Ok, I am worried about my police mal. I haven't thought about it lately due to the lack of grass from winter BUT now with spring here, the grass is back. Here is my worry....

My dog will "graze" on grass for ten minutes or more if I let him. His diet consists of Science Diet Canine Maintenance, supplied by the department. I do not give him any supplements as of now. He has however, had blood work when I brought up the concern to my vet last year. The dog is extremely thin, and always has been, but the blood work was fine when the results came back.

Today, before a narc search, I gave my dog a break. I let him graze for almost ten minutes before I pulled him off. He was literally walking down the curb grazing.

But he has NEVER vomited after eating the grass. My dog does not stress easily, and has not had diarrhea or vomited since I've had him, even during our handler/certification course that was intense. (All the dogs except mine, at one point had some malady from stress.)

What is this? Does he NEED the grass? I don't think he is feeling ill, because if there is grass around, he will graze.

Does anyone have any kind of input on this? Does he need a supplement? (the vet had said no, but this is getting really odd)

Dogs eat grass, don't always know why. No big deal IMO.

I have a young female that may as well be part cow. Yet she never has issues and gets a clean bill of health from the vet every visit.


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I have a little mal pup 6 months and i have noticed when i make a mistake of going a little to long in training with him that he will reach down and starting eating grass. My 12 year old shep every spring loves to eat tender green grass of a certain variety. i think from what i observe my 12year old eats it for enzymes , and my 6 month old eats it because i overtrain him and its a product of stress. GOOD LUCK

Ok. Thanks. I guess it's not as abnormal as I had thought.

I do make sure that it is wild grass that probably doesn't have any kind of pesticide or fertilizer that could hurt him....so I'll will let him graze to his little heart's content from now on.

But is a supplement in order any way?

A good multivitamin won't hurt- but chances are that the dog will graze anyway.

The other alternative is to move someplace cold and snowy.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Aside from any health concerns, i don't want my dog "grazing". I want his attention on me or the decoy/helper/suspect. I cannot afford to give my dogs the luxury of doing anything else but that. I don't want a Schutzhund dog doing a long down and start eating grass and licking his balls. And I suspect that a K-9 officer doesn't want his dog in a down for ten minutes and have his dog eating grass during a hostage negotiation or something.
bottom line is I correct my dog for this behavior when ever the timing is possible. grass eating can lead to food eating and the dog should eat nothing without my approval. JMHO

Deanna--No thanks! Cold=grumpy in my world! 100% desert dweller here

Scott--Good point. Although my dog has stayed attentive during the times that count, I will be sure to only allow his grazing during a "take a break" time. He has never grazed while on a long down, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't start. He is however, an extremely high drive mal, so I haven't had that problem with him not watching a suspect. He usually does it when we are both geared for narc searches. He likes bite work much more than narcotics, and I have noticed he isn't quite as excited during dope scenarios. But I will do things different from now on.

Maybe there was just a fence jumper in my dogs line...of the Jersey persuasion....hmmm. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />