One of my spaniels eats grass constantly... she loves the stuff... her stomach is fine she eats well  and has a nutritious well balanced diet as well as human leftovers... she will eat anything, even tomatoes or apple cores. she loves lettuce.... is there a  good reason apart from having an upset stomach as I know dogs will eat grass as an emetic but I can see by her faeces that its not being digested so why eat it? also her faeces is perfectly normal no constipation and she is wormed regularly. Any ideas?

Hi, my puppy eats grass too. I have been told that this is perfectly normal although I dont know why they do it. Cats eat grass too and I was told it aided their digestion so perhaps its the same for dogs.

I posted a message in the health area about this, 2 of my dogs eat grass constantly, and one of them brings it up every few days too, but is absolutely fine in herself. Most people thought it was just a weird habit, which doesn't surprise me as she is pretty weird!  :-)

Yep, my two eat grass too. Sometimes if they need to be sick they'll eat a huge amount of grass, and then bring it up, but most of the time they just 'graze'. I've also been told it's normal. I'm afraid I don't know exactly why they eat it though.

I've come to agree with Desmond Morris when he was asked the same question.  Why do dogs eat grass?  Because they can!

I think its just them! they really like the stuff, but I always worry that they will eat grass thats been sprayed with something nasty, so I stop them doing it outside the garden. I guess we will never know what really goes on in their minds.

My Lab loves grass especialy new growth, he also has a thing for Chives and hostas.

Hi,
    Im not really sure why you guys puppys are eating grass, but what i no is cats eat grass to make them sick if they have an upset stomach so that might be the same reason for a puppy, but doesnt mean its serious just a little upset, i hope this has helped you.

Charlie

From what I have learned having put my dog on the BARF diet, dogs are omnivores not the carnivores that we would think them to be.  If that be the case, then it is completely natural for our 4-legged friends to eat grass. My dog adores carrots.  Our vet has told us that it is quite OK to let him eat horse/sheep pooh, as it is equivalent to them eating the stomach contents of herbivores that their wolf ancestors would have relished.  As our dog is now on the BARF diet, we give him raw fruit and vegetables moshed up in a liquidiser and mixed with raw liver.  He resisted this conconction for a few weeks, but now adores it and eats it with relish.  Yuck !

One of my cavaliers eats grass & has never been sick, he does only eat certain grasses

Is there not a worry if the horse has been recently wormed?? Sheep too if it's true about horses I suppose

Anne

Dogs can apparently (?) ingest tape worm eggs from horse pooh, and thus become themselves infected with tape worm, but I think the point you are making is that dogs could be made ill by the chemicals in the horse/sheep pooh if that horse/sheep had recently been wormed?  Interesting point.  I hadn't thought about it.  Does anyone know the answer to this?

Lowering the tone here (sorry). Eating the grass is fine, fishing it out uf the bottoms when it is stuck is not! lol. This is a weekly task in our house. Someone told me once that grass is a dogs medicine, is this an old wives tail?

Oh you suffer from winneps as well.....we spend our lives chasing dogs with poopy bits hanging around the garden. It is GROSS!

I have 2 springer spaniel brothers aged nearly 13 now.  One of them (Guss) can't get enough grass.  He will be about 50m behind you when off the lead as he is obsessed with eating it.....It seems to be worse in springtime when the grass if fresh and also after a lot of rain. He will only do it on country walks though......he won't entertain the grass in the park or the garden.  

I mentioned it to the vets about 2 years ago as it seemed to get worse.  He has springers of his own and his do it as well.  Apparently it is common in the breed...eating weird stuff i.e. anything. 

Just be thankful it's only grass.  The other brother (Dudley) eats things that are so gross I am surprised he is still alive.   The contents of a baby's nappy dragged out of a bin brings back fond memories.

Take Care

Yep, I've had springers in the past and have a springer cross now and they 'all' ate grass, apples, carrots, brocolli you name it they ate it, in fact my springer cross has taught our boxer pup that grass is the thing to eat and when the kids have an apple you sit and wait patiently for the core (oh, and if you dribble enough they go 'yuk' and you end up getting nearly the whole apple !) - I think it's just spaniels being spaniels, they are a law unto themselves :D

Personally one type of dog I would never try to understand is a spaniel - if you do then be prepared to go mad yourself :)