Summer is in full swing. And if your pup is anything like mine, the longer days and warmer weather mean a lot more time spent playing in the park.  I use the word “play” loosely, because my dog’s idea of a good time often means stretching out and chomping away on  grass while other dogs chase each other around. She’d be happy to spend hours like that, so of course I wonder:   Is she eating too much grass? 

 “For a 50-pound dog, say about two cups of grass,” says Wendy Kuceyeski, D.V.M and Program Director at SUNY Canton in New York. My dog weighs in at about 85 pounds, (TBD how much of that once lawn) so while it may appear that she’s eating a ton of grass, I know she’s not eating that much.  Furthermore, Dr. Kuceyeski notes that it would be pretty difficult for a dog to eat a full two cups of vegetation anyway. “I don’t think they’d be able to get that much down without throwing it up,” she explains. 

She notes that she’s never removed an obstruction from a dog’s insides that was entirely made of grass. It’s more likely that a dog would swallow another object, such as a ball or chew toy that might be covered in grass 

Why Do Dogs Eat Grass? 

There’s a number of reasons dogs enjoy chowing down on grass – the simplest being that some dogs just like it, Dr. Kuceyeski says.  According to the American Kennel Club, other reasons include boredom, diet deficiency, and instinct.

“It can be a cyclical thing,” Dr. Kuceyeski adds. Some dogs eat grass when they’re not feeling well, and some dogs don’t feel well if they eat too much grass. “If my dog isn’t normally eating grass, and I see him [eating a lot of it], there might be something wrong.” 

How Do I Know if Grass Eating is Causing Problems for My Dog?

Grass isn’t particularly dangerous to dogs on its own, Dr. Kuceyeski says. But “if your dog vomits every time he eats grass, I’d recommend not  letting him eat it [grass].” Repeated vomiting can be tough on a pup’s digestive system. If your dog  vomits, she recommends withholding food for six hours before slowly re-introducing a bland diet. Other indications that grass eating could be causing problems include restlessness or other changes in personality. 

Bottom Line

Eating grass isn’t dangerous for your dog, but intervene if it’s obvious that it’s causing gastrointestinal distress.