My dog eats dirt and sand. Is he lacking nutrients or is this normal?

This is not normal for a puppy. He may be doing it out of boredom, curiosity or in an attempt to correct a nutritional imbalance. Restrict access to areas where there is dirt if possible. Monitor him for inappropriate licking and correct the behavior immediately. Provide a toy or task as a distraction. If he complies, praise and reward him. If possible, transition him slowly to a better quality puppy food. If the behavior persists, he will need to be examined by your veterinarian.

Eating diet can indicate that Red isn't getting enough nutrients, and if he was recently dewormed he may have just loss a lot of nutrients from his parasite load. I am not sure what parasites he was treated for or how bad his parasite infection was, but it can take several week to rid all the worms out of his system. Worms attach the intestines and eat all the nutrients in the pets diet, leaving most pets malnourished or even mildly anemic to some degree, which can in turn lead to dirt eating behavior. Once the parasites are gone most pets will discontinue this behavior. You can also supplement with a daily pet multivitamin (i.e. Hivite, Nutrical) for a few weeks until things go back to normal. Visit your local pet store to see what is available in your area. If there aren't any over the counter options suitable for you, then your vet should be able to prescribe something to help and also determine if his current diet is the best choice for him moving forward. I hope Red returns to his normal self soon. Take care.

It sounds like this may be a learned behavior for him since he is on a good quality diet and nutritional deficiencies are unlikely. I would recommend distracting him with some play time with his favorite toy in the morning when he tends to do this so you are not giving him attention (even though it is negative attention) for eating the dirt. In order to completely stop this behavior you may need to prevent his access to the dirt by putting something like a basket muzzle on him.

This may be a sign of gastric or intestinal pain. You should take him back for a recheck. This is called pica and needs to be investigated. Your vet will need to do blood tests, and x-rays. Mineral deficiencies and intestinal parasites have been indicated and your vet did address that. Your dog may also need a second dose of wormer. Sometimes this is caused by boredom also.

I see from your information that Zeus is a puppy. Puppies often find inappropriate things to play with and eat. I would try to engage Zeus in playing with some other (more appropriate) toys when he starts to eat dirt. You may also consider a feeding ball like a Buster Cube or similar. Make sure that Zeus is on a balanced large breed puppy food to make sure that he isn't missing any necessary minerals. And finally make sure you continue regular fecal testing and intestinal parasite dewormings as recommended by your veterinarian because there can be internal parasite eggs in soil. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and please let us know if you have any other questions.

Dogs that suddenly start eating non-food items such as dirt often are found to have a tummy ache or other gastrointestinal problems. I suggest you take Hannah to your vet for an exam. Your vet may want to do some blood work to help with diagnosing the problem.

I am sorry to hear Roxy isn't feeling well. Eating sand doesn't always mean a vitamin deficiency and even though she is defecating some sand out, it doesn't mean it all is coming out. I recommend taking her to a vet to look for intestinal parasites, which can sometimes cause them to eat things they shouldn't. It also sounds like she is nauseous (drooling) from eating too much sand and may need to have the sand removed. The vet may need to take x-rays to make sure she hasn't eaten something else with the sand. After that, I would keep her away from the sand so she doesn't continue to eat it. You may need to walk her on a leash to prevent her from eating it. Good luck and kisses to Roxy!