# Could he possibly be missing or craving something?



## Tamara (Jul 17, 2011)

After Deuce's dietary indiscretions on our vacation we have him back on track and very enthusiastic about eating his food, regular poops now, etc.. He is still eating just chicken and turkey and some eggs. Now that he is back to normal again we will be adding pork to his diet really shortly. Before his vacation binge and now again we notice that he is wanting to graze on grass in the backyard. His stomach doesn't appear to be bothering him and we are able to distract him fairly easily but he is doing it all the time. I'm starting to worry that he feels like he is lacking something and trying to compensate by eating grass. He never used to eat grass unless his stomach was bothering him and it was always very evident when his stomach is bothering him.


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

Sorry I can't help much but to say that my dog eats grass every opportunity he gets, he loves it. It always comes out the other end though exactly as it went in. I don't think it necessarily means there is something wrong, but someone else with more experience may be able to help.


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

What gives you the idea his stomach is bothering him other than eating grass? Loose stools? Vomitting? Diarrhea? Not eating?

You said he was enthusiastic about meals, and eating fine. I tend to think that your dog just likes to eat grass, as a lot of dogs do! :wink:

Our dogs graze on grass quite often...and all 3 of them can be doing it at the same time. I think they do it because they like the taste more than anything. Nothing to worry about.


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

My dogs were big grazers when they were on kibble, and they still are on raw. They just like it.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

whenever mine gets near ANY plant material he chews on it... grass, blackberry bushes, you name it he wants to eat it, they just do it it's nothing that is unnatural or wrong with them, in the spring is the time when they really get nuts with it though with all the new sprouts!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

My larger dogs eats grass, and my smaller dog eats grass and weeds and pretty much anything that is coming out of the ground. We also have bushes with red berries and she goes nuts over those. Thank goodness they aren't poisonous.

I have been told my whole life that they will eat grass when their stomachs are upset. I'm not sure if that's true, but they seem to be ok and not suffering any stomach problems.


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## lozzibear (Sep 13, 2010)

My dog has always been a grass grazer, even when he was on kibble. I spoke to some people about it and they said that some dogs just are grazers, whereas others will only eat grass when they have an upset stomach.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

My dogs never grazed while on kibble, but became big grazers on raw, yes I believe they are missing something as they don't nearly eat as much if I feed them a little tripe with each meal, just sayin!


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

I think they like the taste / texture they get from eating chewing on grass and greenery. I don't think it has anything to do with what they are lacking in their diets. 

Likewise when mine chews on plastic bags I don't think she needs more polyurethane in the diet she just likes doing it


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## smexywhales16 (Jan 15, 2011)

You can try adding a kelp supplement or more green tripe. That stopped Chipp from grazing.


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

whiteleo said:


> My dogs never grazed while on kibble, but became big grazers on raw, yes I believe they are missing something as they don't nearly eat as much if I feed them a little tripe with each meal, just sayin!


Mine were getting green tripe pretty regularly (3 times a week) for a couple of months and still grazed... they haven't been getting it recently because I can't find an affordable source, but I didn't notice any difference when I fed them tripe. :/ Although they did love it!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

dogs eat grass. when i was a kid, i ate grass.

there is no rhyme nor reason for eating grass, other than to clear their stomachs when they have a tummy ache or they like the taste of new shoots.

i know that my dogs, in the beginning, ate more grass than they do now, almost two years later...


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

A friend of mine who has cats reckons (with cats) that it's to clean their teeth! Not sure about that one??????


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I do think theres some merit to dogs eating grass and compensating for a lack of vegetation in their diet, I know a lot will disagree. I noticed that Uno eats a lot more grass when he's on raw, so I started giving him solid gold seameal and he stopped.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Gee, who knows maybe it could be that i have been feeding kelp for a couple years now and just thought it was from the tripe! Lol


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

You know, I was giving them an organic greens powder for a while (kelp, spirulina, some other stuff), just because I got it for free and it's a really expensive supplement LOL. I stopped because they don't get ground often enough to mix supplements in daily... maybe I'll experiment and start giving it to them daily and see if I notice a difference in the grazing... I'll keep y'all updated on that. The grazing doesn't bother me, but I'd be interested in seeing if it does make a difference.


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## 3Musketeers (Nov 4, 2010)

One thing I can say is my dogs grazed like cows on kibble, and they still graze like little cows on raw, the difference is they eat one of my shrubs now and not the grass, I believe it's a taste thing. I do notice that if I fast them, they will just pick at shrubs all day, so maybe it's just to fill their tummies as well.


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## Tamara (Jul 17, 2011)

Thank you for all the thoughts. With Deuce he has only ever eaten grass when his stomach was bothering him before but it was always evident when it was bothering him. Now it just appears that he is grazing which wouldn't bother me except that eating even a small amount of grass does cause him to throw up. I was feeding the Solid Gold seameal before and didn't get more when we ran out which was a while before we switched him to raw. I might think about adding something like that in again or else I believe I might have a source for tripe too. It does make me feel better that others are experiencing the same thing with their dogs. I think I will experiment with adding in some type of green supplement or tripe and see if I can't get him to slow down on the grazing.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

we feed our dogs tripe and recently, we decided to play with kelp.

they still eat grass.

i've never seen it as a need they have or a desire. it's just something some dogs do. 

i don't know why i do half the things i do.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

magicre said:


> we feed our dogs tripe and recently, we decided to play with kelp.
> 
> they still eat grass.
> 
> ...


I thought you said you never feed kelp?


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

whiteleo said:


> I thought you said you never feed kelp?


i didn't. 

but you said that you fed kelp so i figured i'd give it a try.

lo and behold, the co op was selling kelp so i bought some for the kids.....and now they are getting little ground turkey balls with kelp once a week....and then if it sits well with the old girl, i'll give it more often.

it's all because of you that they get tripe and kelp...you know that, don't you?


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## ishie (Oct 26, 2011)

Hi Tamara, I tried to send you an private message, but I am uncertain if it went through. This is Mariah, Ishie's mom, Ishie is Deuce's sister. Contact me please.


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