Category: Dog Diet

Your pooch is lying next to you on his favorite spot of grass. He’s looking up at you with those soulful eyes as he takes a bite out of that green blade. You pet him lovingly and say “good boy” before giving him another chew. Suddenly, you hear a loud slurp coming from inside his mouth. You look closely and see wet fur sticking out  and all you can think is: What is that disgusting thing?!

You’ve just witnessed your furry friend having a grass-induced fit. If this sounds familiar, chances are you’re dealing with one of two issues: allergies or digestion problems. There are some subtle differences between these conditions, but both result in your pup chewing on things other than food when they get stressed. We’ll explain what causes each problem so you know how to help your best friend.

What Causes Grass Allergy in Dogs?

Allergies are immune responses to external substances (like pollen) causing inflammation and swelling in various parts of our bodies. In people, allergic reactions typically manifest themselves in the form of hives. Some pets suffer similar reactions called hypersensitivities, which can also cause diarrhea, vomiting, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, itching and difficulty breathing.

These reactions occur within minutes of eating something their sensitive stomachs find unpleasant. Hypersensitivity reactions happen because allergens are foreign particles to the body. When we ingest them, they’re broken down into smaller pieces and absorbed through the small intestine.

Once there, they encounter specialized white blood cells known as mast cells. Mast cells contain chemicals that trigger the release of histamine, which is responsible for many allergic reactions. Histamines dilate smooth muscle tissue throughout the body, including air passages such as the lungs and throat. This results in congestion, narrowing of nasal passageways, runny nose, …

If your dog is like most dogs, he probably loves you more than anyone else in the world except maybe his favorite human family member. But that doesn’t mean your pooch has to be so smitten with the taste of flesh that it prefers meat to healthy food. In fact, there are many reasons why your dog might not want to eat as much meat as you’d like him to eat.

Meat-eaters or Vegetable-Eaters?

Just because your dog enjoys eating steak every now and then, it doesn’t necessarily follow that your pet should enjoy eating lots of red meat. It may just be too rich and heavy for his digestive system. In addition, if your dog eats too much animal protein, he could become overweight, which can lead to health problems.

Because your dog has such a short gastrointestinal tract compared to humans, he can’t break down large amounts of meat into small enough pieces to digest properly. Plus, the enzymes needed to digest certain proteins aren’t present in dogs.

This means that even though your dog may like the flavor of beef stew, he won’t get any nutritional value from it. He also wouldn’t benefit from eating large amounts of milk products, since these don’t contain the same nutrients found in cheese.

While some people believe that their dogs need meat to build strong bones, this isn’t actually true. Bones are made up largely of collagen, which is what gives them strength. Collagen is produced naturally by the body, and it forms when connective tissue cells die (this happens constantly). If your dog gets plenty of calcium and vitamin D, both of which are essential to bone development, he will still develop strong bones without consuming large amounts of meat.

The question arises of …

If you’ve ever seen someone with a cat peeling an apple or a mouse gnawing celery, then you know that animals have a way of getting into everything. And when it comes to fruits and veggies, cats and mice aren’t just interested in what’s on top  they actually like to sample the insides too.

But while most people probably wouldn’t want their pets digging around in their vegetable gardens looking for hidden seeds or worms, there’s something about pumpkin that makes them particularly irresistible to critters. In fact, some species of rodents will go after anything green, including leaves, branches, bark and twigs.

They also love to munch on plants that are covered in wax, such as hemlock trees. That means that dogs can eat pumpkin, but not very much. It also doesn’t mean that pumpkin is harmful to dogs either it depends largely upon which variety you choose to grow.

When grown commercially, pumpkins are harvested before the seed has developed inside the fruit, so you won’t find any actual seeds in the flesh of a ripe pumpkin. Once cut open, however, those seeds become visible and edible. So why do dogs get a bad rap?

Well, because of their short snouts, cats and mice can easily reach inside for a snack without having to dig under things, whereas dogs need to stand up tall enough to peer over obstacles. If you’re growing pumpkin solely for human consumption, though, this shouldn’t matter since the flesh of the pumpkin itself contains no nutritional value anyway.

Here’s the thing about pumpkins: There are hundreds of different varieties out there, ranging from large jack o’lanterns to miniscule acorn types. Some are orange, others are yellow, pink or purple. Although the color of the flesh may seem unimportant, …