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Old May 3rd, 2008, 02:20 PM
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Sylvie Sylvie is offline
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Has anyone had the problem of their dog eating dirt.

All of a sudden my 2 females are eating dirt out of my garden and out of my plants.

Does anyone know what this means??
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Old May 3rd, 2008, 02:48 PM
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what are you feeding them? did you add anything to the soil?

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Old May 3rd, 2008, 03:29 PM
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Ours often eat mud this time of year. Never have been able to figure it out--they get a high-quality kibble with tasty supplements (pumpkin, probiotics, plain yogurt and omega-3s and -6s) and they still eat it! They prefer soil that has high organic content.

It does have a tendency to firm up their stools nicely.
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Old May 3rd, 2008, 04:27 PM
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I have had patients exhibit this behavior and also not found a cause. Sometimes there can be a reason but usually there are other signs as well or something in the dirt (buried animal, etc..).

As an aside, there are several American Indian tribes that when they traveled to new locations would eat small amounts of dirt whenever they ate new plants or berries. There are also some exotic mammal species that will do this. The dirt acts as a carbon filter for toxins. We use a medication with this mechanism today in our veterinary and human hospitals for toxin ingestion - activated charcoal. I have heard it theorized that this may be an answer as to why some domesticated animals may exhibit this behavior. Just a thought...
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