Dirt eating--does it indicate a deficiency?

[corbinam]

Just wondering if a dog that eats dirt/leaves does so because it has a nutritional deficiency. Lexi eats dirt any time she is outside without a job to do. She will do it in a down stay at the agility field, or if she's hanging out in our backyard.

I try to discourage it, but it doesn't seem to help.

 

[MavRyder]

I am not sure but both my shelties will eat anything and I mean anything!!
I remeber making a dog bed for Maverick when he was young and I dropped some foam chips on the floor. Yup he ate them.

 

[Paeoniaa]

Marlowe does it too At our nearby dog park, he insists on eating the dirt (he'll even pull up the grass to get at it). It had gotten to be such a problem that I started driving across town to another dog park that has a gravel surface.

 

[Caro]

All I can say is human children do it as well andi it doesnt indicate any deficiencies in them. Children have different taste to adults so probably find it tasty - or at least different. Maybe its the same with dogs.

Deska and a few of the other dogs we know will eat dirt when its moist (which doesnt often happen here). I only stop him when he starts digging up the worms and eating them (gives him stinky breatth)

 

[take4roll10]

My guess is that dirt eating is not a nutrient deficiency. I'm basing this off of the theory that some dogs eat their own feces because they have a deficiency and they can smell the nutrients in their poop. I don't think dirt has many nutrients

 

[Herd4fun]

it could be a bordom thing, it could also be PICA. Kids get it too and just involves either some drugs(talk to your vet) or watching them like a hawk.