Why Do Dogs Eat Grass?
Dogs often eat grass, and what usually follows when they do is a great show of ralphing up that huge pile of greens all over the yard or your living room carpet. While it appears that dogs only eat grass when they are ill, dogs actually eat grass for a variety of reasons, and it's usually nothing to worry about.
Dogs eat grass because their ancestors ate grass. Wolves eat grass. Coyotes eat grass. Believe it or not, dogs are actually omnivores, and crave that grass oftentimes the same way people crave salad or a big, juicy apple. Some vets believe that a dog who is eating a lot of grass is actually responding to their body's craving for more fiber in their diets, but they don't know for sure.
It's also unclear why an ill dog eats grass. It's like the chicken or the egg theory on what came first. Does the dog puke because they ate grass, or does it puke because it was sick, and the grass has nothing to do with it? A common theory is that grass creates an odd sensation in the stomach of dogs (which are very sensitive) and causes them to vomit, and can be an instinctual craving for dogs to ingest when they feel ill to cause them to throw up. An otherwise healthy dog, on the other hand, can gobble up grass all day long and rarely throw up any of it's veggie lunch. The reasoning behind this is that healthy dogs savor grass and actually chew it for proper digestion, while a sickly dig just chows down on grass, hoping for a purging effect.
Dogs eating grass is no big deal unless they appear to be eating it chronically due to being sick and are puking it up all the time as quickly as they are eating it. This can mean that your dog is eating grass with pesticides or insecticides in it, or that your dog has an illness that simple vomiting can't cure. If your dog eats grass and vomits persistently for more than 24 hours, a vet visit should be in order. Otherwise, a dog who likes to munch on grass is just following their instincts.