Owners with the first dog in the house often ask why the dogs eat grass. It seems strange to them that their pet chooses vegetarian food for themselves, although all sources say that the best diet for a dog is meat. And they choose the toughest and most tasteless, from the point of view of man, grass - wheat grass, avoiding the well-known vitamin herbs - dandelion or wood lice. Let's figure out why dogs eat grass.
Digestion in dogs. Why do we need grass?
Indeed, the ancestors of dogs are meat-eaters. Their digestive tract is adapted for the digestion of meat food, but together with it, wool, feathers, and bone remnants that could not be digested often enter the dog’s stomach. Some of these objects irritate the dog’s stomach on their own, causing vomiting, and thus are removed from it, and some are able to stay there for a long time. Among the irritants are feathers and bristles.
Finding undigested residues in the dog’s stomach disrupts normal digestion and can also damage the mucous membranes. Therefore, it is useful for dogs to periodically burp, getting rid of them. Here lies the answer to the question of why dogs eat grass. Grass is needed as a means to induce vomiting. And that is why dogs choose wheat grass - it is tough and perfectly performs its main function - irritation of the walls of the digestive tract and stimulation of the gag reflex.
Gag reflex - protecting dog's life
Vomiting reflex is a protective reaction of the body to the ingestion of not only solid foreign bodies into the stomach. It is essentially designed to quickly remove any potentially hazardous substances, including poisons, from the digestive system. Therefore, it is very important for the dog, and the drugs that extinguish it are used for dogs only as a last resort - with debilitating vomiting.
The main reason why a dog eats grass and burps is the presence of indigestible objects in its stomach that need to be disposed of. Surprisingly, the dog is able to replace the grass with other options available for eating - for example, plastic bags or coarse threads. However, all substitutes are very dangerous for your pet’s stomach, as they can cause inversion or other mechanical damage to the intestines. Therefore, it is better to let the dog find its own herbs on its own, and not wait until it begins to look for a way to solve the problem by workarounds.
Medicinal herbs in dogs ’diets - are all natural skills lost?
Some breeds of dogs that are not spoiled by prolonged factory breeding know a lot about medicinal herbs. Such individuals are found among the parochial wolfhounds, Yakut huskies, working Samoyeds, Malamutes and other breeds. They find valerian roots, dig and eat Jerusalem artichoke, pick clover heads and eat them. These dogs deliberately avoid poisonous plants, identifying them by smell. They also know a lot about tree fruits, berries and nuts - the genes of free ancestors tell them useful plants.
However, during your puppy's walk you should know that there are poisonous plants that should not get into his mouth. These are all types of buttercups: kalyuzhnitsa, anemone, crow's feet, stonecrops. And from indoor plants: monstera, dieffenbachia, oleanders. Eating these plants can also cause vomiting in the puppy, however, such vomiting is a symptom of poisoning and is not associated with cleaning the stomach and intestines. Why young dogs eat grass that is harmful to their health is not an easy question. Most likely, the usual puppy curiosity works.
Are we eating or just breaking off? Game behavior
Not always destroyed plants are eaten by dogs. Therefore, before wondering why the dog eats grass, make sure that the ragged tops are not lying nearby. Often the dogs, having fun, tear off the tops of tulips and daffodils, break decorative shrubs with their paws, dig out what the owners have recently planted, and nibble.
This is the case when the dog itself seeks entertainment, and plants replace it with toys. The habit of destroying plantings is often the cause of the summer keeping the dog in the aviary or in a fenced area. Having accidentally got into the coveted territory, the dog selflessly drags carrots from baskets, picks off tomatoes and valerian heads, gnaws zucchini. This case, strictly speaking, does not entirely relate to the answer to the question why the dog eats grass, but it is important to understand that in this case your pet has different motivation.
Dog and grass - we understand the reasons for eating and destroying plants
So, there are several reasons why a dog eats grass.
- Digestive cleansing procedures. In this case, eating hard grass or twigs is followed by vomiting that evacuates undigested residues from your dog’s stomach and duodenum.
- The need for medicinal properties of plants. It is characteristic for dogs of national selection. Usually not accompanied by vomiting.
- Game behavior. More common in puppies and young dogs. May be associated with a risk of poisoning. Owners should know the poisonous plants in the region and not let the dog eat them for a walk.