And not just a bit of it either!!

My near 13 yr old BC has always had a fancy for worms and mud and other things that she can dig up, I've always put it down to having been abandoned at approx 5 months and surviving for several months in the wild.

Trouble is since having had cruciate surgery last October and making a stunning recovery with the aid of hydro therapy her habit is now almost an adiction.

She will dig at my house plant pots or sneak around the garden for a 'fix', she will eat mouth fulls to such an extent that her 'poo's are the colour of the earth in the garden and a fair bit of grit and sand in it too.

I've tried distracting her, shooing her off and even extra food but that's always been a waste of time anyway as I've never got her weight above 14kg and she's a dog that eat's to live and not one that lives to eat.

Is it likely to be a vitamin/mineral thing or is she just nuts like I've always thought.?

Must add she has a very varied diet with complete, fish, chicken, veg and raw beef bones.

There are natural nutrients in earth, so not a problem with eating it apart from the fact that it can be annoying when they dig up the lawn & it is like a scene from the somme or resembaling(sp?) a minature golf course!!!

Well that makes me feel better even if my garden looks like a bomb site and my house plants are wrecked :-D

You need to be a bit careful as soil is full of nasty stuff as well, one of my dogs had a very unpleasant bacterial infection probably as a result of eating soil :-( only found by hair analysis and took months to recover - vet said it could have affected anything, all his muscles, including his heart.  It's not something I encourage these days :-(

mine all like a good mouthful of mud. I've always thought they were probably eating grass roots too? they certainly enjoy grass leaves anyhow! (it's strange, I was always told that dogs eat grass to make themselves sick, mine just seem to really like grazing. I love the way they look round when I call with a huge clump sticking out the side like ermingtrude!)

I've never had any problems but they only eat a minor amount, collies can be really obsessive so I suppose it could be a habit by now rather than an actual desire for it. but unless you muzzle her I can't see how to stop it I'm afraid.

BTW, do you by any chance use blood'n'bone meal in the garden? dogs love that.

What probably started as a mineral seeking exercise has turned into an obsession IMO.

Id get her on Pet Tabs to cover any 'real' deficiencies ( which you cant rule out with an elderly dog) .. see here

and then distract with pigs ears or other high calorie treat.

>> BTW, do you by any chance use blood'n'bone meal in the garden? dogs love

We've had to net all our outside pots as DAisy always had her nose in them eating the Fish, Blood, Bone meal. Either that or she has her head in the drain to catch the debris from the washing up - disgusting creature she is.

No blood and bone meal in my garden so I think it's just a habit gone to far, I think I'll try the pet tabs that toolz mentioned though and keep a pocket full of pigs ears with me :)

> keep a pocket full of pigs ears with me

You'll smell nice :-)

All mine have eaten soil they like it frozen best, soil lollies. As they have all done it to some extent I guess it is natural so I have never worried and they have never suffered any ill effect. They also eat grass just for pleasure and to vomit but it seems to be different grass the vomit one is the coarse grass.