My pit goes nuts over wood. Currently he is served 2 parts Purina puppy chow to 1 part Natural Choice (in process of switching to adult food) but any time there's *anything* wood (unvarnished) he eats it. Doesn't just chew it up... eats it. He has plenty of chew-toys and a Kong... I'm guessing maybe there's something nutritional he's missing that he gets from the wood? Oh, and the 3-part meal he is supposed to get every day (according to the package) he takes 2 days to eat. Any Ideas?
2006-09-26 14:59:33 · 6 answers · asked by MotherBear1975 6 in Pets ➔ Dogs
He's not teething, he finished that about 2 months ago...
2006-09-26 19:48:12 · update #1
Does'nt matter if he's teething or not.They chew wood to clean their teeth.
I've had dogs my whole life and every one has chewed wood and swallowed lord knows how much of it.There's nothing you can do about it other than take it away.
2006-09-27 00:57:09 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well I'm no expert but a have an English Springer Spaniel 6 mo. and he does the same thing. He doesn't have any problem with his food. I'm feeding him Purina one. In his case I think is just plain boredom. He likes the sensation of crushing the wood and also I think he does that to exercise his jaw muscles since wood is soft (to them ). The only problem I think is if they swallow the wood they may ingest the splinters and have a bigger problem when it get to the intestine.
Be sure he has toys of different textures. Some soft, some hard. Cow hide bones are attractive because of the texture and scent.
Hope this help.
2006-09-26 15:12:14 · answer #2 · answered by Manny L 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All puppys love to chew wood, plaster and anything they can get there little paws on. However, you have to be so careful because the wood can splinter and cause a lot of problems. There is something called Bitter Apple that you can spray on the items they are chewing and it supposed to repel the dogs from chewing it. I suggest you try another brand of food. Obviously, he doesn't like what he is getting. I mix Nutro dry food with A little biit of Beneful moist food and they love it. Good luck!
2006-09-26 15:13:17 · answer #3 · answered by caryl0318 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check with your vet about this one. There could be some nutritional imballance that is causing the problem. A simple IOF (internal organ function) will probably rule this out as a problem. Its not good for the digestive tract for him to be swalloing wood particles. It could splinter, cause a blockage, or puncture the stomach/intestinal lining opening the way for peritonitis (which can be a tough fix sometimes)
2006-09-26 15:15:38 · answer #4 · answered by thestreak 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wood is cellulose - most mammals - including humans and dogs - cannot digest it, meaning it is pretty much inert. Physiologically dogs are very similar to humans in many ways. A small number of mammals - beavers for example - have a type of bacteria in their intestinal lining that enables them to digest cellulose - so in a sense it's not the mammal actually doing the digesting - it's a symbiotic relationship between the bacteria and the mammal.
2006-09-26 15:08:10 · answer #5 · answered by Strangerbarry 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like your dog is teething. One of my dogs loved wood and chewed a shovel down to toothpick size.
2006-09-26 15:31:14 · answer #6 · answered by EW 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I found this off the Natures Variety dog food site! It explains Ash in dog foods! Ash Ash is the inorganic (non-carbon) mineral portion of any substance. When referring to dog and cat food, "ash content" is the mineral matter, such as magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and copper.
2016-03-18 01:44:03 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋