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Puppy eating grass & hungry on grain-free food. Is it okay?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Australian Cattle Dog | Female | unspayed | 5 lbs

Hello, I have a ton of questions but here are a few. Every time I take our puppy (Queensland Heeler mix, 11 wks old) outside, all she wants to so is stick her nose into the grass pull it up and eat it. She doesn't throw it up later like all of my previous dogs have done. She always seems hungry although she eats plenty of puppy food.(Merrick Grain Free Puppy) She drinks plenty of water and pees every 15-30 min when she's awake. We also have a 6 yr old poodle mix. Thank you very much!

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on December 8th, 2019

Pepper may like the taste of grass, but it may be she has intestinal worms. Make sure she is dewormed. Having intestinal worms would make her hungry a lot too. Please do not feed her a grain free food. Grain free is a very dangerous fad. Vets are seeing an increase in dogs developing dilated cardiomyopathy who are fed grain free diets. The FDA is investigating that link and has named Merrick as a brand linked to it. Please put her on a puppy food that contains grains. Brands I recommend include Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Purina Pro Plan, and Iams.

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