Hi all, My darling almost 5 month old 'Enya' was put on a course of Metronidazole (when she had bloody diarrhea a few days ago). She is now on a bland diet of boiled rice, chicken, pumpkin and some yogurt. Her diarrhea has stopped and the poop is firm. The fecal test came back negative for parasites...phew! But, she has become this crazy scavenger while on walks. She will constantly keep putting things in her mouth (mulch, gravel, rocks etc.) She has now started eating mud and it is a nightmare to keep her from doing it. Is it bcoz of the diarrhea and medication? I am at my wits end. I literally pulled out a big ball of mud that she had hidden in her cheek Has anyone experienced similar situations...what is your advise? Thank you!
Glad she's over the diarrhoea incident! Some pups do take up the habit of eating really weird stuff. My first dog wanted to eat pine bark, wood chips, cigarette butts and snails as a pup. Obviously none of which were a good idea at all! We just had to be vigilant, trying to avoid these things as much as possible and removing them from him when he got them. It didn't last - he grew out of it, and that is the norm. To be honest I'd just advise you to do the same - try to avoid these objects (not easy, I know!), distract with food, and remove (swap for food) when she gets stuff you don't want her to have. She should stop being interested in these things at some point. I wouldn't be terribly worried about the mud - I'd be mainly trying to prevent her from eating stones and other solid objects. It's hard to say why they do it.. I'd say is partly exploring and curiosity. Young Labradors just love having stuff in their mouths.
Nibbler eats mud too -the smellier the better. I just tryto redirect him with a squeaky ball in my pocket. He found some horse manure last night and wouldn’t come away from it - i walked away and went and hid behind a tree so he got inquisitive and came and found me . When he did though he was so excited to find me that he jumped up and kissed me full on the mouth tongues and everything - Yuk.
Yup Bailey used to eat mud (and fox poo) too. We had a nightmare with it when he was about 10 weeks old (not fully vaccinated). We would try and distract (almost impossible), swap for treats (better results) and just hung in until he grew out of it. Occasionally now if he sees a nice big lump of mud he will pick it up and run around with it in his mouth until he gets fed up with it and pootles off to find something else - don't think he as actually eaten any mud for a long time now.
Ripple ate everything and anything as a puppy, he's refined it a bit now but he still likes to eat the odd worm cast in amongst the poo, grass, twigs etc that he still eats .
Thank you for your kind responses! I am so so glad I found this forum...It helps me to remain sane I guess I will keep trying to redirect her and the occasional mud ball is fine I guess
Coco is a mud muncher when he comes across a big pool of it - zooming through and snaffling it up. Sometimes it gives him a runny bum for a poo or two, usually it has no effect.
I thought it was because it coated the bowel, but positive and negative ions sound so much more likely
Made me think of my baby brother who used to eat sand, lie down with his face in it just gobbling it up. The doctor said it may be due to a mineral deficiency, my mother wasn't perticularly concerned as far as I remember. He also shared the dogs food.
