# Puppy eating tree bark??



## Mokes (Feb 6, 2010)

Is it ok for a dog to eat bark? Lily is 5 months old now and today I have puppy proofed the yard for escape.

We have an Ash stump in the back that is shedding dead bark and Lily apprently finds these better then dog treats, lol.

She really needs to be able to run free in the back. The JRT side of her is showing and she wants to sprint around.

Snow is just melting here and this is really the 1st warm day and the grass is exposed in places, so Lily is going metal sniffing and pawing at everything. There is really no way to control what she picks up unless we keep her leashed, which I hate to do....

Any advice is welcome!


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## Rosco (Jan 2, 2010)

My 16 week old BC pup chews on pinecones like they are crack, I cannot stop it. I got rid of every single one and he goes around digging ones up that are half rotted underground.

Every time I turn around he's got another one in his mouth, it's crazy.

I take them away whenever possible but he loooooves to play chase me with them in his mouth, so I just ignore him and eventually he drops it....eventually.


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## misty073 (Mar 31, 2009)

I wish my dogs would eat pinecones and bark...they always find deer poop and chow down before I realize the have gotten something in their mouth.


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## ShutterBug (Jan 21, 2010)

I was going to ask something similar. Now that the snow outside is melting (mostly due to the crazy rain we got last weekend), Mya spends all her potty time outside trying to eat as much grass and as many old dried leaves she can get her little mouth on. I'm wondering if eating this stuff can make her sick?


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## misty073 (Mar 31, 2009)

I would think that it would depend on the type of tree like I dont think cedar bark is ok to eat. And as long as the grass and leaves are not treated with anything they should be ok.


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## didee (Oct 18, 2009)

I had a conversation last year with a DVM behaviorist and the subject of pine cones and acorns came up. She said dogs should not eat either and even wrote it in the summary report which she gave to me. They can obstruct the dog's intestines. She was very adamant about this, which I thought was unusual.

I would assume the same is true for tree bark. Maybe you could peel the bark off the stump or find someone to grind it for you, but the dog will probably then eat mulch...

I know, it's so hard to enforce this. I have tons of oak trees and it's impossible to remove all the acorns. I had the pine tree cut down (but not because of the dog!).


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## DogPaw (Jan 11, 2009)

I would not let my pup out alone in the yard unsupervised. I would also not let him eat the bark. A little isn't going to hurt but if he's doing nothing but eating bark while out there then that's not good.

There are acorns all over the place here and Finn loves eating them. One day I was sitting outside with him and he ate some acorns which evidently ate just enough that he threw up all over the place. I was right there so I know it wasn't something else because I kept trying to get him to stop eating them. I finally had to put him in the house because he wouldn't stop.


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## Poly (Sep 19, 2007)

Some people speculate that this is just a form of _pica_, a behavioral issue where dogs eat stuff that provides no nutritional benefit. 

Others speculate that dogs eat the tree bark to get at the sap layer immediately underneath. The sap has sugar in it and the sweet taste attracts them. This would mean it is *not* pica because the dog *does* get nutrition - if only a very little - from the sugar content.

In any case, dogs really can't digest the woody material and it can cause intestinal upset if they eat too much. So it's not a good idea to allow this.


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## bklantz (Feb 14, 2010)

My puppy does the exact same thing! I have a 6 month Basset Hound and the other day I let her out and the first thing she did was jump up an put her paws on the tree and start trying to tear off pieces of bark, now that all the snow is melting she spends all her time trying to eat all the gross leaves and sticks on the ground!

I try to keep her off the completely melted areas when she's out but I fear it's going to be near impossible once all the snow melts completely!


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