Why do dogs eat grass?

[smootman]

My dog eats grass sometimes… then pukes it up… but i’ve known a lot of dogs that eat grass… what’s the deal?

[mrbuddylee]

Well, my dog eats grass sometimes, but not often. Don’t know why he does it, he’s never thrown up after. He doesn’t eat a whole lot though. Just enough to taste it I think.

Here are some sites for you:

Dogs commonly eat grass, and there are several explanations that have been offered for this behavior. One, wild canids (e.g., wolves and fox) eat all of an animal when they catch it. Since they eat many herbivores (plant-eating animals), they end up eating a lot of grasses and plants that were in the intestines of these animals. In addition, they have been known to eat certain berries and other plant material. Dogs then, may eat grass because, in reality, it’s a normal part of their diet.
Many times dogs will vomit after eating grass. Did they eat grass to make them vomit? Or did they vomit because they ate grass? It’s a mystery, but it seems that some dogs may eat vegetation when they have an upset stomach.

The third reason - they just like it! Some dogs have certain species of grass or plant material that they will search out and eat. We know a beagle who can pick raspberries faster than his owner!

In any case, grass eating is basically a normal behavior, and is not of concern unless your dog does it excessively.

http://www.h-o-tlists.com/pet1/grass.htm

and:

Some veterinarians believe that dogs eat grass because their prepared diets are lacking in greens and so they eat grass. And as some support of this contention, dogs sometimes seek out a particular variety of grass to nibble.

http://aolsvc.petplace.aol.com/Articles/artShow.asp?artID=3638

Don’t think anyone really knows though…

[aerodave]

Our cat eats grass, too. Never throws up…just munches for a little bit.

[criminalcatalog]

I had an outdoor dog that ate grass alot, but she also ate horse manure, so who knows. She would usually throw up after. It was probably meant to cause just that (she didn’t eat the best dog food, if she ate it at all).

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

I’ve always heard that dogs do it for the same reason large predators do it in the wild- its the tiger equivalent of sticking a finger down your throat when you’ve eaten something that disagrees with you.

[lieu]

So they can blow their beets.