Why do Boxers eat grass?

Ever since Lucy was a pup, she has grazed like a cow at times on grass. Not just any grass, but rather, the long leafy variety. For a while I was puzzled by this behavior. Is she hungry? Am I not feeding her enough? Is there a vitamin or mineral that she is not getting in her diet? What is causing this behavior? These are all the things that went through my mind each time she performed the act of eating grass.

One day when we had Lucy in to visit the Vet for a check-up and recurring shots, I queried the Vet on Lucy’s lawn mower like behavior. Here’s the answer that I received…

Boxers will eat grass for a couple of different reasons. First reason they eat grass is an upset stomach. If a boxer is experiencing intestine irritation they will eat grass to neutralize the acids in their stomach. The grass also adds a bit of roughage to their diet. Second reason for the Boxer to eat grass is to induce vomiting. If they have something in there stomach that is not agreeing with them they’ll try to hack the item up to get out of their system. Lastly the Vet informed me that it is just a canine behavior and that I shouldn’t worry about the activity because is natural for a boxer or any dog to eat green leafy plants. Just be mindful of the plant materials she was attempting to eat because some can be harmful to dogs. “If she’s crazing on grass don’t worry about it.”

I guess the moral to the story is I’m an over-protect type when it comes to my white boxer dog Lucy. Now when she eats grass I just smile and think that dogs are amazing creatures to be able to find things in nature that help them through life and make them feel better. What a remarkable creature man’s best friend is!