My supplier offers stomach grass now (from cattle) so I bought a couple small bags to try out. They spill the tripe and bag this up. I suppose it's just one step below having been manure.

OK, this stuff reeks. I had the pre-hurl symptoms when dishing this out. In addition to gloves when preparing their food, I may have to add breathing apparatus now.

To my amazement, even my finicky bulldog went headfirst for this in the bowl. My dogs absolutely love this stuff.

I'm on day two (four meals) of adding in this partially digested grass and hay into their diet and the poop situation is mighty fine. Is there any substantial benefit of feeding this other than seeing their utter enjoyment of eating it?

Can't comment on the benefits, if any. But in my experience the grosser something smells the more dogs will like it.

I get stomach grass from Creston Valley Meats on a regular basis. My dogs love that stinky blob to distraction!!!

I am more geared toward the prey model raw feeding, and as such, don’t do any veggie glop stuff for the dogs in their daily meals. I also don’t give them the alfalfa powder/tabs. BUT I do feel that they need some veggie matter of some sort, so tripe and stomach grass it is!

For those that feed the veggie glop, it is usually in a pulp, semi pulp, or lightly cooked state. That is because dogs are unable to break down the cellulose of raw vegetables. Pulping and/or blanching the stuff makes it a little more digestible.

Wild canids eat the stomach/intestinal content of their prey, and get the plant matter after it has already been partially digested and much of the cellulose broken down, and therefore easier for dogs to digest and get the beneficial nutrients out of it.

By feeding the tripe and stomach grass, I feel my dogs are getting what they would naturally get from prey they would catch in the wild. I do however, once in a while, give the dogs a carrot, squash or zucchini to chew on, and my male LOVES watermelon rind! It is more of a filler and boredom toy. The female does not even eat it, just chews chunks off and spits them out!

When I butcher animals my dogs like eat the ingesta just past the first stomach (ruminants have 4) all the way to the butt. I was surprised! I think it probably has gut flora in it, plus it is partially digested. They really don't go for the first stomach contents so well, probably because it hasn't been digested at all, just chewed.
My dogs also like to eat fresh horse poop.

I get my stomach grass from Creston, too. I enjoy the rendezvous connections just off the freeway. So convenient! I want to get the tripe but my freezer is so packed, I can't get the minimum purchase of it. I'm seriously considering a larger freezer just for the dogs.

So, you think there's good stuff for them in those hay and grass strands? I thought it would be more broken down but my two don't seem to mind inhaling the longer pieces.

Small world! I live about forty min south of his place, so stop by while shopping in San Luis Obispo (just south of him).

Simon’s tripe/gullet blend and organ blend is also great, and very convenient. They come in three, five pound gallon size bags, so one gets thawed out to repackage with the rest of that weeks meals, and two bags line the bottom of the freezer!

Try to invest in one of those cheap-o chest freezers to put in the garage or a covered patio. They are a life (and pocket book) saver!

Like Debbie said, mine try to get fresh horse poop and love the guts, something about the grossest stuff tasting the best… Go figure…


Oh yeah, and if you ever look at horse poop (who would have thought I would be saying this??? ) It is much the same as the stomach grass, just a little smaller particles and a lot less moisture... What we are getting is digested enough for my dogs to love it!

Edited by JessicaKromer (10/04/2008 11:19 PM)
Edit reason: The oh yeah...

I order from Simon too! I've been wondering about the stomach grass... I have been getting the tripe with gullet as it has a lot more green stuff in it than the regular tripe. And I agree, the organ blend is the bomb. Maybe I'll order some on his next trip by.

And I agrere, get a freezer... I don't know what I would do without mine.

Jessica, Have you tried the new meat/organ blend he sells?

Nope, next order maybe. I too get the gullet bled more often than straight tripe, and, well, geez I could just go on about all of the other things I get from him!