Would you change food?

Laurelin

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#1
My dogs both eat the red clay around here. I am assuming based on a quick google search that the soil here has very high iron content.

They were both digging into the ground and eating the dirt at agility tonight and my trainer suggested that it might be a sign that they were missing something in their diets? Would you change up their diet? I can't remember if they've always eaten the dirt but I know they have for a long time on different foods. I have pictures from a year or two ago where Mia's eaten dirt and it's all over her face.

Right now they are on a mixed diet with the base kibble being Acana Regionals (rotating flavors), Stella and Chewy's raw, Ziwipeak dehydrated (training meals), and very occasionally canned food.
 

crazedACD

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#4
I wouldn't either. It sounds like you are feeding a great mix of foods. I don't really get the "because they are doing ___ behavior, they are missing something in their diet". Maybe it's just me but it seems like something people say when they don't really know what's going on :p.
 

Lyzelle

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#7
I wouldn't either. It sounds like you are feeding a great mix of foods. I don't really get the "because they are doing ___ behavior, they are missing something in their diet". Maybe it's just me but it seems like something people say when they don't really know what's going on :p.
Yeah, pretty much this. If there was a way to check their iron levels, you could try that, but just because they are eating dirt I wouldn't rush out and buy a different food. *shrug* And even if you checked their iron levels and they were high/normal/low, unless you have baseline normals for your dogs, I don't think they would tell you much anyway.
 

Losech

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#8
Acana has a TON of iron in it. I highly doubt it's an iron deficiency.
The dogs probably just like the taste or texture of the dirt. My dogs all eat grass, but they don't have any sort of problems that would be remedied by eating grass. They just like it. One of them eats crunchy brown leaves. A friend's dogs eat sand. No problems with them either. And what about dogs who eat rocks? They probably aren't eating the rocks because of a mineral deficiency.
Dogs are funny creatures.
 
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#11
All good foods

My dogs both eat the red clay around here. I am assuming based on a quick google search that the soil here has very high iron content.

They were both digging into the ground and eating the dirt at agility tonight and my trainer suggested that it might be a sign that they were missing something in their diets? Would you change up their diet? I can't remember if they've always eaten the dirt but I know they have for a long time on different foods. I have pictures from a year or two ago where Mia's eaten dirt and it's all over her face.

Right now they are on a mixed diet with the base kibble being Acana Regionals (rotating flavors), Stella and Chewy's raw, Ziwipeak dehydrated (training meals), and very occasionally canned food.
As far as commercial pet foods go, you're feeding great stuff.
 

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