My 2yr old JRT is constantly frantic to get outside in the garden and eat chunks of mud. As soon as I let him out his rushes out and his head goes straight down to stuff himself.
He has a wheat/gluten intolerance so is fed Wainwrights complete, which I soak with boiling water first (it won't soak in cold) to make it soft as otherwise he always manages to choke himself on it. The only treats he gets is either his food or a little cheese. His weight is good and otherwise he seems fine.
Any ideas? If its something he is lacking, like what minerals would they be and what supplement would you reccomend?

My grass is almost gone and there is more mud than lawn, so at the moment I have to put a lead on him to take him into the garden, otherwise he won't come back in or let me catch him he is so intent on eating the mud, won't even leave it for cheese. He will even lick the mud out of the muddy paw prints bought into the kitchen by my other dog (Rottie x GSD aged 18 months). Other dog is fed the same and is not eating mud like him, although she has the occasional lick.

I don't know why he is doing it or if there is actually a need for him to do it. It could be just a behavoural thing and could be trained out of.

What kind of soil do you have?  For example Kaolin used for firming up upset tummies is a type of clay, so maybe he instinctively craves something that soothes his digestion, or again the minerals it contains.  Worth having a complete check up at the vets including blood tests for anaemia etc.  Again it could be an attention getting behaviour as it gets a reaction out of you?.

>is fed Wainwrights complete, which I soak with boiling water first (it won't soak in cold)

Do not,do not,do not pour boiling water over kibble.

The Manufactures have to add the vitamins and minerals to the kibble after the cooking process when the kibble has cooled as they are very heat sensitive,high heat such as boiling water destroy's them.
I cant remember if wainwrights has probiotics added or not,if it has, the boiling water will instantly destroy them.

Mud/soil has minerals in it,does it not? Maybe try adding luke warm water,not cold,and see if the mud eating improves.If not,try a change of food.Your dog seems to be craving something that he's not recieving in his food.

but you could sat the same about our 2 veg

naturally, applying boiling water to any species food item isn't the ideal, but whilst it does impair/reduce the vit/min levels, its not gonna totally zap'em, so you will get 'some' nutrition.

with some dogs or humans, they just dont like their dinner any other way, so you gotta take these things in account as well.

personally, if i had better self discipline, id just chew on raw veg no more than 3 days old, as that's the only real guaranteed way to get all the nutrients out of each bite

Do not,do not,do not pour boiling water over kibble.

Mm, yeah, that's why, as just two examples, my Rufus has survived for 4 ½ years longer than the vet said he possibly could with his MVD -now above the average life span for a Cavalier (according to the KC's health survey), with boiling water poured over Gusto -guess he must be a ghost dog that really DID die all those years ago!  Or why Dandy the Golden is 11 with not a day's illness in his life apart from the hip dysplasia (due to his mother's terrible score) which of course isn't an illness as such -or minor injuries. I really must stop using boiling water as it has made my dogs SO vitamin deficient! :rolleyes:

Whats with the sarcasm :(

Once again,i'm not pulling this information out of my arse,i have read it on manufactures websites who guard against it,and also on nutrition sites and books,even without reading all of this information it makes sense anyway!

Who knows Marianne,perhaps your dogs would be healthier if you didnt diminish what little nutrition is in gusto in the first place by adding boiling water??? :) How could you possibly know if you refuse to try? Try and be a little more open minded,eh? :)

You're CONFUSED ktee? Now THAT has confused me! Short term memory loss????

We are not talking about putting a handfull of kibble into a pan of 2 litres on the rolling boil for 7 minutes :D  It is only the very surface of the pile of kibble that will be subject to anything approaching boiling water by the time it soaks through it will be well off the boil.  I would not worry at all bevb.

hmm Ktee was only making an observation aand trying to help someone who posted about their dogs strange habit.
I too have read on different food web sites that pouring boiling water over will rid the food of the vitamins some of which are heat sensitive and that you should use only warm.
As for dogs living well over what the vet suggested, I heard of someone once who lived till they were over 100 smoking woodbines every day!

Waits to be gunned down!!!!

And I am making an observation that it is not something bevb needs to worry about on top of dealing with the strange habits giving my rationale for believing so  :)   

I think the problem lies in other posts made that are really 'sweeping statements' and have no credence at all...this tends to make everyone dismiss ALL posts as sweeping statements! Mind you, I too am of the opinion that a littel boiled water poured on kibble does not really kill ALL the vitamins within it!!

Am I missing something here - why does the water have to be boiling anyway, surely warm to hot water would soak the kibble just as well?

You do find, with some foods, that it does have to be pretty hot to break it down, however, as I have pointed out in my post, by the time you pour it it is not boiling and will continue to cool rapidly on contract with the cold food.  Very little of the food will be in direct contact with anything other that hot water anyway.

Hi bevb,
Getting back to your origonal point, dogs are natural scavengers, you only have to leave them with a full bin bag to see that! Dogs will derive nutrient value from almost anything, often things we would see as repugnant, this includes vomit, faeces(Coprophagy) and decaying flesh, also tree bark, its a top source of fiber. Soil is an important source of minerals which he obviously feels he needs,  for you to replace these in his diet would be a very complex task. If your little Jack is showing NO adverse effects i would be tempted to ignore the behaviour and let him get on with it.

                                                   All the best.

Unfortunatly I can't leave him too it as he will swallow stones or anything in it.  He often chokes on it and occasionally makes himself sick.  He will keep eating it until he would literally burst, he doesn't just lick or nibble he is in there stuffing himself as if its prime beef.

On occasion my Bernese eat soil too, however they don't wolf it down just nibble at the ? tastier ? bit's, they also like to eat rotten wood for whatever reason, I know not, but it's not a big problem. You however do seem to have a big problem if he is stuffing himself to make him sick, maybe as suggested a full blood count will highlight a deficiency in some form and he is trying to remedy it, I would certanly have the vet check it out. I would have thought too much will be very binding to his bowel and as you say if he eats it stones and all then a real emergency could occur. You will have to try and limit the time he gets out on the grass, could you fence of a small part of hardstanding for him and keep a carefull watch? Not much practical help but dogs usually know what they need if they are lacking something in the diet. Oh and by the way I too have used boiling water to soften kibble and I think that it cools too quickly to do a huge amount of harm to the vitamin's, but to be practical and assume the worst maybe try hot water  and let it stand for longer to soak, kibble will eventuall go soft if left long enough.
Good luck hope you find an answer.

You're not alone Bev! Harvey, my 16 month old CKCS does this, not so much in the garden but when out on walks - the blacker, boggier, smellier the better...........makes me feel really ill.

Hayley