![]() The next dirt-eating danger comes if your dog is simply eating huge amounts of dirt, especially if the soil is really sandy. You need to be really careful with anything you put down, as even a seemingly harmless fertilizer might have the potential to cause serious issues. If you have applied any chemicals or poisons to your garden, a really dangerous example being metaldehyde slug and snail bait, then you really don’t want your dog tucking into their last ever meal. ![]() Your dog is eating huge quantities or very sandy soil When there are dangerous chemicals present ![]() The situations when you should be more concerned about your dog eating soil are: Is Eating Dirt Bad for Dogs?Īssuming that your dog is not unwell and they are eating a good quality diet (therefore eliminating the likelihood of a dietary deficiency or underlying disease), then there is actually little cause for concern in the vast majority of individuals. That said, if your pet does not appear happy, comfortable, or completely healthy, a check-up with your veterinarian will help eliminate the potential that something more serious is otherwise going unnoticed. Rarely, dirt eating might be a sign of an internal problem in your dog.Ī number of different conditions could result in your dog tucking into a meal of earth including:Įating soil because there's something wrong internally is not common. This habit will clearly depend on the soil you have, as well as any substances that may have been applied in the past. Often, this tasty dirt is limited to one particular spot or area. Some soils, those that are rich in certain minerals (like salts), might actually just be so tasty that, once your dog has had a taste, they can’t get enough! If eating dirt is one, it is often also accompanied by digging behavior, but it can also be seen alongside other destructive behaviors such as chewing, destroying items, and barking.īelieve it or not, your dog may just really enjoy eating dirt because they find it super tasty! Such boredom can lead to all manner of behavioral issues. Only getting a quick once-round-the-block in the evening if they’re lucky. To make matters worse, they may be stuck in the front room or yard with little enrichment or stimulation all day while the family is out of the house. They don't have the stimulation of needing to work for their dinner, either by finding the food in the first instance or having to solve a puzzle to access it. They eat their food in next to no time, and all there is to do is sit and wait for their next mealtime. It may be that they are fed a couple of times a day. You might not feel that your dog is bored, but the reality for many individuals is that they often have very little mental stimulation throughout the day. In fact, one of the biggest causes of a dog eating dirt is boredom. So if you are feeding a good quality diet, it is unlikely that your dog is eating dirt because of mineral deficiency. While this may have been a problem going back in time, with the advent of high-quality diets and better feeding practices, such nutritional deficiencies should really be a thing of the past. The thinking here is that if a dog’s diet is deficient in some mineral, they are intrinsically aware of this and try to correct this imbalance by eating mineral-rich earth. The first cause of dirt-eating, and perhaps the one that is most often considered, is a dietary deficiency.
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