Eating dirt

[Dutch in America]

So, does anyone out there have a dog fascinated with dirt?
I mean digging in it, and just plain eating dirt? Munching on it like it is candy.
It doesn't seem to bother him digestively, but it makes me wonder if this is normal Dutchy
Behavior or puppy stuff or a sign of a nutritional deficiency.
Anyone with any ideas about this?

[Stacy_R]

It could be a lot of things...boredom, he could be smelling something good (slugs, yummy bugs, etc) and trying to get at them, gastric upset, vitamin or mineral deficiency, or thyroid problems...
What are you feeding him?

[Dutch in America]

Well, he's not bored for sure. He is getting Fromm gold large puppy food which Christie recommended plus some meaty bones, and he does chase bugs. He looks pretty silly galumphing after butterflies. He doesn't eat large amounts of dirt. Just sorta nibbles it, maybe it is bugs he is after. He just got a clean bill of health from the vet, so I doubt thyroid issues.

[Raven]

I don't know how long you've had him and I can only relay the one experience I had with an adopt who did it. In this instance, as training and bonding progressed, the dirt-eating lessened until it didn't exist. It really did seem as though it was a default behavior ("I'm not sure what to do and/or what's going on, so I'll do this.")

[Stacy_R]

Sharon has a good point in that it could be (and probably is) just a default behavior. But just be aware that unless your vet does a full thyroid panel, a standard CBC or T4 test is not adequate to determine if there is a thyroid problem. The only way to properly diagnose is with a complete thyroid antibody profile, and not just a total t4 or a T4v , free T4 and TSH. 4.

[johninny]

before getting too involved with all that, i would return to Stacy's 1st thought and try to confirm through very careful observation whether Ranger is eating dirt or bugs. ''munching on it like it is candy'' suggests it is slugs he is smelling, digging up, and eating - because it IS candy, tho very healthy candy. it will require not only careful but also very timely observation. if there are slugs, most will be devoured in seconds and his continued attention to the soil is simply aimed at capturing any last tidbits.
[ hope you do not apply commercial stuff to your lawn! ] [ and, do you have moles in FL? i suppose you do, but not sure. if he is eating slugs, it helps keep moles out of your yard/garden since they are attracted to the slugs more than anything else. so Ranger may be performing an invaluable service.]

[Karin]

Could also be just being a puppy. Tygo was very interested in the roots of grass, grass, mud… he is outgrowing it at 6 months. What I have learned from him… or remember as I have not had a puppy in a long time, it is that everything is in the mouth. I only step in forcefully if it is rocks or metal, mushrooms, and some plastics. Otherwise I do my best to distract with other yummy stuff.
Best!

[Raven]

Never heard of the correlation between the slug and mole population. Thor doesn't eat slugs but we have them...and moles. He won't dig for moles, but should one come out and dare to move above ground--uh-oh--but he drops it when told (though it'd probably be kinder for the mole to let Thor finish it off).

I can see how slugs might be tempting for dogs to eat, though. A three-year-old I once knew ate some out of curiosity and announced quite happily that they tasted like honey. (Only an inquisitive three-year-old could have gotten over that slime and the squiggly feel in the mouth--wonder if that's how that Zimmern guy started eating anything and everything...?)

[johninny]

each dog to his own. as far as i know, none of my current lot eat slugs.TD could be racing at top speed across the yard; if he stopped on a dime and started digging, i knew he had just flown over some slugs and sensed dessert. he never touched the moles themselves and they competed with me for tasty food plantings, especially fennel and some other delicate perennial herbs - which i found so frustrating and expensive.

after he died, the slugs proliferated and moles were everywhere [ probably by a factor of 20x or so !], destroying my garden at a phenomenal rate. i tried blowing them up with fire and smoke bombs planted in their tunnels; smoke would rise from the grass all over the yard. i tried burying tasty poison pellets inside their tunnels. i spent many hundreds of $s on all this and the mole population just kept increasing as did its appetite for my crops. [ i mostly feed myself with what i grow, so this is fairly important to me.]

then Sakima arrived. he had no desire to eat slugs, but has an amazing talent for sniffing out and then digging up moles. he has taught the others to [at least ] assist; they know what they are looking for and have become fairly efficient themselves. there are very few moles left - almost none if i were to venture a guess, but the dogs are still finding a few babies whereas before it was adults.

[Raven]

Your story of the present mole vs. DS situation reminds me of a working GSD that had to retire early. Too early to lay in front of the home fire and be happy. Ended up the adopted owner discovered the dog had a nose for a particular and evasive weed on the property. The owner was an OCD weed-picker and unable to keep up with the weeds to their standard; the GSD caught on about the weeds and could smell them before they sprouted. Wherever the GSD stood and wouldn't budge...the owner knew where to start digging.

This particular dog found a home with a owner who was rather particular about a particular weed. Funny how symbiotic relationships can be formed out of happenstance. Serendipity.

[Stacy_R]

Tyson doesn't care about slugs...crickets and flying insects, however, are a different story altogether. I've never had a dog who could snap a moth out of mid-air. Moles and mice are playthings... In fact, just today he found a mole who had made the unfortunate decision to come topside and he proceeded to flip it in the air over and over almost nailing me with it once...LOL.

John - Sakima and Tyson would make a good pair!!!

Sharon - I love the story about GSD "weed-notifier"!!

[Raven]

I guess it's as John said: to each dog his own.

Birds, of course, are prey, and they are for Thor (and he got one once). Winged insects were nothing to him until one day...then suddenly bees and wasps outside and flies indoors he started "chomping" after. (Nothing he would've gotten from the husband or me since we don't react to bees, wasps, flies, etc.. I suspect one pissed him off one day....And due to a temporary swelling of one his giddies once, I suspect he got a insect that stung him inside his mouth.

The sweetest thing for me to watch is Thor with butterflies and dragonflies. He lets them do whatever they want. Fly around, circle about, land, it doesn't matter. There's white moths...they're pretty flappy in flight with a haphazard, in-your-face motion...and Thor's reaction reminds me of my last Dutch's with the white moths--like they belong together...like there's a loving, unwritten code between the two species. The song "Dog and Butterfly"....

But the minute a butterfly, dragonfly or white moth bulks up and goes Chuck Norris on Thor, all bets are off.

[Dutch in America]

Well, it could be slugs, though I can't say I have seen him with one. As far as moles and gophers, when we first bought this house a little over a year ago, there were mole hills and gopher mounds all over the place. Looked like a mine field. Elwood, one of the Danish/Swedish farmdogs took care of that within a month. No more gophers or moles to be seen. He has taught, or should I say, encouraged Ranger in this. They can be seen digging together if there is any sign of a pesky rodent. So, he probably is "tasting" dirt to see if there is anything yummy in it. He is just over 4 months old and growing nicely, I have no real worries about his health. So, I guess the bottom line is he will either grow out of this or we will run out of slugs and other subterranean goodies? (And,no, he did not dig that whole pile, my husband did that for a sprinkler system Ranger is helping him with).

[Karin]

He sure looks happy and content with himself! LOL

[Dutchringgirl]

OMG Ranger looks so cute !!

Funny thing, Thalie has a new dirt fascination too. She never seemed to so anything like that, but last summer I put some new dirt down in front of my doors to the basement, and she would just sit and eat it.

[Raven]

Lisa's post reminded me that dogs love cocoa mulch though it is toxic to them. Not saying the dog is eating dirt because cocoa mulch is spread around someone's property, just seemed timely to mention it. (We have tons of mulch that "composted" with our soil over the years.)

[Dutchringgirl]

thanks Sharon, never heard of Cocoa mulch !! Thanks for mentioning it.