My 6 month old Jack Russell and 8 week old crossbreed go round the garden constantly pushing aside the lawn or on the flower beds eating the soil.  Even walking round with them they manage to grab it before I can stop them, they are obsessed.  Should I be worried?   Does anyone elses dogs or pups do this?
I won't let them out now unless I can be with them to minimise the amount they eat.  Such a shame I can't leave the door open for them to enjoy the garden.
They have lots of toys and things to chew and kongs but the dirt or grabbing grass and running quick so they can eat the dirt off the roots or grabbing a mouthful of dirt and swallowing it seems more appealing to them.

What fertiliser do you use on your flowerbeds?

No fertilizer or anything, in fact no flowers now, I just grassed those areas but the grass has come through very sparse leaving lots of nice soil still.  But even on the main lawn where grass is thick they grab or nose it out at the speed of light to grab soil.
I would never use any chemicals however safe they profess to be where my dogs are just in case.
They even walk accross the patio and grab out bits of grass growing there to pull up soil and eat that.

Bev

What do you do when they do it?

Interested to see this, my 7 yr old GSD does it and now she has taught my 11 wk old puppy to do it. Like yours they pick up chunks of dirt often with bits of grass attached and eat it. The older GSD did stop doing it but she has started again now I have the puppy.  they often play with it first then eat it.  I have taken them to the park this morning and they both started doing it there.  I have to say that my 7 yrs old has never (Fingers crossed) had any adverse reaction after eating it.  She has a perfectly good appetite and has NEVER had an upset tummy. BUT why they do it is a mystery to me.

I used to ignore it hoping they would stop and get bored with it, but they got worse and worse,  then I tried distraction with toys, chewwees and kongs but not interested when there is tasty dirt instead, so now I am following round and telling them off but they are running off with a mouthfull eating as they go.

Bev

I'm afraid you've turned it into a wonderful game for them now, and it will take longer to teach them it's not an interesting behaviour :(  I think you need to find a really tasty treat to offer them, and when they come for it, do a quick training session, so they earn their treat/reward - and KEEP DOING THIS - it make take several weeks, but you must be consistent.

It really is important that you stop them from eating the dirt. My bitch did this aswell, she ate dirt and grass, she ate so much of it that it sort of fermented in her stomach. Later than evening she went into the garden and collapsed, she wouldnt get up, she just kept groaning. So rushed her to the vets at 11pm saturday night. He took an xray of her, her spleen was enlarged, and there was loads of gas in her. We had to leave her there, they gave her morphine, and she went into shock. In the end they had to put a tube down into her stomach and pump all the revolting sludge out of her. The vet said we nearly lost her, as her stomach was starting to twist. The vet and vet nurses sat up with her all night, we collected her sunday morning. She is fine now, it cost my insurance company £600.00. So it really scared us, we dont let her in the garden un-supervised, however she doesnt eat dirt now, I think it scared her.

Rachel

Harlistream

I hope your girl is okay now.  Did the vet have any idea what caused your dog to want to eat soil in the first place? It hasn't happend to mine yet but this is something I would want to prepare for.