Why are my dogs so keen to eat soil sometimes?? What is it they are lacking in?  Can someone tell me what supplement I should be given to stop them doing this please.
Its not all the time but when they do, they dig up some of the grass to get to the soil and start to eat it. Obviously they are needing some mineral but I can't for the life of me think what it is they get out of soil.
Any help appreciated.
Anndee

> Obviously they are needing some mineral

Not nescessarily Ann,

There are many reasons and as your saying that its your dogs (plural) and that its only sometimes.. I'd be more inclined to think it wasn't any defficiency or malabsorbtion. If your feeding a commercial dog food then the balance should be adequate (or better..dependant on what is fed and how your dogs uptake)

Soil can be a tempting forage for dogs because of the plant matter and even old feacal matter (cats,foxes etc) Some fertilizers contain organic matter which smells gooood (read gross for us!) and of course there could even be rotting corpse of mouse etc in there. :)
(I found a flat old leathery petrified toad in an area of my garden that my Sibe was regularly chomping on!)

*If *you have been 'tinkering' with diet and think there maybe a gap somewhere and this is leading you to wonder about Mineral defficiency.. then we'd really need to know what you've been feeding (and amount) to what (size/sex/age/sedentary v working dog) and what soil is being favoured? for example clay soil is tempting for iron content but mainly for salt (and the salt can be more from a tasty need than the dogs own diagnosis of dietary need)

HTH?

Please keep a check on your dogs gums to see if they look pale at all.  My JRT eats soil if he gets anemic but when he is normal he does not.

Hi

I'm having the same problem with my 5 month old lab puppy, and im feeding her on Salters puppy food recommended to me by the vet.  Ive just checked her gums and they are not pale, i think she just loves digging holes then eating the dirt! just aswell im not into gardening i suppose!

Hi. Their gums are fine. Can't think that its fecal matter either as where they are scratting and making the earth bare is right on the edge of the lawns, where the grass meets the paths. they don't do it all the time, it's just that they've done it a couple of times in the last few days. Not bordom either as they have been on long, rabbiting walks every day for the last week or so!
The soil is clayish so it could be salty as was suggested.

There may also be insect grubs of some kind just underneath the surface of the grass.   Yum!  :-)

My three are eating it this winter as if it is the most delicious dessert!  I have never known them to do it so much. It started with all the heavy rain, and the ground being very soggy. I think the grub theory is a good one!  They are all healthy and have a good quality balanced diet.

Along with sheep poo etc, I suspect in most cases, it is dogs just doing what dogs do!! The sheep poo is all frozen at the moment, yummy they say, poo lollies!! :)

Hi Anne
i think it is a tibetan terrier thing , as every time i leave my 3 out in the back garden after they have had a run around , my eldest lil starts digging then eatting the soil , and my other two have started to copy her ,

Georgina

Hi Georgina.
Its taken them a long time to realise its a TT thing then! Its only recently they started to do it, and ones 5 and the others 10!!
Actually they've seemed to have stopped now thank goodness. I pop the odd Vetzyme down them so mebbe thats it??

Anne