Grass Eating

Ever wondered why your dogs eat grass? A recent post on a canine nutrition list that I read elicited this interesting response from Mary Strauss:

"I think dogs eat grass for two reasons: because they like it, or because their stomachs are upset. In my experience, the way that they eat it and how they act can help to differentiate between the two.

My dogs enjoy eating grass, especially fresh spring grass. When eating for enjoyment, they take time to pick out the best strands and are only interested in certain types of grass.

When they aren't feeling well, they grab at tufts of grass indiscriminately and sometimes frantically. Their tummies are often rumbly and they will sometimes vomit shortly afterwards. They usually have less appetite when this happens."


I have also previously read in Cindy Engel's "Wild Health", one of my favorite books, that:

"Grass seems to have two effects one is emetic (stimulating regurgitation or vomiting), the other, a purgative scour (ridding the body of worms farther down the intestine)...Herbalist Maurice Messegue claims that some dog species discriminate between different grasses for different medicinal functions, using hairy grass for emetics and couch grass as a purgative."