Eating Grass

Sadie (15 weeks) LOVES to eat grass. She loves siting in the grass and staring into space, as well as chewing and eating the grass while laying down. This often leads to her throwing up because of all the grass she ate; and I am pretty sure this is the reason, because the throw up often has grass pieces in it.

I heard dogs do this when their stomach hurts, but Sadie does it all the time! Does anyone else have a dog that loves to eat grass? How do I stop her interest in grass?

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tauna and Kota on May 9, 2009 at 9:36pm

Good luck. Kota likes grass too. He especially liked it when he was a puppy. He had similar behaviors as Sadie. He doesn't have as much interest in it now... I don't know if he lost interest due to age (he is now almost 11 months old) or if it's because he had not had grass to be in while I was in Seattle for 6 months... I think as long as the grass she is eating does not have pesticides and/or fertilizer she should be ok. Also, make sure if she throws up her food, to make sure she gets more food after... Hope this helps///

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Boo Buchheit on May 10, 2009 at 9:07am

Leo and Randy eat grass at times..but have never vomited from it that I have seen. My lawn service says grass is safe after treatment within hours (don't remember how many). Do you think this is not correct..I don't want the kids to poison themselves with grass eating.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by GoGoRainbow on May 10, 2009 at 10:48am

my mom says its a myth that dogs eat grass when their stomach hurts and that if a dog isn't used to eating grass, or ... greens aren't part of their normal diet, that's why they throw up after and that's how the myth got started. She's probably just eating TOO much grass and she's not used to that. So either cut her off after a while, or wait and she'll get more used to it/ figure out when to stop eating it.

Pooka used to do it a lot more, now more often (she's 7 months now) she chews on grass just to rip it and lets it fall out of her mouth, only eating about 10% of it.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Allison Musick on May 10, 2009 at 11:03am

This is probably a dumb question, but does she have other toys she might be interested in? (I'm sure she probably does.) Maybe you could try distracting her with one.

My Heidi used to be mildly interested in grass - sticks and leaves were more her thing - when she was really little, but she didn't throw up from eating them. She really wasn't very interested in any of the toys I bought for her either, so I ended up just letting her chew whatever she found outside. From the other comments, it sounds like something she might grow out of with time. If the problem persists, maybe checking with a behavioralist (sp??) might be in order. Hope she feels better soon!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sarah, Sadie & Dexter on May 10, 2009 at 6:20pm

THANKS for the replies. Sadie doesn't throw up everytime she chews on grass, and when I do see her chewing on the grass I tell her to stop. It is only when she is in the backyard by herself or while I am out of the house when she must chew all the grass; because when I come home I usually come home to a pile of sticks and a few blades of grass in my living room she had dragged inside. She does have other toys she usually plays with, it is only when she is staring and sitting outside. Thanks again!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Esther and Winnie on May 25, 2009 at 11:25pm

Honestly, I think they just LIKE it. Some dog owners go nuts when they see their dogs eating grass and force them to stop, but I think they just like it. Dogs are silly like that :) Of course, when they do feel the need to throw up then they will eat grass for that reason as well. But otherwise I wouldn't worry too much about it!