piperspal Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 OK guys, we have a new pup at home, 7-8 week old rotti. In all other aspects he is a perfectly normal dog, detroying a bucket as we speak. :laugh: However he has one habit I have never struck in all my yearsof raising dogs (and there have been a few) in that is is obsessed by dirt. Not just rolling in it etc, but eating it as well. Dirt, small gravel, any little bits on the floor, it all ends up in his mouth. Is this normal? He has toys to play with, including ones he can get food out of, he is on large breed puppy food mixed with minced chicken frames and sardines 2x a week, he has baked treats he can chew on for a while, but he likes to eat dirt. Its so bad he has been literally chewing on a besser brick. The unfortunate thing at the moment here is we are redoing the back yard, which will then have grass, at the moment its gravel.The rest of hte yard is a mix of gravel and buffel, in Alice so for me to establish grass here would cost a fortune in water. He has 4 other dogs to play with and they all tolerate him really well. Any suggestions as to what it might be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noisymina Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 If skin kids start eating dirt, I usually think either (or both) worms and mineral deficiency of some sort. But then, he could just be crazy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Where was he raised ? did he have dirt? it may just be a novelty ...but, ingesting amounts of gravelly stuff will likely lead to problems no suggestions ..if all you have is dirt/gravel - just make sure he is getting all his minerals ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piperspal Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 Thanks guys, I am hoping its the novelty of dirt and it just tastes a bit different to where he is from!!! Might see if he settles if I give him some seaweed meal or something, shall let you know how we get on. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara8430 Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 My ol girl used to do that, she even ate sand. My vet said they think that they are missing something (deficiency) as mentioned above. Might just be a novelty though being a pup and all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*kirty* Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 One of mine used to eat dirt as a pup. She grew out of it thankfully. She had a good diet, I think it was just a game for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimax Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 When my pug was little she loved eating dirt and sand, but she grew out of it if I ignored her. If I told her off or gave her any attention when she was doing it, it became a game for her and she kept doing it. Now she just sucks on rocks, but doesn't actually swallow them. Although she does still love to smoosh her face into a big pile of dirt or sand :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 One of my Cavaliers decided at 7yo that eating dirt was good. I read feeding them some banana would stop the dirt eating. As strange as it sounds I did that and it worked. Maybe it's the potassium in the banana. If your pup will eat banana give him a couple of small pieces and see how he goes with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piperspal Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 Thanks CnR, shall try the banana trick. Would a seaweed meal type additive in his feed give him more minerals? The chewing of hte brink is what freaks me out, I worry he will damage his baby teeth and thus his adult teeth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Our ground is almost pure clay and all my dogs over the years have dug holes and eaten clay on and off at times, just like they eat grass, so I wouldn't be too concerned about the dirt but I would be very worried about a puppy eating gravel or any sort of rocks. A friend's 6 month old puppy nearly died several times over two weeks at the vets and required 2 or 3 surgeries to repair all the damage he had done to his gut. He had a stomach full of stones and extensive damage to the digestive tract from those that had already passed through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumof4girls Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Rogue loves frozen banana , you could try that for something different :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Thanks CnR, shall try the banana trick. Would a seaweed meal type additive in his feed give him more minerals? The chewing of hte brink is what freaks me out, I worry he will damage his baby teeth and thus his adult teeth. I give my dogs the seaweed Plaque Off and that didn't stop him from dirt eating. The banana did though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piperspal Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 Banana it is!!!!!! Thanks everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teekay Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Ooooooo I think i will give the banana a go too. We have recently had to spend $1600 on Luka as he had eaten a large amount of dirt which all compacted in his intestine The vets did do a blood test to see if there was a deficiency that was causing him to want to eat dirt, but everything was fine. It just tastes good, apparently I watch him like a hawk outside now but will give the banana a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I hope the bananas work for some but all my clay eating dogs always shared bananas with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigirl Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Word of warning, two pups here got into a large potted plant. They dug out and ate the putting mix ad the fertilizer we'd put in the potting mix. Bth dogs nearly died, thousands of dollars later and weeks of stress both pups survived. Fertilizer has so any nasties in it I'd never even considered my potted plants as a death tarp for my dogs! So with a dog that likes to eat dirt please make sure there aren't any pot plants he can get into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I hope the bananas work for some but all my clay eating dogs always shared bananas with us. It seems to work for some dogs so that surely makes it a worthwhile experiment. I doubt it would work for all dogs, some dogs are dedicated dirt eaters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Mosley was eating a big chunk of dirt the other day *rolleyes* I took it off him, threw it away (they don;t normally eat dirt so I wasnlt worried) and then 5 minutes later noticed Lili was eating the same bit ferals. Hope the banana works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piperspal Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 Thanks for the replies guys. Well its all go here this morning, I have him at the vets as he was very lethargic, wouldnt eat, shivering and generally not a happy little chappie. Considering last night he was busy detroying a bucket (no, he didnt eat any, just made it full of holes) my first thought was parvo. He has had some runny poos, but was wormed Friday as well. Waited at the car for the vet, lucky we have a wagon, but he just lay down and went to sleep. Vet checked him over, slight temp, no blood in his poos, not sore in the tummy (apparently another sign)so they are happy its not parvo. They suspect he has picked up a couple of bugs, one in his nose as he is very snuffly - but no discharge and his lungs are clear, and one in his tummy giving him the runny poos. Could be from food, something he has picked up while wandering around, so at the vets for 24 hours on a drip and started on ABs. Will call them this afternoon and see how he is, he wont be happy having the bucket on his head. :laugh: He did try to eat the vet tho, which I take as a good sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 (edited) ..could he have a pebble or two rattling around in there? Poor little guy When my boy had a foreign body in his gut ..we thought he had parvo..he had horrible diarrhoea ..with some blood .... Hope all goes well. Vet checked him over, slight temp, no blood in his poos, not sore in the tummy (apparently another sign)so they are happy its not parvo. did they do the test for parvo? As in sample swabbed from rectum ,and immediately tested ? Edited October 16, 2012 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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