# Eating dirt.



## Golden_girl (Oct 29, 2007)

Okay, my house is divided into two parts. Most of the house is inside but to get to the study you need to go outside. When my dad visits he sits in the study and Hercules comes and sits at the door outside the study. That's fine, yeah.

But recently Hercules would just sit there and eat dirt/potting mix out of a nearby pot. Why does he do this. Is it boredom? Is there some nutrients in the soil that he's missing out on and eats the soil in order to catch up. Is eating dirt bad for him? 

P.s. I cook Hercules' food myself. Usually its oatmeal with raw meat, broccoli, lettuce, tomato and sometimes chicken and cheese or sardines.I also put in liver and kidney (but not with the other meats) The reason I do this is because I don't believe that he can possibly be content with eating canned/ dry food. It's like humans eating conserves and tinned food all the time. It'd definitely make me miserable. 
I remember when we just got him the breeder said to feed him a cup of dry food twice a day. After about a week Hercules completely stopped eating the kibble and only ate the little treats that we gave hime during training sessions. I figured that he is bored of eating gravel (if you'll pardon the expresion) and I started cooking for him.

Please don't bash me for cooking for him. The vet said its ok. 

Thank you. 
-Julia and H-man.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

bumping up for more opinions


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## LifeOfRiley (Nov 2, 2007)

Golden_girl said:


> But recently Hercules would just sit there and eat dirt/potting mix out of a nearby pot. Why does he do this. Is it boredom? Is there some nutrients in the soil that he's missing out on and eats the soil in order to catch up. Is eating dirt bad for him?


I don't know. I've heard that their eating dirt _can_ mean that certain minerals are missing from their diet.
Riley and Gunner used to do it, too. Riley was just a pup, but Gunner was 4 1/2 when he started doing it, so I didn't know if something was lacking in their diet or if Gunner just saw the pup doing it and it was a 'monkey see, monkey do' sort of thing.
When I changed their food and put them on a brand that's supposed to be better, their dirt-eating stopped. I don't know if the food is what did the trick or if it was simply coincidence and they both, simultaneously, decided to listen to me and stop doing it. I find that a little unlikely and tend to think that the food probably had more to do with it.

I wouldn't bash anyone for home-cooking their meals, but I think it can be tricky business. There's so much to consider - not only what you're feeding, but how you cook it, to make sure that they're getting all the nutrients they need.


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## Goldbeau (Mar 29, 2008)

Beau eats dirt too. I have him on Canidae ALS, which is supposed to be good quality. It has gotten so bad with him digging holes and eating mud/dirt that right now I don't let him in the back yard unless he is on a lead. I wouldn't mind the digging so much, but when I see him scarfing down mud its a little too much to take! 

I am trying to train him to "leave it" with mud/dirt by giving him a treat when he leaves the dirt alone. We just started, but it did work with the gravel he was trying to eat in the dog run.... lol.


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## lalala (May 3, 2008)

Cody used to go crazy for the garden soil...and I found out he was after the bone meal. I usually add some bone meal to my flower garden. I had to watch him very closely in the backyard for that reason. Do you mix any fertilizer into your soil? Just watch for it because some (like bone meal) sometimes contain high level of lead and other toxic elements.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

I think it's great that you cook for your dog, but please be sure to do lots of research if you haven't already. With home cooked or raw, there are usually different supplements that need to be added to maintain the proper nutritional balance.

He could be eating dirt due to boredom - started that way and became a habit, or it could be a nutrient missing from his diet.


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