by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com
Every dog I have ever had has been a grass eater. Some more than others – and the old saying, ‘he’s eating grass because he doesn’t feel well’ had nothing to do with why my dogs ate grass. My doberman Shanna, ate grass daily – and she taught my other dog, my pit bull Max – and he grazed like a cow. I used to call him Moo Cow – with his coloring it was fitting.
I couldn’t stop them from eating it – and it really seemed like more of a habit than anything else. I did worry a bit about them eating it, due to fertizliers in the grass and Max did get sick once from eating a brown mushroom in my yard – luckily it was a small one and he was 62 lbs. He was ok, after a visit to the vet and meds, but that made me more diligent about checking to see if there were any shrooms growing in the grass.
My newly adopted dog Cody has started to eat grass a few weeks ago, (and some sticks), with training he is learning to drop the sticks and not eat them – but the grass he still likes to take a bite of. So what to do? How do I get him to stop?
When I was at Global Pet Expo in March, one of the booths I stopped at was Pet Greens and I always thought that the grass they had was just for cats. After speaking with the rep their he told me about the different grasses they had and how dogs can eat them to. Best part? Well a few actually, but first they are certified organic and you can grow them conviently at home. Fun and cool at the same time. Remember growing sunflowers or seedlings as a kid in school? Kind of like that, and for those of you that don’t have a green thumb – don’t worry anyone can grow this grass.
The grass comes in this super easy ‘Self Grow’ bag – and all the seeds and soil you need. All you have to do is poke 10 holes in the bottom of the bag, put the seeds about 1/4 inch below the soil and water!
Looks like this after your prepare it.
Cody was inspecting my preparation!
It took about 4 days, which is pretty fast, until I noticed the seeds were sprouting, and probably another four until I had this result. Now I just break off a handful and give it to Cody, he loves it. And this grass is Oat, Rye and Barley grass – and organic of course. You can grow this right in your window sill or outside near your other seedlings. I recommend putting a dish or plastic garden container under as you are watering it and did put holes in the bottom of the bag! It grows pretty quickly so even after you have tore off or cut of the grass, in about 2 days it’s ready to go again.
So now Cody gets a small snipping of this organic grass, probably every 2-days or so. I have to say he is still eating some grass outside, but it is definitely less than he was.
I really like this product – and for those cat owners out there, they have different varieties of grass you can grow and your cats can safely chew on and eat as well. What do you think? Have a grass grazer at home?
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