WHY IS MY STAFFY EATING GRASS ON EVERY WALK ??

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Does anyone know the real answer as to why dogs eat grass ?? I know the obvious is to be sick but my Khan is not doing it to be sick its more of an addiction !!! As soon as we leave the house for our walks the 1st thing he does is grab some grass and sometimes its too late to get it out of his mouth as he scoffs it so quick , i tell him off and try to get it out his mouth as much as i can , then later in to the walk he does it again when he is off the lead running in fron he may grab big long pieces too its crazy !!! I feed him decent dry food twice day so surely he aint hungry is he ? does anyone elses staffy do this ??

shane wrote:good night to ya we will talk again

Good night and yes

whmon wrote: Seriously though, don't let your dog eat grass after it has been raining because there might be slugs or snails on the grass which could cause Lungworm if ingested.

That's why I always use a wormer that includes lungworm - Dempsey (and Bandit before him) loved crunching up juicy slugs. :-&

MissRogue wrote:Actually thats not true dogs can live perfectly healthy balance lifestyle being vegatarian but cats can not, its not an actually milk just this white fluid which settles their stomachs and if needed gets rid of badness in the stomach which is why they are often sick and in the wild wolves would eat a very varied diet even dig for roots when there is no meat around.

Wolves only eat vegetation because it makes their stomachs feel full. It does them no good & they will starve if they don't get meat.

MissRogue wrote:

shane wrote:well i will have to disagree with you there,dogs can not live a perfectly normal life without consuming meat, dogs are carnivores and have to consume meat. otherwise they would be called herbivores. as for wolves they will eat vegetation when they can not get meat in their diet, but if they didn't consume any meat they would die, as for the grass dogs cant digest grass so i cant see how any liquid can be can be extracted from grass. cows can digest grass and thats why they have 3 stomachs,

That is where suppliments come in
I know wolves can not live off vegitation because thwey don't people to give the suppliments but dogs do which is why they can.
, when you pick a piece of grass and touch the break you'll get the white stuff on your fingers, they don't need to digest grass to get that it simply touches their tongue and runs down along with saliva.

But why stuff your dog full of supplements (costing the earth & not as good for them as the natural stuff) when you can get it all from either commercial food or raw feeding?

(I bet you all wondered why I hadn't got involved before - I went to bed early!! )

and thats comin from a veggie that knowes it would be no good for her dog

Precisely! I HATE handling meat, but I know it's the best thing for him. Yes, I know I could give him commercial food & he'd probably be just as healthy, but I wouldn't force a vege diet on him.

Vegetables, unless they are pulped or cooked are of no use to dogs anyway, they can't digest the. And if you give them pulped they get no satisfaction from chewing something (and you'd have to add supplements anyway as you wouldn't be able to get enough calcium or protein) & if they're cooked they lose most of the goodness anyway. So what's the point?

Your not the only who is Veggi and i wouldn't food raw meat to my dogs with the ammount of meat problems been having as of late, whether they have to have suppliments or not they can be vaggi and live healthy lives but unless you know someone with a veggi dog you can't say that its unhealthy for them.

Taz and Cassie are always eating the chickens raw veg food carrots/cabbage/pea's/sprouts and it comes out the other end just fine.

ohh sorry you didnt mentoin that you had freinds with veggie dogs that were in tip top condition my bad

I don't know how you can say that! Without supplements they would be ill. They would not be able to ingest enough goodness from vegetables alone, their stomachs couldn't take it! Medical fact.

I HAVE known someone who TRIED to feed their collie x a vege diet & it damn near killed them! Dogs CANNOT digest veg unless it's pulped (no good for their stomachs or their teeth) or cooked (lose most of the nutrients in the cooking).

Caryll wrote:I don't know how you can say that! Without supplements they would be ill. They would not be able to ingest enough goodness from vegetables alone, their stomachs couldn't take it! Medical fact.

I HAVE known someone who TRIED to feed their collie x a vege diet & it damn near killed them! Dogs CANNOT digest veg unless it's pulped (no good for their stomachs or their teeth) or cooked (lose most of the nutrients in the cooking).

Of course they need suppliments can't live off veggi food alone but that doesn't mean they have to eat meat therefore a dog can be veggie.
Its my aunt not friend her dogs are in fantastic shape the usual vet health check don't come with anything, chews and teeth cleaning solve that problem but as a whole it is possible for dogs be veggi.

Caryll wrote:I don't know how you can say that! Without supplements they would be ill. They would not be able to ingest enough goodness from vegetables alone, their stomachs couldn't take it! Medical fact.

I HAVE known someone who TRIED to feed their collie x a vege diet & it damn near killed them! Dogs CANNOT digest veg unless it's pulped (no good for their stomachs or their teeth) or cooked (lose most of the nutrients in the cooking).

Veg can be steamed nowa days and my dogs have digestic the chickens raw veg just fine.

MissRogue wrote:

Caryll wrote:I don't know how you can say that! Without supplements they would be ill. They would not be able to ingest enough goodness from vegetables alone, their stomachs couldn't take it! Medical fact.

I HAVE known someone who TRIED to feed their collie x a vege diet & it damn near killed them! Dogs CANNOT digest veg unless it's pulped (no good for their stomachs or their teeth) or cooked (lose most of the nutrients in the cooking).

Of course they need suppliments can't live off veggi food alone but that doesn't mean they have to eat meat therefore a dog can be veggie.
Its my aunt not friend her dogs are in fantastic shape the usual vet health check don't come with anything, chews and teeth cleaning solve that problem but as a whole it is possible for dogs be veggi.

then there not on a veg diet if there having chews and steaming still takes the vits out of the veg

MissRogue wrote:Veg can be steamed nowa days and my dogs have digestic the chickens raw veg just fine.

Sorry, I don't know what you mean by "my dogs have digestic the chickens raw veg just fine".

Caryll wrote:

MissRogue wrote:Veg can be steamed nowa days and my dogs have digestic the chickens raw veg just fine.

Sorry, I don't know what you mean by "my dogs have digestic the chickens raw veg just fine".

Sorry typo i meant digested

I still don't get it. I still don't know what you mean by "my dogs have digested the chickens raw veg just fine"

Steaming veg does not take all the goodness out of it like boiling it would. and chews do not have to be meat. suppliments. veggiatarian people take vitamins and supplliments all the time being veggatarian just means you don't meat not that you don't eat the goodness in meat through other foods.

MissRogue wrote:Steaming veg does not take all the goodness out of it like boiling it would. and chews do not have to be meat. suppliments. veggiatarian people take vitamins and supplliments all the time being veggatarian just means you don't meat not that you don't eat the goodness in meat through other foods.

Steaming takes some of the goodness out, just not as much as boiling. However, for a dog to be able to digest the veg it must first have the cellulose broken down - steaming will not do this effectively enough.

I am a vegetarian & I take no supplements. A human can live on a balanced vegetarian diet without supplements, a dog can't.

Caryll wrote:I still don't get it. I still don't know what you mean by "my dogs have digested the chickens raw veg just fine"

I own chickens down my allotments as part of their diet beside corn and pellets they get raw veg as well, my dogs are in the same area as the chickens (yes they get along fine) my dogs eat their raw food all the time and they digest it fine and it comes out the other end just fine aswell.

Caryll wrote:

MissRogue wrote:Steaming veg does not take all the goodness out of it like boiling it would. and chews do not have to be meat. suppliments. veggiatarian people take vitamins and supplliments all the time being veggatarian just means you don't meat not that you don't eat the goodness in meat through other foods.

Steaming takes some of the goodness out, just not as much as boiling. However, for a dog to be able to digest the veg it must first have the cellulose broken down - steaming will not do this effectively enough.

I am a vegetarian & I take no supplements. A human can live on a balanced vegetarian diet without supplements, a dog can't.

fair enough but having suppliments doesn't mean the dog is not a vegetarian.
and people who need suppliments when being vegetarian doesn't make them anyless of a veggi.

Oh, for goodness sake. The thing is, why load a dog up with synthetics supplements when they can get all they need from meat, and will actually be healthier because of it!

And I've never said that a vege who takes supplements is less of a vege, just that, if a human eats a balanced vege diet they won't need supplements, whereas a dog will.

And I still don't know what you mean by "my dogs have digested the chickens raw veg just fine"

Caryll wrote:Oh, for goodness sake. The thing is, why load a dog up with synthetics supplements when they can get all they need from meat, and will actually be healthier because of it!

And I've never said that a vege who takes supplements is less of a vege, just that, if a human eats a balanced vege diet they won't need supplements, whereas a dog will.

And I still don't know what you mean by "my dogs have digested the chickens raw veg just fine"

I am not saying it is right to make a dog a vegetarian but that it is possible, how can you still not get the part about the chickens, I have chickens they get fed raw veg as part of their diet, my dogs eat their raw veg food all the time when down the allotments, they eat it fine they digest it fine and it comes out the other side just fine.

Dogs are not chickens! Chickens' digestion is not set up to eat meat, they eat grains & , I suppose, a few insects. Dogs' digestion is set up for meat. There is no similarity whatsoever.

"they eat it fine they digest it fine and it comes out the other side just fine." It comes out the other end exactly the same way it goes in - undigested. That is a medical fact, and if you've studied animals for as long as you say, then you should know that. Dogs cannot digest raw vegetables.

We are obviously never going to agree on this, & I don't want to highjack this thread any longer with pointless discussions, so that's the last I'll say on the matter.

Caryll wrote:Dogs are not chickens! Chickens' digestion is not set up to eat meat, they eat grains & , I suppose, a few insects. Dogs' digestion is set up for meat. There is no similarity whatsoever.

"they eat it fine they digest it fine and it comes out the other side just fine." It comes out the other end exactly the same way it goes in - undigested. That is a medical fact, and if you've studied animals for as long as you say, then you should know that. Dogs cannot digest raw vegetables.

We are obviously never going to agree on this, & I don't want to highjack this thread any longer with pointless discussions, so that's the last I'll say on the matter.

Chickens can actually eat chicken and other meats and no when i said it coems out fine the other end thats what i meant it comes out like normal feaces not like sweetcorn does.
Dogs can eat raw veg I really don't know where you are getting your information from (ask your vet) but we're obviousely on different planets if you think what you think.

BARF diets for dogs and with raw meat or not add a variety of fresh fruits and veggies, but you must put them in a blender and break down the cellulose so they can digest them instead of passing them out the other end!

Vegetables grown above ground are stool loosening and grown below ground are stool firming, vegetables never to be used are onions as they are toxic to dogs.

[quote="Caryll"]Dogs are not chickens! Chickens' digestion is not set up to eat meat, they eat grains & , I suppose, a few insects. Dogs' digestion is set up for meat. There is no similarity whatsoever.

"they eat it fine they digest it fine and it comes out the other side just fine." It comes out the other end exactly the same way it goes in - undigested. That is a medical fact, and if you've studied animals for as long as you say, then you should know that. Dogs cannot digest raw vegetables.

We are obviously never going to agree on this, & I don't want to highjack this thread any longer with pointless discussions, so that's the last I'll say on the matter.

caryll girl i have had this conversation for half the night, last night with miss rouge, we're fighting a loosing battle at the end of the day dogs are carnivores, and some are omnivores but they still need meat to live a proper balanced life,

HAHAHAHA i havent seen this thread......Oh my dear god! A veggie dog i have heard it all now pmsl dear dear, i dont think i need to comment do i ?!?!?

[quote="shane"]

Caryll wrote:Dogs are not chickens! Chickens' digestion is not set up to eat meat, they eat grains & , I suppose, a few insects. Dogs' digestion is set up for meat. There is no similarity whatsoever.

"they eat it fine they digest it fine and it comes out the other side just fine." It comes out the other end exactly the same way it goes in - undigested. That is a medical fact, and if you've studied animals for as long as you say, then you should know that. Dogs cannot digest raw vegetables.

We are obviously never going to agree on this, & I don't want to highjack this thread any longer with pointless discussions, so that's the last I'll say on the matter.

caryll girl i have had this conversation for half the night, last night with miss rouge, we're fighting a loosing battle at the end of the day dogs are carnivores, and some are omnivores but they still need meat to live a proper balanced life,

and i do believe you finally admitted a dog can be a veggi

blaze666 wrote:HAHAHAHA i havent seen this thread......Oh my dear god! A veggie dog i have heard it all now pmsl dear dear, i dont think i need to comment do i ?!?!?

It is possible and loads of dogs are vegetarian whether its from choice or because a meat diet harmed them, but it is possible for a dog to live without meat just not whats in the meat aka suppliments.

MissRogue wrote:and i do believe you finally admitted a dog can be a veggi

I know I said I would leave it there, but WHAT? Where did I say that? All I'm saying is that a dog CANNOT live on vegetables WITHOUT supplements, so what's the point? To my (extensive - sorry, I know that sounds big-headed) knowledge, no dog is allergic to all types of meat so there's no reason (other than humans interfering) to put a dog on a total vege diet.

Please, MissRogue, do your homework. Chickens are chickens. Dogs are dogs, and dogs are carnivors. Simples

MissRogue wrote:

blaze666 wrote:HAHAHAHA i havent seen this thread......Oh my dear god! A veggie dog i have heard it all now pmsl dear dear, i dont think i need to comment do i ?!?!?

It is possible and loads of dogs are vegetarian whether its from choice or because a meat diet harmed them, but it is possible for a dog to live without meat just not whats in the meat aka suppliments.

But what the hell would be the point of that?!?!?!?!? It doesnt make sence.......anyway whatever.......

The comment i said you agree'd was not meant for you Caryll, I never said a dog can live normal happy life on vegetables alone just that they can be vegetarians. Its mainly obese/diabetic dogs that get put on veggi diets because meat is too fatening etc.
There would be no point but people throwing their beliefs onto animals.
Once again i am not saying i agree with it in the slightest and yes a chicken is a chicken and a dog a dog, I am just saying it is a possibility.

MissRogue wrote: Its mainly obese/diabetic dogs that get put on veggi diets because meat is too fatening etc.

Nowadays vets put overweight/diabetic dogs on to specially balanced commercial foods. A vegetarian diet would be of no use whatsoever to an overweight or diabetic dog.

Im a vegitarian and people are herbivour/carnivore so eat both. I subsidise meat with high protein foods and can asure you i am very healthy for my age. my dogs are fed meat in there diet but im confident i could find a high protein sourse to compensate the meat and the dogs would not not be in anyway detrimented in there health ><

It isn't just the protein. Dogs cannot digest raw vegetables and if you cook them you'd have to feed huge quantities to get the nutrients the dog needs. Calcium can be a problem with a vege diet for dogs. Where do you get it without bones or supplements? Milk isn't particularly good for dogs & can upset stomachs (lactose intolerance) and cheese products likewise.

I also substitute meat with high protein foods - I choose quorn, but it isn't a suitable substitute for dogs as they have different digestion.

Caryll wrote:It isn't just the protein. Dogs cannot digest raw vegetables and if you cook them you'd have to feed huge quantities to get the nutrients the dog needs. Calcium can be a problem with a vege diet for dogs. Where do you get it without bones or supplements? Milk isn't particularly good for dogs & can upset stomachs (lactose intolerance) and cheese products likewise.

I also substitute meat with high protein foods - I choose quorn, but it isn't a suitable substitute for dogs as they have different digestion.

Ive seen somewere a vegitarian diet for dogs a complete mix that a dog who was found to be allergic to meat (westie) was given basically the dog had developed like crones disease in people dramatic weight loss diorea sick after tests on the vegetarian diet the dog was 100% better im just saying that its not easy but possible and very expensive
I also eat quorn and feel healthy from it.

Oh, you can get it, but it's vastly expensive & is full of added supplements, so we're back to square one!

Yes it's useful for a dog who can't eat any meat at all, but that's incredibly rare. There're a lot of dogs who are intolerant of certain meats (Dempsey's chicken intolerant) but very rarely all.

All I'm saying is that a dog cannot live on vegetables alone, without supplements. It can, however, live on meat & offal alone.

Caryll wrote:Oh, you can get it, but it's vastly expensive & is full of added supplements, so we're back to square one!

Yes it's useful for a dog who can't eat any meat at all, but that's incredibly rare. There're a lot of dogs who are intolerant of certain meats (Dempsey's chicken intolerant) but very rarely all.

All I'm saying is that a dog cannot live on vegetables alone, without supplements. It can, however, live on meat & offal alone.

The whole time you swore there was no way for a dog to be vegetarian with or without suppliments and i don't know where or why you are arguing about a dog living off just veg alone because that is not what i said, i said a dog can be vegetarian meaning it doesn't eat meat not lives off veg. and a dog can eat raw veg as long as you steam 5 mins max (any longer you'll take the goodness out of the veg) it to get rid of the cellulos which is what dogs and some people can not digest in underground ved

i wouldn't want vegetarian dog... dogs are meat eaters that what they should have

MissRogue wrote:The whole time you swore there was no way for a dog to be vegetarian with or without suppliments and i don't know where or why you are arguing about a dog living off just veg alone because that is not what i said, i said a dog can be vegetarian meaning it doesn't eat meat not lives off veg. and a dog can eat raw veg as long as you steam 5 mins max (any longer you'll take the goodness out of the veg) it to get rid of the cellulos which is what dogs and some people can not digest in underground ved

No, read back. I said a dog could not live on a vegetarian diet without supplements. If you're going to have to add expensive supplements all the time, what's the point?

What's underground ved?

anything that grows under ground carrots pots beets turnip so on really should have said root veg but hay ho

i wonder if its the same for a rabbit can they live on meat alone

i wonder if its the same for a rabbit can they live on meat alone [/quote]


i reckon a rabbit could live on meat alone with the right supplements

bigwazza wrote:anything that grows under ground carrots pots beets turnip so on really should have said root veg but hay ho

i wonder if its the same for a rabbit can they live on meat alone

Oh, right! I just didn't connect the ved with the veg.

shane wrote:
i wonder if its the same for a rabbit can they live on meat alone

i reckon a rabbit could live on meat alone with the right supplements [/quote]

Tut, tut, Shane, you're getting as bad as me!

mine do a bit of grass eating my male stich seems to do more of than my female lelo.....

and im not a fan off pulling poo out of the rear end....of my two....

scott wrote:mine do a bit of grass eating my male stich seems to do more of than my female lelo.....

and im not a fan off pulling poo out of the rear end....of my two....

you must be the only one rest of us it our faviout thing to do lol

bigwazza wrote:

scott wrote:mine do a bit of grass eating my male stich seems to do more of than my female lelo.....

and im not a fan off pulling poo out of the rear end....of my two....

you must be the only one rest of us it our faviout thing to do lol

It's one of the many joys of having a dog................

yeah i love it really.....