I've had dogs throughout my life, from the day of my birth when I was greeted into this world by the family's black Labrador Retriever, Zena, to our current furball called Buster, our freaky little Bichon Frise.
All of our dogs have been rescued from a life of loneliness and abuse and neglect. All of them have been embraced by our family, spoilt rotten, squeezed, played with and loved unconditionally as family members, bringing joy into our home. They've all lived long and happy lives with three of them surviving into their twenties. I can't imagine a life that didn't include mans best friend.
Now in my 50th year, when not travelling the world photographing wildlife, myself and my partner spend our time working all over the country (UK) dog/house sitting. We also advise on diet and nutrition to help reverse common ailments that the pooches we look after are often afflicted with.
Even though I say so myself we've had great success in reversing some serious conditions in very short periods of time, just by feeding the dog in question a highly nutritious diet and not just one or two food groups like most dogs suffer with for their entire lives. Can you imagine the boredom, the same meals, every day....forever!
I realised at a young age that a dog like humans needs a wide range of vitamins and minerals to maintain a vital and strong immune system for robust health. In fact, you can see a modern correlation between our societies increasing epidemic of preventable illness and the soaring statistics in our pet dogs state of health. Humans and dogs have the similar diet-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, depression, arthritis, cancers, high blood pressure, skin and gum problems and the list go on. The majority of GP's and nutritionists will advise people with ill help to increase the inclusion of fruit and veg into the diet. It's not rocket science, is it?
Humans and dogs (both complex mammals) have a mind-blowingly intricate biological construct and immune system all built from the foods we all eat.
Like humans, dogs are biologically omnivores. In the wild canines forage seasonal fruits, dig up tubers and consume other plants when meat or carrion is not available, which is most of the time. This is a massive evolutionary survival advantage which helped dogs integrate with mankind so successfully. The hungry wolves that came close to humans as they sat around campfires in the cold of the night, thrived on the scraps they were given. In return the canines became part of an extended pack/tribe, defending, hunting, bonding, relieving stress and even keeping the early human tribes warm at night.
If the wolves were a pure hunter, killer carnivores, mankind would have been treated as just another prey animal and today we would not be spending millions a year on toys, specialist foods, beds, etc, etc. Most wouldn't admit it but many people I know and have worked with would choose their dog over almost anyone else, even family. You know what I'm talking about.
But the question I get asked the most is 'why does my dog eat grass?'
The most common idea that I hear as an explanation is the dog eats grass because it's trying to make itself vomit.
I believe this to be only partly correct, but not for the reason you'd expect.
Studies have shown that only 8% of dogs that eat grass have had previous signs of illness. But 22% of dogs that eat grass do in fact vomit.
The dogs that were ill before eating the grass were the animals most likely to vomit. This 2008 is a study based on 1500 animals and clearly shows that over 75% of the dogs do not vomit after eating grass.
However, if the dog from an early age eats grass they rarely vomit later in life when it is ingested.
As with all good scientific enquiry, this leads to the fundamental question, Why?
Well, maybe the early wolf/dog/man relationship actually changed the domesticated animal towards a more omnivorous diet from the supplementation of food from humans. The resource of fresh meat would have been a relatively rare and valued commodity in early man. Would the early man have readily shared meat with the scruffy canine sculking in the shadows? Or would he have shared his staple, starchy foods such as fruits, berries, nuts seeds, plants and tubers and even primitive bread?
The individual dogs that had the evolutionary, mutational advantage of being able to digest these fats and starches would have been selected by man's early tribes. They would have been easier to feed and less aggressive because of decreased competition and therefore selected as easier animals to domesticate. The increased diet of plant based food would have changed the actual brain evolution also, selecting a more social and maybe intelligent animal.
Our modern dog is starting to wag its tail through the mists of time, often more at home with humans than it's own kind.
Of course, a belly full of starchy food requires an after dinner belly rub. This is an all too familiar scene that echoes back into man and dogs distant history and relationships. Some would say that the dog helped domesticate mankind because of this interlinked relationship....I'll take that.
I think this is more likely and would have steered the evolution of the digestive system over time to the more domesticated, modern animal into our recognisable, omnivorous dog.
So what about eating grass I hear you asking. I'm getting there, trust me.
I would suggest that another reason for eating grass is to increase intestinal mobility to help control and rid themselves of intestinal parasites. Many other mammal species do this, including primates.
But my personal preference in explaining this practice of dogs eating grass goes as follows. With the processed dog food industry mass producing some very questionable foods (extremely poorly regulated) our pooches often suffer from acidic stomach problems, just like we do. Grass is a highly alkaline food with high fibre and one of the richest in nutrients in the whole plant kingdom, I take wheatgrass juice regularly myself, I highly recommend it.
Our dogs appear to be not only self-medicating but also eating grass for the health benefits and they seem to really enjoy it. Going back to the wolf ancestors, these animals hunt mostly ruminant animals such as all species of deer, goats, cattle etc.
A ruminant is typically defined as a mammal that has a four-compartment stomach, which includes. The rumen (paunch) The reticulum (“honeycomb”) The omasum (“manyplies”) The abomasum (“true stomach”).
These animals mostly eat grass but do take in other plants which are then mixed with salvia rich in enzymes, fermenting the plant material in the rumen stomach compartment. Ruminants do not chew their food as they graze. They bite and swallow, it's about getting quantity into the system and then when full they 'ruminate' or chew the cud. This process is when the animal regurgitates the plant material and then re-chews it, swallows it and repeats the process, sometimes for hours. The plant material as it breaks down goes through the other digestive compartments, into the intestines, then bowel and eventually exist but not before extracting all of the nutrients.
When a ruminant is killed by canines, the stomach is usually full of fermenting grass and this is consumed and becomes part of the animals' makeup, even giving a nutritional advantage. They even develop a taste for this source of partly digested plant material.
Does our dog eating grass echo their historical hunting and nutritional needs of wolves? I think that is very plausible.
I've also witnessed that some dog like to eat ruminants faeces, especially horse and cow. We used to look after four rescued Dobermans and a couple of horses. The one dog in particular who had been viciously abused and starved used to make a beeline for the stables when I was mucking out the horses, gorging herself on horse manure. Tessy (her name) was still in survival mode even though she had everything she could need from her loving family. These were her survival instincts kicking in, an echo from her ancient ancestors struggling to survive in leaner times.
So next time your dogs want to graze the lawn for you, please remember they might be saying something about their diet to you. They could well have some digestive issues linked to their diet and it's very hard for them to communicate that, obviously.
With all the dogs we look after the diet we provide them is a 50/50 mix of the normal food provided by the owners and 50% fresh and lightly steamed vegetables. Such as broccoli, kale, cabbage, sweet potato, carrots and peas. It's no biggy for us as we are #vegan and so we just prepare extra at meal times.
My Personal Favourites Plant-based Dog Foods
- CARROTS: contain beta-carotene that nourishes the optic nerve and improves eye health.
- BROCCOLI: nutrient-rich and contains anti-carcinogenic properties such as sulforaphane which help strengthen the immune system.
- CELERY: improves heart health and fights cancer.
- GREEN BEANS: improves blood fat ratios and protects against oxidative stress. They also contain heart-healthy omega 3 fatty acids.
- SPINACH: anti-inflammatory, improved cardiovascular functions’, and helps prevent cancers.
- PUMPKIN: amazing benefits for dogs the suffer from digestive issues, especially useful to treat diarrhoea because of the high fibre content which absorbs water.
In the long term, this is all preventative medicine for your dog. It will save you a fortune in vet bills and most importantly it will avoid the painful suffering that all too many pets go through in silence.
Conclusion: Dogs eating grass is completely normal, even with a nutritionally appropriate diet. However, it is always worth introducing daily plant based foods, especially greens high in chlorophyll because like us humans these nutrients are essential for maintaining a robust immune system and healthy life. Don't forget to mix it up though, they get bored with the same foods just as we do. You could even refrain from cutting a small part of your lawn, just let it grow just for mans best friend.
I hope my long-winded waffling clarified this issue. If you have any questions or are interested in our dog/house sitting services give us a call or drop me an email, the info is below.
Regards
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