Eating soil??

[matty]

Just wondered if any of you have seen your dogs doing this before?? Butch has decided to dig soil up and lick and somtimes eat it have no idea why hes decided to do this?? Any ideas??

[lyndajayne]

I'm glad you've asked this as Velvet does the same! She eats great lumps of it!
Hope someone knows the reason.

[Deleted]

And me Ellie does it all the time, but only compost from my outside pots.

[Nettie]

Bertie was having a good old chomp on brand new compost we bought for potting yesterday.

[Lisa]

Ive heard two main reasons that dogs eat soil the first which im less inclined to believe is that it contains nutrients the dog feels they are lacking if they have a good diet its probably not. I dont for one minute however doubt that the dogs realise there are nutrients to be had and minerals etc but dont think they are necessarily lacking them.

The other I was told was when Rodney was going through a phase of eating soil and I spoke to my vet then.
Apparently soil AND grass both contain microflora and bacteria that help settle the dogs stomach if its feeling a little off apparently it was very common when dogs were wild for them to eat soil then and my vet says its just something that some dogs still do. Microflora and bacteria work together to help digest food and process waste. At the time Rodney wasnt absorbing his food properly because he wasnt well and this was one of the main key indicators the amount of soil he was trying to shovel down his throat, he has always eaten grass and the odd occasional soil but nothing like he was at this time I mean mouthful after mouthful so we had to fence the garden and remove all pots.

Basically my vet said small amounts occasionally are nothing to worry about but if a dog is eating lots get them checked out.

The main danger is worrying about what is in the soil though if you dont know its source or in a strange place ie fertilizers, chemicals, slug pellets so be careful. In Rodneys case cat poo that left him even iller with a severe dose of worms that it took us 12mnths to clear up as the steroids etc in the body from his medication was acting against him and his immunities were so low already.

[lyndajayne]

Thanks for clearing that up. Velvet certainly isn't ill so I suppose it just one of "those things". I did wonder if it's because my husband is always trying to improve the lawn (an impossible task with six dogs racing around!) by using his home-made compost. I'm sure it's quite tasty! Well, to a dog

[Milothemonster]

Herbie also does this on a regular basis.

I took him to my vet and he said its not so much lacking in minerals as just a dirty habit that some dogs do..a bit like some like to munch on horse poo or other dogs poo etc
He said if it was excessive then he would do blood tests on Herbie etc

But also said it was even more important to keep up his worming treatment with this habit.

If Butch does it repeatedly like every day and not just occasionally ..it may be worth getting him checked out Anne.

Otherwise Herbie says he can come over for a bbq in the Summer and they can have a munch of best top soil together!

[Poodle]

This is so good to hear that others do it. Tizzy (now coming up to 14) has always eaten earth but is doing it a little more now. She has taught Fly to do the same but he prefers to dig a whole first then eat it
Phylly

[matty]

milothemonster2 said:

Herbie also does this on a regular basis.

I took him to my vet and he said its not so much lacking in minerals as just a dirty habit that some dogs do..a bit like some like to munch on horse poo or other dogs poo etc
He said if it was excessive then he would do blood tests on Herbie etc

But also said it was even more important to keep up his worming treatment with this habit.

If Butch does it repeatedly like every day and not just occasionally ..it may be worth getting him checked out Anne.

Otherwise Herbie says he can come over for a bbq in the Summer and they can have a munch of best top soil together!

Butch would love to join herbie for a bbq but only if his new mrs can come too but you may have to hide skye away hes only done it a few times upto press but will keep my eye on him if it gets worse. my first greyhound used to eat horse poo

[matty]

admin said:

Ive heard two main reasons that dogs eat soil the first which im less inclined to believe is that it contains nutrients the dog feels they are lacking if they have a good diet its probably not. I dont for one minute however doubt that the dogs realise there are nutrients to be had and minerals etc but dont think they are necessarily lacking them.

The other I was told was when Rodney was going through a phase of eating soil and I spoke to my vet then.
Apparently soil AND grass both contain microflora and bacteria that help settle the dogs stomach if its feeling a little off apparently it was very common when dogs were wild for them to eat soil then and my vet says its just something that some dogs still do. Microflora and bacteria work together to help digest food and process waste. At the time Rodney wasnt absorbing his food properly because he wasnt well and this was one of the main key indicators the amount of soil he was trying to shovel down his throat, he has always eaten grass and the odd occasional soil but nothing like he was at this time I mean mouthful after mouthful so we had to fence the garden and remove all pots.

Basically my vet said small amounts occasionally are nothing to worry about but if a dog is eating lots get them checked out.

The main danger is worrying about what is in the soil though if you dont know its source or in a strange place ie fertilizers, chemicals, slug pellets so be careful. In Rodneys case cat poo that left him even iller with a severe dose of worms that it took us 12mnths to clear up as the steroids etc in the body from his medication was acting against him and his immunities were so low already.

Thanks for that will keep an eye on him

[greyhaven]

I looked for this thread because Holly has just gone out and eaten some soil from one of the plant pots.
It's clean and no nasties in it.
I thought it may be because she is on AB's and feels a bit sick or because of her mouth being horrible. we have no grass for her to eat....but hasn't eaten any on walks anyway.
Lisa's reply has put my mind at rest and I will mention it tomorrow when Holly goes for her dental.
Sue xx