Why Is My Dog Eating Grass Frantically? 5 Surprising Reasons!

If your dog is Eating grass frantically, it’s completely normal as it often tends to eat the soft types of grass blades for leisure, but there may be some health too.

You may find it surprising that eating grass is typical behavior for a canine-like dog. However, if your dog is exhibiting weird eating habits, then there may be some health-related issues.

If your dog wants to go outside insistently and being outside, all he does is grab mouthfuls of grass and eat it—no matter which kind of grass it is. As mentioned earlier, if your dog is eating grass frantically, it’s normal. This is because they often pick up a soft type of grass blades and eat it just for leisure and nothing more.

This article will help you to understand why your dog is eating grass, and it is healthy or dangerous. Moreover, you will also know about some preventive measures and how you can stop your dog.

Why Your Dog Is Eating Grass Frantically? (5 Reasons)

There may be some health conditions for which they behave abnormally. Being a responsible pet parent, you must be worried about such a dog behavior. You should try to figure out the reason behind the dog eating grass frantically. Unfortunately, there is more than one reason for it. The reasons for this behavior of dogs maybe one of the following.

1. The Upset Stomach

Have you seen your dog eating grass and coughing or panting? The first thing that may come to your mind is that the stomach of your dog is upset, and that’s right! In most cases, dogs exhibit such behavior. They do this because they are suffering from some gastrointestinal abnormalities. As a reflex action to the upset stomach, they grasp grass and eat mouthfuls of it frantically.

Dogs with such a situation, unlike normal healthy dogs, are not very specific about which type of grass they are eating. They keep eating the grass until they vomit.

The grass blades cause a tickling effect in the stomach, which ultimately triggers the gag reflex of the dog. This helps in vomiting. It has been said that occasionally dogs do this activity to vomit and clean their stomach. So, if your dog ate grass and vomited a few times, it is perfectly fine.

When to Visit Vet:

If it keeps on consuming grass as his only diet and keeps on vomiting, you must visit your veterinarian. If you observe such a dog behavior, you must not ignore it. Start saving a record of your canine friend’s eating habits to get to the reasons behind the problem.

2. Nutritional Deficiency

Another primary reason for dogs eating grass frantically is nutritional deficiency. To meet their dietary requirements, they instinctively went on the grass and started eating grass. In such a situation, the dog prefers eating grass much more than eating their dog food. Pica is the proper medical term for the conditions in which the dog is eating something, which is not food.

3. Sudden Change in Diet:

Another reason that may cause this behavior is a sudden change in their diet. You may have changed your dog’s diet to provide him with the best food. However, it fails to suit your dog and meet all his nutritional needs completely.

4. Dog Is Eating Grass Just For The Sake Of Enjoyment:

Eating grass is not harmful to dogs most of the time. They may eat grass just for the sake of enjoyment. Your dog can be tempted to eat grass because of its texture and taste. Therefore, you do not need to worry because it is not harmful to the health of your dog.

5. Grass Eating Is Just a Pastime For Dogs:

Provided with all the bad news about your dog eating grass frantically, here is a sigh of relief. As mentioned above, eating grass can be a pastime of your dog or maybe a favorite one! They do this quite voraciously as a reminiscent of their ancestor’s Feast or Famine type of behaviors.

Types of Dog Behaviors While Eating Grass Frantically

The first and foremost thing about eating grass in dogs is that there are two types of dog behaviors. They may be nibbling grass in small amounts to savor the greens, which seem to be a regular thing. On the other hand, there may be one of those cases when the dog seems too desperate to eat the grass.

They grab it in mouthfuls and eat it. The latter needs your attention because obviously, such behavior for a canine does not make any sense.

What Can You Do If Your Dog Is Eating Grass And Damaging Its Health?

You must note down what does he ingests before this kind of behavior. Analyze if the dog vomits after eating a particular type of food such as fatty food or after having some treat. In some cases, it has been seen that dogs show this behavior as a response to stress. It can be noticed if your dog is eating grass frantically and vomiting his lungs out right after you groom him. But, If your dog is getting sick because of this habit, you should follow these steps. 

1. Adding Fiber to Dog’s Diet:

It can be assured adding more amounts of fiber to your dog’s diet can stip it from eating the grass frantically. If it happens, it means that the food you were offering to your canine fellas lacks fiber content. Mostly, dogs stop eating grass if you provide him with fiber-rich food. However, in some cases, the dogs eat soil and dirt as well, which is a sign of deficiency of some other nutrient in your dog, which is not provided by the diet that you are giving him.

2. Balanced Diet:

A pet parent needs to be very keen and careful about the diet of his canine friend. This is because it is essential to maintain your dog and keep him healthy. For this, it is necessary that clean drinking water is always in their vicinity and is in their reach. This is because hydration is as vital for dogs as for humans. Provide him with an excellent proteinaceous balanced diet after proper discussion with your veterinarian.

An extra tip is to be vigilant about the weight of your dog. This is so that he may not have to suffer the perks of being overweight. Proper exercise and plenty of walks accompanied by a balanced diet is key to the best health of your dog.

3. Consulting Vet for Diet:

Therefore, whatever diet you choose for your dog, you must consult your vet before giving it to your dog. You need to be careful about the food of your dog because you are providing him with synthetic food. In the wild, dogs hunt their prey, and they eat every single portion of their subject. It also includes the grassy contents of their stomach. Too filthy? Yeah! But this justifies your dog behavior to eat grass frantically to fulfill his nutritional requirements.

Should I Be Worried If My Dog Is Eating Grass?

As explained earlier, eating grass is a typical behavior of dogs. It may seem strange, but frantically eating grass is healthy for dogs. Therefore, if you see your dog eating dirt or grass, you should not worry. However, if you notice strange behaviors and sickness in your dog, then consider consulting your vet.

Is It Dangerous for Dogs If They Eat grass?

Eating grass is considered normal for dogs. Many veterinarians say that you do not need to worry if you see your dog eating grass. Grass does not add any nutritional value to your dog’s diet. But it does have any harm for your dog. However, if there are some harmful pesticides or fertilizers in it, it can be dangerous for your dog.

Is Eating Grass The Basic Instinct Of Dogs?

Eating grass can also be an instinctive behavior in dogs. Dogs mostly do this for induced vomiting. This is because they may have ingested something that causes stomach problems. Therefore, they vomit right after eating grass to clear their stomach. For this reason, dogs mostly eat grass without chewing it properly.

Is Your Dog Eating Soil Or Dirt Too?

If you see your dog eating soil or dirt, it is an indication that the minerals are not enough in your dog’s diet. It can also be possible that there is some hormonal issue which is not letting your dog absorb proper nutrients from the food. Therefore, you can make some changes in their diet or can pay a visit to the vet for identifying the problem.

Dog’s Intuition

It is fantastic to know that dogs can if they are not getting proper nutrients from their diet. Due to this instinct of dog, they might be eating grass. This is because your dog may get something that is missing from its food. They eat grass so that it can work for them.

Addressing The Problem

If your dog is eating grass continuously, you can do certain things to solve the problem. For example, you can make changes in its diet as it may provide proper nutrients to your dog. Researches have shown that some dogs stopped eating grass after making specific changes in diet. However, if your dog is still eating grass even after the changes, you can take it to the vet for a complete checkup.

Things To Remember If your Dog is Eating Grass Frantically

From the above discussion, we can conclude that dogs eating grass is common. It may be a result of some gastrointestinal illness or nutritional deficiency. Now, eating grass may seem to be a harmless cute act by your puppy. There are some precautions and tips that you should consider if your dog is suffering from either of the above discusses the situation.

• Keep an eye on your dog so that he may not eat the grass sprayed with weed killers, fertilizers, and pesticides.
• Your dog may eat poisonous plants and mushrooms along with the grass; therefore, being a pet parent, you should know the vegetation you have in your yard. As a precautionary measure, you should check the plants with ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center website if they are toxic or not.
• If you have a dog eating grass frantically, you must pay a quick visit to your vet as he may have some GI disorder.
• Cutting your grass short may help you in keeping your dog from eating grass frantically as they usually go for the larger blades.
• A pet parent has his instincts to know what his canine fellow needs. Therefore, while your dog looks for eating grass, giving him some pieces of bread. It can absorb the acids in the stomach and help the dog feeling better.

Conclusion

If a dog is eating grass in a hurry, it is normal. There is nothing about which you need to worry. However, if your dog is eating grass frequently in a weird manner or frantically, it means that there are some health-related issues. It may be because its stomach is upset, or there can be nutritional deficiencies as well. You can make changes in your dog’s diet to stop him from eating grass.

However, if your dog is still eating grass, you should pay a visit to the vet so that he can check your dog thoroughly. As a pet parent, you need to take preventive measures to take care of your dog.