Eating dirt...now.

[mydogGUS]

Gus has moved on from rocks to dirt and grass. (Well, it's a step up, right? ) We spoke to Gus' dog trainer about this and she suggested it may be something to do with Gus' diet--that he is not getting the minerals/vitamins he needs.

In another post, I mentioned Gus is using Eukanuba (wet). We have just switched him (with in the last two weeks) from Nutro--his gas was getting really unbareable.

Should we switch foods again? Should we get him vitamins? (Currently, the raw diet isn't an option for us.)

Thanks for your help!
Natalie & Todd

[Wookie'sMom]

I would say that a switch to a better food wouldn't hurt. If you search here you will come up with tons of great advice. It kind of sounds like you are going with stuff that PetSmart/Co have so the top recomendation there would be Royal Canin Natural Blend, but do some reading here and it will help you figure out what would work best for you and Gus.

[Judi W]

We humans always want a "reason" why our dogs are chewing and eating things that we don't consider edible, so we try to posit that it might be a diet deficiency.

Rarely rarely ever such a case. Generally it is because it tastes good or interesting! Heck, remember all the little kids that eat dirt or sand from the sand box and they're our same species!

[Patty1231]

I agree with Judi. My dog eats Canidae and takes Nuvet Plus and he still eats grass and dirt. I doubt there's anything lacking in his diet - he just likes to eat grass and dirt.

[mydogGUS]

Like owner, like dog. Back in the day I could be found under the swing-set eating handfulls of dirt. Ugh. "God made dirt and dirt don't hurt"--isn't that how the saying goes? '

I'll look into new foods on the site. Thanks.
Natalie.

[Judi W]

So now that I have reminded you - will you quit fussing about the dog eating dirt?

[mydogGUS]

Yes, yes, yes--of course. :)

We are also have a problem(?) with Gus not chewing his food--he just swallows it whole. Is this normal?

Thanks.

[spidey]

We are also have a problem(?) with Gus not chewing his food--he just swallows it whole. Is this normal?

Yep. Dogs don't have teeth that are very good at grinding, they just chew enough to get the food into pieces small enough to swallow.

[Rott'n'lab Mom]

Originally posted by spidey
Yep. Dogs don't have teeth that are very good at grinding, they just chew enough to get the food into pieces small enough to swallow.

Hence the expression 'wolfing it down'!