Please forgive me for sounding thick,but do dogs actually need grass?

In my back garden I have a flagged patio and where my grass used to be it is now covered in play bark as my childrens swings,slide,etc are there.
I have a small area of grass and I have decided to have this flagged too because after all the rain we have had it now resembles a mud wrestling ring. :)
The thing is a neighbour told me that dogs actually need to eat grass as it is good for their stomachs.I have never heard of this and was wondering if I should just sow some more grass seed.
My girls are walked in grassy areas but I dont see them eating any as they are too busy running around like a pair of nutters.
They are BARF fed and eat plenty of fruit and veg as part of their diet.
Can I do-away with the mud wrestling ring or should I re-seed?

Sorry for sounding stupid :rolleyes:

Don't they just eat grass when they have a tummy upset?  Molly has the occasional nibble...

Mine all love grass, but go bonkers over new-growing cereal crops. :rolleyes: When a footpath crosses a field of winter wheat they graze like cattle, snatching huge mouthfuls! One of them even grabs mouthfuls of lawn-mowings! That said, I don't think they need it, any more than I need chocolate!

My dogs have no access to grass in the garden and on walks in the fields or to my mums' lawned garden, they have no desire to grab mouthfuls of it. so no, I would say they don't need it

Thanks all for your replies :)

I am definately getting rid of the mud wrestling ring as I now think my girls enjoy playing in it before coming in to my newly mopped floor

If you think your dogs enjoy nibbling grass you could always grow some in a couple of pots.  In fact if you have pots in the garden you will grow some grass :)

I was under the impression that both dogs and cats eat grass when they want to be sick.  This is what our previous dogs and cat did and what our current cat does

Hi,

I exercise a load of labs in the owners ample ground and when I take them in the fields they sometimes act more like sheep than dogs the way they munch on big mouthfuls of grass :-)  No tummy upsets with them just part of their everday diet - although they are all typical greedy labs :-)

Karen

Mine eat grass on a regular basis - mainly in a certain part of the field (where it is obviously nice :D ). They haven't had a stomach upset for years so I have always assumed that they just like it :)

Daisy

Mine too tend to nibble on the fresh spring grass; it's the long blade they tend to go for.  Never been sick as a rule either although I believe some dog can be occassionally after eating grass.  As a child, I nibbled on it myself while out in the hayfield. :-D

Dogs need some green stuff. Which they would normally get part digested from the stomachs of the animals that they eat. The grass in spring is very rich in nutrients and most animals use this to 'kick start' the system after winter. However dogs are largly unable to access this as they are unable to digest green stuff in the same way that we do, although perhaps in spring there is just so much goodness bursting out of the grass that even they can get a little?