Tag Archives: dogs eating grass

One sick puppy

It’s not metaphoric at all – Simon was one sick puppy yesterday. He’s better today, thank goodness. But yesterday was messy, stressful, and thoroughly awful.

No early sign of sick puppy

It was a normal morning in the Sister Shack. All four dogs ate their breakfasts, pottied outside. We had a fun little training session. Fran left for work. (Friday is Hope’s day off.) 

I (Hope) was planning a fun day. I love baking and was planning to make Fran’s birthday cake. Red Velvet cake has been our family’s traditional birthday cake all our lives. It’s a process, but a fun one, if you like baking.

There were a few errands that needed doing (we were out of milk!), so I took the butter out of the fridge to soften while I ran them – planning on coming home and getting the cake-baking going. 

Sign of trouble

The first sign of trouble was the smell that hit me when I got home. I was hoping for the best at first – one of the dogs might have been unusually gassy. No such luck.

Simon had rather violent diarrhea. We crate the puppy when we’re not home. That wound up being a good news/bad news result. Good news – the mess was confined. Bad news – the puppy and his crate needed bathing, fumigation, and I needed a nose plug.

Clean up 

The first order of business was to get him out into the yard and see if the issue was over, or a continuing problem. The latter, of course. Tango, Booker, and Torque were kind of puzzled by the situation but avoided the stinky puppy. And cooperated when I needed them back in the house and away from the mess.

Next? Telling his mom (Fran) that we were in crisis mode. It’s never fun to call a baby’s mom to tell her the puppy’s sick.

Boston Terrier sick puppy
Simon’s staying close to Fran today.

And then Simon got a bath. Generally speaking, Simon is an active puppy. Truthfully – he’s a perpetual motion machine. Fortunately, he was more curious about the water, bathtub, and bath process than afraid or worried. Fifteen minutes later – he smelled much better.

Nose plug time

Simon dried off with nice clean bedding in one of the other dog’s crates. Cleaning the crate was next. I have no idea how all surfaces were targeted, but it even included the ceiling. Further detail isn’t required – I’m sure all dog owners (and parents of human babies!) can imagine the rest.

Off to the vet

When we knew the vet was open for afternoon hours, I delivered Simon to Fran. He’d had several more episodes in the meantime. All outside. He was a very good boy and let me know when it was time to make a dash for the great outdoors.

Our wonderful veterinarians got him in right away. He obliged by spewing for the doctors. You know veterinarians are a different breed. Instead of scooping it up as fast as possible, they pored over it like it was a clue in a mystery novel. Which, to them, it was. Simon obviously ate something he shouldn’t have and we have instructions for a restricted diet and medication for a few days.

Duh! Of course it was something he ate

It’s always something they ate. And we have no idea what it might be. We don’t use any chemicals or fertilizers in our yard. But, even though we live in a very urban area, there’s tons of wildlife: squirrels, birds, rabbits, possums. Who knows what they carry in? Not to mention how many assorted mushrooms have sprouted in this incredibly wet season. And Simon is a grazer. We try to keep an eye on him – but with four dogs running around the yard and a next-door neighbor dog that charges ours, it can get hectic. 

The best-laid plans

So the day went sideways. Birthday cake didn’t get made. Butter is back in the fridge. Meals didn’t get made. That’s okay. Because Simon’s better today. Subdued, under scrutiny, but hopefully on the road to recovery.

I usually resist the title “pet parent.” But when the baby’s sick, either human or puppy – it applies. Everything else is put on hold. As it should be.

Sounds of spring include dogs retching

Ode to spring!

The birds are chirping.

The weather’s fine.

Windows are open and

Clothes dance on the line.

The lawn is greening,

Lilies don’t droop.

Dogs are relishing

Fresh rabbit poop.

Ewww. And then comes retching

We always look forward to the end of winter. Spending pleasant time outside with the dogs. But the idea is usually better than the reality. We actually spend our time in the yard following our dogs around saying “drop that.” “Leave it.” “Eww.” “Don’t do that!” “Quiet – that’s our neighbor.”

And, with multiple dogs, we inevitably miss someone eating something they shouldn’t. And wake up in the middle of the night to the sound that makes dog owners shoot out of bed faster than any other – dogs retching.

Avoiding the pain

With luck, if we’ve heard it fast enough, we manage to move whichever dog’s retching to a surface that’s easy to clean. Or hold them dangling over the toilet. Or at least off the bed so we don’t have to change the sheets in the middle of the night.

A friend of ours calls her dog’s habit “eating salad.” Her girl finds whatever over-grown patch of vegetation there is and starts chowing down. We’ve always called it “being a cow” because our dogs like grass. The lawn kind – not anything almost-not-illegal any more.

Simon’s different

This is Simon’s very first Spring – he’s now nine months old. And he has a taste for dandelions! We’re actually pretty happy about that. Dandelions are sort-of a superfood. Since we don’t use any chemicals on the lawn, Simon’s become our source of dandelion control. He shares an occasional dandelion flower with our bearded dragon, but other than that, he pretty much has them all to himself.

And, so far, so good. Simon’s stomach seems to tolerate the greens. We do make sure he doesn’t do too much “grazing.” It’s not quite the same story for our other dogs.

Rabbit poop

You would think that “survival of the fittest” would dictate that, by now, rabbits would know better than to set up housekeeping in our yard. It’s certainly shouldn’t be any secret to the local wildlife that dogs own our yard. But, if bunnies were bright, they could have a lower rate of reproduction.

rabbit poop causes dog retching

Unfortunately, dogs seem to think rabbit poop is caviar for canines. They can sniff it out at any distance. Teddy was the world-champion, but the resident dogs are no slouches.

We’ve been assured by veterinarians that, while disgusting, eating rabbit poop doesn’t seem to have any long-term ill effects on the dog. It can result in “non-pathogenic yeast” showing up in their system, but other than that, not really a problem. Until they eat too much of it.

Disturbance in the night

When we get that post-midnight wake-up call of retching dogs, and we’re too late, we do know an almost-magical formula for getting stains out of carpet – thanks to our dear friends at Good Housekeeping. Mix a tablespoon of Dawn Dish Soap and a tablespoon of white vinegar into two cups of warm water. Scrub like crazy and repeat daily until the stain disappears.

This time, it took us three days – but it worked!

Mythbusters Canine Editions – Part 1

There’s lots of stuff “everybody knows” about dogs. Some of it’s true. These are not:

A cold, wet nose is the sign of a healthy dog

French Bulldog nose

Healthy dogs’ noses can be warm or cold, wet or dry.

Healthy dogs’ noses vary. If they’re sleeping or just waking up, their noses may be warm.  If they’re running around, active, panting, their noses may be warm. Temperature also goes up and down through the day – just as ours do. When we’re active our noses are warmer than when we’re sedentary. Similarly, the moisture of a dog’s nose varies throughout the day. A dog with a dry nose may be perfectly healthy, just as one with a wet nose may actually have a respiratory infection or other disease process going on. Noses just aren’t a very good indicator of a dog’s health. It’s much better to rely on better indicators; is the dog eating, drinking, pooping, active, etc. In other words, if your dog is acting normally, don’t worry about the temperature or dampness of his/her nose.

Dogs age 7 years to every human year

old dog

Seven to one isn’t really a good ratio for comparing dogs’ ages to humans’.

Not really. A one-year-old dog is probably more mature than a seven-year-old child. And athree-year-old dog may or may not be fully adult. It also depends on the dog’s size. Smaller dogs tend to have longer life spans than larger ones. It’s not unusual for a Chihuahua to live into its late teens or early 20s. A Great Dane may be geriatric at eight. Dogs also tend to mature at different rates. While most are as long and as tall as they’re going to get by about eight months, dogs will still “fill out” and mature for about another year and a half. Dogs aren’t really “adults” at one year old, even though they may have reached their adult size.

Dogs eat grass to settle their stomachs

French bulldog sniffing dandelion

Dogs don’t need to graze on your lawn. It’s not good for either one.

No. Domestic dogs don’t really know how to self-medicate if they don’t feel well. Eating grass is normal dog behavior, according to experts. But it doesn’t mean they don’t feel well, need to vomit, or are lacking fiber or other nutrition in their diets. It’s pretty much just something dogs do. Most of ours promptly throw up after eating grass and we’ve looked at them and said “We told you so!” more than once while cleaning up the mess. Not all dogs throw up after grass eating and there doesn’t seem to be any adverse effect for most.

However – it’s not a good idea, especially if you don’t know exactly what sort of chemicals (weed-killers, fertilizers) have been used on the grass your dog is munching. Not to mention the various illnesses/parasites that can be spread through contact with wild animals’ (rabbits, squirrels, skunks, possums, deer, raccoons, birds, etc.) droppings.

The grass is tastier on this side of the fence

Torque denies his naughtiness, despite being caught with the evidence.

Torque denies his naughtiness, despite being caught with the evidence.

Does your dog eat grass?

Ours do. While we enjoy the warmer temperatures, the green yard (instead of the snow-white!), it’s also the time of year where every time we go outside with the dogs we have to say “leave it!” “Stop that!” and, in Teddy’s case, “Why do you eat grass? You know it makes you throw up!”

We understand that many veterinarians think eating grass is just something dogs do – and it’s not really something to worry about, unless, like Teddy, it makes your dog sick. (See this reassuring article on WebMD.)

One thing we do worry about, though, is what’s on the grass. We use no chemicals at all in our yard – not weed-killer, or insecticide, or grub-stuff. Nothing. It means we don’t necessarily have the prettiest lawn in the world, but it is safe for our dogs. Whenever our dogs are elsewhere, we have them on leash and can control their “grazing” tendencies.

If you take your dogs to off-leash parks or play areas, it may be a good idea to ask what kind of grass preparation and maintenance is used. Just in case they’re grazers, like ours.