Anyone else's dog like to eat sawdust?

[Oww My Back Hurts]

I'm cutting up a big maple trunk and I looked over and my dog is over there eating the pile of sawdust. Is that normal? Is it bad for her?

 

[Woody Stover]

Mine only eats Dogwood.

 

[Big Donnie Brasco]

My knucklehead stands beside me waiting to snatch EVERY single split one after the other and run off with them

 

[Trilifter7]

My knucklehead stands beside me waiting to snatch EVERY single split one after the other and run off with them

Yep, my dogs do the same. I occasionally come home to find a split pulled from the stacks sitting out in the middle of the yard. It's funny considering they are first ones to curl up in front of the stove during the winter

 

[lukem]

My dog eats more wood than a termite. He'll grab a stick, lay down, and just eat it. He's a Lab....the goat of the dog world...eats anything.

 

[Woody Stover]

My dog eats more wood than a termite. He'll grab a stick, lay down, and just eat it. He's a Lab....the goat of the dog world...eats anything.

No kidding! Ours is a Lab mix. Labs are mouth-oriented, and we think ours might have a little Pit also, so he can chew up the wood even faster. I try to keep him on the softer woods and away from the splintery stuff like Oak....

 

[Boom Stick]

My labradoodle will take a small split or a random piece of bark and walk off, lay down and chew it up. When he is done he will come back to me and look for another piece to chew on. By the time he is done It takes me 5 minutes to walk around the yard to clean up his mess so I don't hit it with the mower. The whole time I am out splitting he will do this. Makes him happy

 

[Big Donnie Brasco]

my 115 pound American Bulldog will carry off 50 pound half-rounds of split oak!

 

[goldfishcastle]

Our German shedder thinks it is very nice for us to get him a new, huge, stick collection every year. But sawdust? Wow, you have your hands full.

 

[USMC80]

My knucklehead stands beside me waiting to snatch EVERY single split one after the other and run off with them

Same here

 

[Mr A]

My dog loves to chew on the wood. I haven't seen her take any from the wood pile yet though. she really like the mulberry. I had bought some apple cherry and pecan wood chunks for the barbecue smoker. I go out to get the smoker going and can't find the bags of wood chunks. Dog took all three bags off the table outside and buried them. She would never take food off the table, unless she forgot how much trouble she was in that ONE time she did. I had the dog a few weeks, from the shelter. She stole a whole steak right off the barbecue.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Never heard the sawdust one. My dog could nurse a piece of pine for hours.

 

[WellSeasoned]

My rottie ate everything. But when he started eating concrete chunks that were breaking apart, I knew we wasnt right in the head.

 

[peakbagger]

The mill I used to work for made something called floc which was finely ground paper. One of the major users of floc was the pet food industry. Americans tend to overfeed their dogs so floc is used to bulk up dog food so the owner can give their dogs bigger portions. The dog cant digest cellulose (ground paper) so it goes right through and acts as a source of fiber. The net result is happier owners as they think rover deserves lots of food and more dog poop on the lawn. Many of the high end dog foods contain little or no floc or other fillers and usually discreetly note that the dog will generate less "waste" . Kind of hard to set up an advertising campaign about this benefit.

By the way they used to make Less bread for people, I think they used ground straw but the effect was the same.

 

[Lake Girl]

My german shepherd has a nice collection of sticks that she come back with when on walks - small bonfire ready to go Never had a dog eat sawdust ... just sawdust from maple or other varieties? Something to do with the sap maybe?