[Dailydrool] Tilly eating dirt?

[Dave and Sue Autry]

Help Drool family!!

My preciouse red and white 4 yr old basset just had a precancerous tumor removed from her back and is doing great except for her NEW behavior of eating the black dirt under my new sod in the play area.  In my 42 married years with MANY dogs, this is my first fenced play yard!!  My 3 dogs have loved it and our full lab Phoebe and the puppy - half lab and-half basset - have a race track marked out already.  But Tilly, has just started this bad habit of eating the exposed dirt under  some of the sod which has died.  I told the vet about it and he laughed!!  Her stools are black but his tests are OK.

I tried to take a piece out of her mouth on Sunday and she is very protective of anything in her mouth.  I should have known better.  But my dog trainer taught me to touch her tail and confidently take whatever she has away.  Well, she did not loosen her grip like she usually does and she bit me on the back on the hand.  It bled and started to swell and now I am on antibiotics and the swelling  just atarted to go down.  

I have started walking her down the street more often and putting a leash on her in the large play yard to keep her from eating the dirt.  I have a yard man that is getting me some chicken wire to place over the bare spots until the grass starts to fill in to cover up the exposed dirt.  Any one else ever have this problem with their bassets?  Love, Slave Sue to Tilly, Phoebe and Harvey and the crew ATB
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