Eating Grass

Last week at the conference I went to a lecture about why dogs eat grass (among other unusual behaviors). I know you are all on the edge of your seat right now waiting to finally hear the answer to this age old question. Well, sit back in your seat and prepare for disappointment. We still don't really know. However there have been several surveys done and the data analyzed and grass eating is a common behavior of normal dogs rarely associated with illness. So, if your dog eats grass don't be concerned that he or she is sick, was sick, or wants to be sick. And here is a picture of Oreo eating grass.

There is one theory that is based on the principle that wild canines may eat plant material as a naturally way of purging intestinal parasites and that this is an instinctual behavior left over from pre-domestication days. However, given that most (hopefully) of our pet dogs are parasite free this would be based purely on instinct and not on the premise that the dog actually feels he has worms.