Somewhere, out there, a dog eats grass and a water buffalo is downing a turkey. Somewhere out there the old world is gone and a new one is taking its place. Grass induces a dog to vomit, perhaps because dogs are natural carnivores and vegetation is not really a part of the diet. Before dogs could be domesticated, they lived in packs much in the same way that their cousins the wolves do. Before dogs became man's best friend, the dog was one of man's enemies: a predator that competed with man for basic needs like food and shelter. Before the domestication of the dog, man and dog competed with each other for other animal meats and territory. They say that now it is a dog eat dog world out there, but before it used to be a dog eat man eat dog world out there and that was more cruel.

Before designer hand bags became carrying cases for tea cup dogs, dogs used to run in packs. And before the veterinarians prescribed dog medications and injections for almost all the same thing that human infants get, dogs had their own medication. It used to be that in the wild a dog eats grass, vomits whatever it was that harmed its insides and that was that it needed of that herb.

 Perhaps it is because the modern man has become unfamiliar with the workings of the wild that it is no longer common to see that a dog eats grass when it is sick. But this does happen. Perhaps the next time that the puppy looks a little under the weather, it could just need to pick off some weeds in the backyard and be bulimic instead of being rushed off to the vet for something as simple as an upset stomach.

Dogs do not appear to have any particular grass preference. They generally avoid the poisonous grass for obvious reasons and they also avoid vegetation that humans would generally consider food, like cabbage or lettuce.  Cultures that had a close relationship with human animals may have taken their cue from the dogs and incorporated various grasses in their poultices and soups to induce vomiting. Concoctions like these are meant to be the more old-fashioned equivalent of getting one's stomach pumped to get rid of harmful toxins.

So don't freak out if in the near future a dog eats grass in front of you. Start to panic when they look about ready to blow chunks.