Eating Dirt (geophagia)

Let's talk about eating dirt. First, see your vet, because anemia, mineral deficiencies, and gastrointestinal issues can all drive geophagia. Your dog may be trying to supplement something missing in the diet.

Once the vet rules out a medical cause, the fix is supervision plus enrichment, not punishment. Step one: the dog is not outside unsupervised until the dirt-eating stops. That means a leash in the yard, every single time, for two solid weeks.

Step two: rotate novel chews and frozen Kongs so the dog has a legal outlet for the chewing instinct. Step three: train the dog for your family and your neighbors, not just yourself. That means the dog does not eat the garden bed, the kid's sandbox, or the neighbor's tulip bulbs.

Now, the deeper fix: dirt-eating is a missing-outlet problem. Give the dog something legal to chew, and the dirt loses its appeal. Now here's Steve's notes.