Advice: Why Do Dogs Eat Grass?

Dear Buckaroo,

My dog Dooley is a rescue. He is part Labrador and German Shepherd, and he likes to eat grass. Some people have told me that dogs eat grass when they are sick. But Dooley acts normally, and doesn’t seem sick at all. Why do dogs eat grass?
Signed,
Dooley’s Human

Dear Dooley and Dooley’s Human,

I’ll assume you’re referring to lawn grass, meadow grass, or pasture grass—not the smokable variety.

Grass is the original super green food! I love to nibble on grass, particularly the tops of grasses growing near horse droppings. The wafting scent of Eau de Manure combined with the delicate burst of chlorophyll is hard for me to resist. Grass is simply an alternative food source, particularly since we canines are not allowed to eat or chase cats and chickens.

Sometimes when we do get an upset stomach, or feel a little gassy, we will seek out a natural remedy like grass. If we gulp the grass, it can help us vomit and relieve our tummy ache.

We canines are also opportunistic scavengers. Think of it as a unique society with a special handshake known as sniffing butts. (Sadly, there’s no secret decoder ring.) You can support our scavenger nature by adding some cooked vegetables to our food, some chopped raw kale, or some blue green algae. We really do like variety.

Oh…one last thing: please don’t let us nibble on lawns that have been sprayed with chemicals, or fields sprayed with pesticides. Not good for us at all.

About Buckaroo: Buckaroo is young, male Australian Shepherd, who outwits his owner at every turn. His intelligence is so keen he would be the perfect pet for the nerdy scientists on the Big Bang Theory. We jokingly say that if Buckaroo were a human, he would grow up to be either a master-mind criminal, or invent a product to save the world.