My black lab/cross (7 yrs young) has always eaten grass but only now and again. For a while now he has made it a daily () habit.

Is this normal? He can get very obsessive with things.

Dogs usually eat grass because they have a stomach upset.

When did you last worm him?

Ashamed to say over a year ago. He seems fine in himself and I haven't seen anything in his poos.

How often should a dog be wormed?

My dog eats grass every single day. She's up to date on her worming and doesn't have a stomach upset, she just seems to like it. It doesn't seem to do her any harm.

She's a particular fan of the lumps of grass the mower spits out, which is handy

my dog used to eat grass that used to induce vomiting. phone your vet

I did mine 3 times a year. The vet said that was fine.

every 3 months, worming.

also our pooch has eaten grass all her life, although only certain types (e.g. cat grass)
eating the Canadian seed lawn when she wanted to be sick on one occasion

our trips to the park are often just salad stops!

Dogs may eat grass to purge their stomach, also if their stomach is empty, bile from the gall bladder still secretes into the stomach and hence they puke yellow bile, this doesnt happen when there is food in their stomach as the bile aids digestion.

Another reason why dogs eat grass is to lower or higher their rank, in most cases it is to lower their rank, when 2 dogs sniff each others face they are checking out their 'weaponry' ie the teeth and with their acute sense of smell they can determine what they have eaten, lower ranks have a less percentage of meat versus veg in their diet, so by eating grass would lower their rank immediately , they may do this when they can smell or sense a higher ranking animal in the area, you may see them sniff the ground and then go and eat some grass.

Sometimes they will do it to higher their rank, often this is when Fox pee is present in the grass, as foxes mainly have a meat diet this would higher the dogs rank when another dogs sniffs their face....you can easily tell if fox pee is present by sniffing the grass, it is a very strong / pungent smell.

jamesp147 ~ i've never heard of that explanation as to why dogs eat grass ~ where did you get that from please?

It is perfectly normal for a dog to eat grass, it clears out their stomach. Mine does it a lot more i the summer due to the fact they moult and swallow hair when cleaning. Cats do the same.

I think some of use have been sold cows instead of dogs its not a spotty dog its a cow.

Lol, come to think about it my 'dog' does look a bit like a cow, having horns and saying "mooo" is normal for a dog isn't it?!

My springer/lab cross has the thing for grass - never vomits (it would mean her parting with food), well formed poos and has a penchant for eating cow pats

I think you're right Mine'll stand and munch on long grass 'til I move him on. He's never sick and he's wormed regularly, he just loves grass.

My doberman eats grass at the end of her walks - she doesn't drink from streams or puddles like my other dog, so I was assuming that she ate it for the moisture content.

Hi wilhemina,

I was luck enough to spend some time with Shaun Ellis recently (the wolfman), most people know he is a world regarded wolf behaviour expert, but not everyone knows he has been involved with dogs all his life as well, I spent a lot of time with him talking about dog behaviour as it is a big passion of mine and he told me the above regarding to rank with dogs eating grass, not only has he seen dogs do this but also wolves in captivity and in the wild.

all 3 of mine do this too. There are particular patches of grass on their regular walk that they prefer and are sometimes reluctant to walk on by it. They are regularly wormed and not often sick. We live in the country and they rarely if ever meet other dogs. They just seem to enjoy eating it.

I have a black & white spotty dog that regularly munches on grass - I think he thinks he's a fresian cow!

My dog gets the tall bits the mower misses at the edge of the lawn. Result. But, he's been taking the pi** the past week and dragging whole pieces of turf that I laid down the end of the garden and devouring it.

Nice to know that my loopy lab isn't the only one then

It can be quite embarrasing when he's making himself sick though - sounds a bit like an old leather football being squeezed in and out ???

What the neighbours sunbathing nextdoor make of it I don't know