My dog eats my biochar

I burn it, crush it, then inoculate it for a week.  Then I dig it into the soil and cover it up so it doesn't dry out.  

Unfortunately, she can smell the inoculant in it and digs it up and starts eating it.  

I chase her away, when I can see her doing it.

She stops eating it after it has been in the soil for a few days.

Whaddya think? Serious problem or just cute?

John S
PD OR

Dogs are crazy over fermented stuff. I have endless challenges keeping them out of my semi-anaerobic compost bins. It's not necessarily bad for them, but I don't want them barfing giant steaming piles on the living room carpet either. Which I have to scoop up at 3 am.

I feel animal know what is missing from their diet and will seae those things out.

Charcoal is not a bad thing,  Maybe your dog ate something bad and like humans looked to charcoal for a remedy.  I did at least once ...

You could turn the problem into a solution and use your dog as an inoculation agent
Just soak the char in something she likes, feed it to her, and warm compost the dog turds...

I don't see a problem as long as you can collect her poop and use it 🤣

my dog is not allowed in my garden for this very reason. and if I add composted bokashi or activated biochar or whatever to my containers in the front yard, he'll reach through the fence to try to dig it out. It must smell as good as cat poo!
I don't know about the mechanics of larger chunks of charcoal in the guts of a dog, whether they will break down or cause an impaction (or maybe you powder up your charcoal for all I know). I'd be most concerned about that, rather than anything else.

She poops in the garden and I just slide it underneath some mulch.  She also poops elsewhere and we bag it and toss it.  

John S
PDX OR

I have read that around 100 years ago it was normal to have charcoal bits in feed for at least cows. I don't know what temperature the char was made at (which can make a difference) or if they inoculated it. However, it was considered beneficial for their guts and my recollection is that cows that got it were healthier and less likely to get sick than cows that didn't get it.

Then after the war, vitamins and antibiotics were cheap and the practice was abandoned.

I sprinkle biochar into my two duck runs. which usually also have some chickens in with, and the chickens certainly peck at it.

Dogs are scavengers, and are certainly known to eat things that *aren't* good for them. However, I suspect it isn't doing them any harm. I think I've even read in certain circumstances, humans ingesting it. It may be helping their gut biome.

I try to read up on health ideas, because I am not a young man.  

Many health professionals advocate the use of charcoal in particular circumstances.  I think they really mean char that hasn't been inoculated but has been crushed.   It takes out heavy metals and other contaminates. It is specifically advocated in the case of known poisonings or high levels of heavy metals.  Unfortunately, it also removes crucial minerals that we need in our diet.  I have considered it, but I am currently using more gentle methods of detox. Mostly high plant/fiber intake with some specifics. I mostly follow the Medical Medium model, but many different advocates suggest cilantro, spirulina, and blueberries, so it's not that different from other ones.  I am a little skeptical of the flashy people who get on there and say "I will  detox you in 4 days!!" Seems like a scam to me.  Just my opinion.  

It makes sense to me that dogs and animals would instinctively do that.  She has thrown up a few times recently.

John S
PDX OR

Is it the biochar the dog wants, or the inoculant? Raw charcoal is probably fine, but depending on what you inoculate with, that could be good or bad, I suppose. Would the dog eat raw charcoal if offered?

Good point. I haven't offered yet.  The inoculant has nutrition, of course, but it's nutrition for plants, and even more importantly, for the microbes in the soil.   I guess I could try and offer some to her to see.

John S
PDX OR