exercising and eating grass

[happy_face]

I have a 5 year old Staff and he often eats grass, Sometimes I think he may have been a cow in a previous life.. It doesn't bother me and he doesn't do it all the time. But one thing I was wondering about is that whenever he runs he'll stop and quickly grab a tuft of grass and he'll keep doing it when we run around playing. Then the combination of grass and panting makes him cough a lot. Is it because he's got hairs in his throat that irritates him when he starts running/panting or what?

Does otherdog owners have the same?

[grannyg]

 Grass is a medicine for cats and dogs so they sometimes eat it to bring something up and they sick it back up with a bubbly saliva. The only trouble is if they eat long grass they sometimes have a bit of trouble passing it out the other end.

[happy_face]

Thank you grannyg. The thing I knew that already and in my case he eats grass everyday and it doesn't make him sick or anything. It's almost like it's part of his food pyramid. I just wanted to know about the running, eating grass behaviour

[drgnrdr]

Hello, was wondering, does he, while running, quickly grab tufts of grass and keep running and tossing it in air or does he, while running, try to eat it real quick? The former he could be playing and gets some grass caught in throat, or if he tries to eat it, does it too fast and gets caught in throat. Does he have a short muzzle? Is his face smushed in? The shorter the muzzle the more coughing and heavy panting there seems to be, just an observation, I'm not a vet. What do you do when he grabs grass? Do you laugh and talk to him like your enjoying his game? As long as he eats and grabs your grass in yard I would think it's safer than if he grabbed strange grass that you don't know who has walked or piddled on it and he ingest it. I won't let my dog eat grass at the park, but she can grab what is in my yard if she likes. And it's only a certain kind of grass she goes after. I have observed other dogs at the park doing it, they were playing with it.

[flappinwings]

I have a staffy cross, (brindle colour) and he eats grass as a sort of instinctive response when he first is let off the lead.  He has always done it and sometimes he is sick, but I have always thought it was something he felt was lacking in his diet.

[Kimmiebear]

Both my dogs are daily grazers as well, and I am not concerned by it. They both eat a very good diet and are healthy all around so I am not worried. As for the coughing, is that only when he eats grass and runs, or is it just when he runs at all. If possible please seperate the 2 because coughing during exercise can be an indication of heart disease. If it is just with the grass, then it is irritating but probably won't do any serious harm. I agree that the grass at the park should not be eaten as it is a good way to pick up parasites and worms! Yuck.

[happy_face]

Wow, thanks for all your answers and questions. I shal try to answer them all.

For example if I run and he chases me he'll then grab some grass after the chase and eat it. He will continue to do this after every sprint he does. He doesn't cough when running only when he's eaten grass. He doesn't do it as a play thing by grabbing a tuft and trowing it. But he does seem to eat it quick and that must be the reason why he starts coughing.And it's only the fresh soft grass he goes for.

I just thought it was a strange thing to do. I've had plenty of dogs who graze on a regular basis but never one that does what he does.

I never thought about him not eating the grass in the park as I can't really stop him. I don't have a lawn in my garden so this is the only opportunity for him to graze. He never seems to get ill by it and I don't want to be telling him off or shouting at him for something that is relatively harmless. His walks should be fun and enjoyable.

[drgnrdr]

well it seems to me that he eats the grass because he likes it and it's part of the game of chase with you. He may eat the tender grass because he gets moisture from it, and you don't have any grass in your yard so he stocks up on it when your there...lol. Since I can not be there to observe the interactions it's hard to say why for sure. Some dogs just enjoy grass, and if it is parasite free and he doesn't throw it up then he's okay. Just watch out for the choking on it, change your routine, or sprint where the grass is dead or old. We have wheat grass ( already grown) here in the states that you can buy from the local petstore and my dog enjoys that when we are in there, they have it on a shelf and she tries to steal it when we walk by it, I have to watch her. If you want to stop him from doing it you don't have to yell at him to stop, keep the outing fun by trying to redirect him, take a rope toy or something he likes and after sprint pull that out and let him give it a tug, practice "take and give" training if you know how to do that. Other than that it's up to you or if anyone else has a thought.....Enjoy him, it's sounds like he's a real character.....

[happy_face]

Thank you drgnrdr for your great advice. You make so much sense and I'll try some of your suggestions.

After all this I thought you might like to see my little one. Here's Marley

http://img357.imageshack.us/my.php?image=marley7yd.jpg