【Your dog eats grass? That's what lies behind it

Why does the dog eat grass?

The reasons, It is not yet clear why a dog eats grass; experts work a lot with assumptions. Most of the time, the behavior is probably not a big cause for concern.

In many cases are likely small physical causes decisive for the behavior, but sometimes it is also about psychological-mental factors, that tempt the dog to do so.

Below is a brief overview of the most common causes.

1. Balancing of Nutrient deficiency

Like other plants, grass also contains a large amount of nutrients, which are also indispensable for dogs. These include, among other things:

• calcium
• phosphorus
• magnesium
• sulfur and
• Iron.

Dogs seem to instinctively sense that grass can be nutritious. When there is a nutrient deficiency, they turn to grass to compensate for their deficit.

If the four-legged friend is on his own, this is also a good and efficient strategy. However, in human care it is of course better if such deficiency symptoms do not occur in the first place.

2. Feeding of fiber

Blades of grass and lawns also contain a lot of them fiber. Contrary to what is often assumed, dogs also need plant fibers to be healthy healthy, balanced intestinal flora to be able to demonstrate.

Even wolves are not exclusively carnivores, but also pick up small amounts of fruit, berries or even grass. Such behavior can also be observed in dogs. In particular, animals that receive dog food with a high meat content or are barfed often eat large amounts of grass.

3. Help with digestive problems

Also with others digestive problems The dog uses grass as a natural “home remedy” to get relief. The four-legged friends take advantage of the fact that large amounts of plant substances are not actually part of their diet.

• In the case of one stomach hyperacidity, which can be very painful for the animal, grass serves, for example, to bind excess acid and make the symptoms disappear.
• In acute cases Upset stomach Grass has a balancing effect and can often bind toxins.
• When the dog feels that he… ate something bad He also uses the grass to deliberately irritate the digestive tract: when he eats large quantities nausea triggered, causing the stomach contents to be excreted again.

4. stress & boredom

Sometimes the causes of the behavior are also psychological nature: When the dog is bored, He likes to bite into a tuft of grass to keep himself busy. Not only will you get to know new tastes, but you will also relax while eating. The plant material then serves them, so to speak “animal gum.”

It's a little more worrying if… stress contributes to eating grass: Then it is usually one skipping action, in which the animal probably tries to instinctively compensate for its worries with behavior that actually doesn't fit the problem at all.

This form of grass eating often occurs separation anxiety on, such as analyzes of Dog camera-Provide recordings.

5. Will probably also be used for Odor eaten

Behavioral biologists also suspect that eating grass is also used to… Smell of the dog to change:

• On the one hand, there is a theory that wild animals try to get their to neutralize your own odor, by ingesting grass. This behavior could then have been transferred from hunting wild dogs to domesticated domestic dogs.
• On the other hand, many experts also assume that the plant fragrances contained in grass give the four-legged friend's aroma a very unique note. This could, according to the theory, be the case Marking the territory play a role.

There is probably no evidence for these explanations, but they seem very plausible to experts.

Is eating grass dangerous?

However, not all dog owners like to see their four-legged friend attacking a clump of lush grass. They then worry more about the indigestible material dangerous for the animal and could cause great harm.

This is a concern that is justified, but in most cases rather unfounded is. Usually eating grass is not a big cause for concern. Nevertheless, you should also think about it Risks Know the behavior and be clear about when you should stop the dog or worry about the well-being of your four-legged companion.

Natural behavior patterns

If a dog eats grass, that is no abnormal behavior, but actually quite natural. Evolutionary biologists suspect that wolves and other canids – the phylogeny goes back several million years – began eating grass from time to time very early on.

Of course, our four-legged friends have evolved after they became friends with us humans: for example, they evolved from carnivores to opportunistic omnivores.

However, some behaviors have survived – eating grass is usually no longer necessary for the dog, but it is very pleasant leisure activity, which is sometimes good for the four-legged friend's health.

Risks when leaving

Could be a bit dangerous though longer or pointed blades of grass when they are excreted by the dog. They are then practically still in their original state, as the parts cannot be digested by the animal's stomach.

In this case, the grass threatens to irritate or even perforate the intestinal walls and the anal region, and bleeding and pain when defecating are often the result.

Possible Contamination of blades of grass

Grass is usually a foreign body in the dog's digestive tract, but has no toxic or otherwise dangerous properties. But this is only the case if the plant material really clean and natural is.

Unfortunately, this is often not the case: blades of grass can also be contaminated, for example with

• artificial fertilizer
• Toxic substances (e.g. rat poison or slug pellets)
• exhaust gases and other pollutants
• Feces from other animals, which may or may not contain parasites, among other things
• Pathogens such as bacteria.

Earth, smaller stones or branches and twigs can also be picked up “incidentally”. If your four-legged friend starts eating grass while you're out and about, you should pay close attention.

Can Vomit & Diarrhea trigger

Furthermore, too much grass can also unintentionally impair digestion: Vomit and sometimes too Diarrhea are then common side effects.

In some cases this is very helpful and can also be wanted by the animal if, for example, the dog cannot tolerate something. But it shouldn't become the rule, because it can put undue strain on your four-legged friend's digestion.