grass was analysed and found to contain a small amount of Omega 3 oil - so it is good for them. Providing no pesticides are used it does have beneficial properties probably for digestion. All of my greyhounds have eaten various amounts of grass without ill effects. Only one Blondie has ever eaten a lot but again no ill effects.

[Guest oldNELLIE]

Nellie is part goat too. She will graze in a yard and also will reeeaachhh her long neck out to grab wayward pieces while on walks. She is obsessed. We let her eat it to some extent, but try to discourage it after a while. Mostly because (as others have mentioned) it gets stuck in her butt, and no one (Nellie included) likes to deal with that.

[Guest Figmama]

Our Grey eats grass on occasion and usually comes in and throws it up. I know it is most likely when his stomach is a bit upset and he hasn't eaten his meal.

My daughter's Catahoula mix is obsessed with grass and grazes all the time, and usually throws it up. LOL!!

However, due to this, no chemicals in our back yard and I caution DH to NOT let the dogs eat grass when out on walks as everyone is treating their lawns with something, esp this time of year.

[Guest BrindleBabes]

Neither of my greys have had problems eating grass (except for the occasional "hangers-on" at the rear end) until last night. Tess threw up a sizable wad of grass -- if she was a cat I would have thought it was a big hairball. It must've been brewing in her for some time (at least a week?) I'm still cleaning the spot on the rug ...

 

So I think I'll be more judicious about her visiting the local salad bar ...

[sobesmom]

I gave up worrying about grass-eating. Some dogs do it - some don't. Some do it only in the spring, some do it when in a new place. Some puke it up, some poop it out. Some apparently digest it.

 

Whichever way they go - I've never seen any ill-effects on the dog. And I'v never found any nutritional reason - as I've had dogs in the same house, eating the same food - and one is a grass-eater and one is not.

 

I was taught that "everybody knows" that dogs eat grass when their stomach is upset, to make themselves throw up. I think that's bunk.

 

IMHO - it's just a quirky individual thing. No harm, no foul.