Dogs Eating Dirt

[Guest Jollybug]

Why are my grey's eating dirt? I keep catching them eating the red clay dirt in our yard. Not sure why? Any ideas?

[Guest Jollybug]

I just did a searc on this topic! The answer to why my dog eats dirt?

Because they like to!!!!! LOL

[Batmom]

Yep.

 

Sometimes they do it when they don't have anything better to do -- boredom.

 

And sometimes they do it because they think it tastes good.

[Guest sja5032]

occasionally a sign of worms

[Fruitycake]

And sometimes it's something in the dirt they like (Rabbit pellets, anyone?).

[Guest june]

Ah yes. When I moved into my house my back yard was nice and smooth. Not so much now! When I mow now I feel like I am trying to hold onto a bucking bronco. Not fun.

 

Don't know why they eat it; just know they do. All dogs are still alive and healthy so the only down side for me so far is the bumpy lawn. I would caution you if you use chemicals on your lawn though.

june

[racindog]

Horses eat dirt when the calcium/phosphorous ratio is out of balance. Goldie never ate dirt. I switched him to California naturals and he instantly became ravenous for dirt- couldn't get enough-ate it like it was steak. . I took him off the Calif Nat and found Solid Gold and he reverted back to never eating dirt again so IMO it can also have a physcial basis sometimes.

[o_rooly]

I don't believe there was a food correlation for when we found Aston chowing on dirt in the backyard (first discovered when he POOPED dirt on a walk, to our surprise). I think it's a boredom thing for him, though once he found a "good" spot, he would beeline it out there when he let him out back so that he could gulp as much as possible before we caught him. He stopped on his own a few weeks later...

[dbullwinkel]

Missy has been eating dirt for ages..drives my crazy. Only one spot in the yard though...so it makes me think there is something she likes there?? She does do it when she is upset though, I have found. she had to wait for her walk the other day..the last of the three and she was not happy. she cried to go out and my husband let her. I came back to find her laying in the hole she dug...head first...eating away!! I have started checking her mouth when she comes in..if it dirty she gets wiped not too gently..if it is clean, she gets a treat. This actually seems to have helped. she is still digging though. I have researched the possibility of nutritional deficiency, but could not find anything

[krissn333]

Certain times of the year all of my dogs eat the dirt in one particular spot. The soil is more clay-like in that spot and they love to dig at it to loosen pieces and then eat them. As soon as Carrie moved in here, she started doing it too

 

They also like to eat the bark off of one of my trees in the spring and fall-I have no idea why.

 

I rule out boredom because they don't spend any length of time outside unless we're playing or I'm working in the yard...a couple of them actually delay doing their business to eat the dirt or bark first

[Guest AmHoneyBunny]

Not 100 % sure in dogs, but in other animals (including humans) it is often due to a condition called "pica". Pica causes animals to eat dirt and crave certain minerals found in dirt due to a mineral imbalance. I know it is most often found in horses and large livestock.

 

 

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_(disorder)

[MarcR]

I have two dirt eaters. There must have been something they found tasty because they only chose a couple of spots. That was in the spring. Now that the weather has turned hot, they have lost interest. Their food hasn't changed in more than three years, so I doubt that it's food related. The favored spot was under a tree so maybe the were truffle hunting