I have an 11 month old girl who has just started eating dirt on her morning runs. She is still on Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy and a small meat bone once a week as a treat. I noticed her coat looks very dull but she is shedding her winter coat now. Does anyone have any thoughts as to why she may have started this I cannot think it it related to nutrition? I worry she could get a parasitic infection because you never know what's in NYC park dirt...

That reminded me that I also had a question about grazing. I went out with the Lab gang and the 1 Cocker last night and all preceeded to go out and eat grass. It looked like a bunch of cows in my back yard. I feed Pro Plan and Canidae. What is all the grazing about??

I dont' know if this could be or not... but I'd swear there are some kind of little grubs in the ground a certain time of the year because every year for a few weeks, it looks like moles have dug these perfect little holes about 4 inches deep, and the dimension of a Labbie nose!! I don't know what else they could be after... it's almost hilarious to look at the yard, someone else might wonder what went off in our yard!

So we just keep after filling in the holes and in a few weeks, it's all over with.

I have one who will scoop up dirt with her lower jaw, eat dirt clumps, dig holes to get dirt to eat, etc. One solution is to give her a toy to carry--she can't eat if her mouth is full.

The other solution was to rock my one exercise pen--I think I posted earlier that we used limestone as the base and crushed limestone as the top surface. They can't or won't dig in it because it is hard, and the dirt is gone, so she can't scoop dirt any more...except for the few dirt clods she has found around the edges of the fence!

My other exercise pen is 3/4 acre of nice pasture grass. They "air" on the limestone, then go out in the pasture to play.

MK

My Labs eat dirt from around the base of trees and shrubs but only at ceryain times. They seem to have bouts of dirt eating. They also graze on grass like a bunch of sheep. Cow poo (wet or dry) is always nice but they never touch sheep poo! Maybe it is the dog's body telling them that they need certain vitamins and minerals that their diet does not contain? Even our so called "super premium" foods can't get the mix right maybe?

I read that if a dog eats dirt they have a vitamin deficeny.

We had a terrier years ago who did this and a holistic vet recommended putting Adolf's meat tenderizer in her food....sprinkled on top or also cod liver oil mixed in with the food.
This vet said that some dogs eat dirt because of a vitamin deficiency, that they are trying to replace what they are missing.

But as long as you are using a high quality food, the dog's vitamin needs should be being met.

Are there any deer in the area where the dog is eating the dirt? or cats that use that area? Maybe the dog is eating something in the dirt

Thanks everyone...there are not any deer in New York, but we have had alot of ground nesting birds and raccoons in Riverside Park...perhaps their poo is tempting her...