My puppy eats dirt - please help

My 3 months old G.Retriever puppy picks and eats everything he finds on his way, especially in the garden where its mostly grass, mud, he chews on stones etc. I'm trying to take those away from him as soon as I spot him on it but he then goes off and picks something else. He has plenty of chewing toys yet still he prefers dirty sticks, stones and soil. I am worried that one day I wont see him eating "the rubbish" and he will get ill. Does anybody know how can I prevent it or teach him not to? Or maybe it's not dangerous for him? I know that eating grass by dogs in normal but what about the rest of things he picks up?
Please, can anyone advise me on that?

He's a puppy, and puppies explore things with their mouths! The best way of making sure he doesn't eat something harmful when you're not looking is to never leave him out unsupervised. Sticks and stones can cause problems if swallowed so do be careful. Don't imagine grass or dirt is that harmful but it could cause the transfer of lungworm to the puppy if there is lungworm in the area so something to be aware of and make sure you're treating for (using Advocate as your flea treatment will treat for lungworm - there's no prevantative but two doses, a month apart, will treat any infestation).
Otherwise I'd keep encouraging him to chew on proper chew toys - keep offering them as an alternative when he seems in a "chewy mood" and good luck!

Thank you!

Your dog will eat a lot worse than earth, believe me.....
You`ll just have to keep an eye on him to check he`s not actually swallowing anything harmful, but at his age he needs to explore stuff.
If you make a fuss about him eating something it can turn into a wonderful way for him to get your attention, so try offering a chew or toy instead. Playing with him is a great way to encourage him to play with toys rather than stuff you don`t want him to have.

Absolutely! I have had to fence off our compost heap for each puppy I've had because they will eat the horrible slimey compost! My old girlie seems to still eat earth (at nearly 14) unless it is grass roots, I'm not sure, but she's always digging little holes. It could be ants, I've seen her eat those on the patio in the summer!

Oh I remember it well!!! My puppy at this age used to pick up the big chunks of limestone gravel out the back, look at me knowing I wanted to get it off her, so she'd TRY and make a chase me game out of it, but I was far too smart to fall for that one so if a toy/ball didn't work to get her attention and get her to drop it, then a treat always did! One step ahead - remember that, it's important at this age, coz he might just get hold of something that could really do him some harm, so you really need to get to grips with some kind of avertive action that works.

I had a real scare one day when I saw she had something quite dangerous in her mouth out in the garden (can't remember what it was now), so I nonchalently walked past her as if I hadn't even noticed, before she could run off with it, and got down on the floor and started to play with her, and I managed to get it out of her mouth quickly. Oh it's really frightening some times the things they get in those tiny mouths isn't it!

I suggest you always have a few small treats in your pockets for out in the garden or out and about, and practice the "drop it" command with everything he picks up, and he'll soon learn it, make it fun, and you could end up saving his life one day! It's never too early to teach important stuff like this.

Earth and stuff never seems to be a problem, except with possible worms, but there are no end of things that could harm or choke them out there at this tender age.

Treats is the only way of getting him to drop what he has in his mouth and oh, how well I know the "catch me if you can" game, especially when I'm in a hurry - he seems to sense that
I just got rally worried when my friend told me, that her doggy swallowed a stone once and he had to have surgery, otherwise he would have died.. , and since then I am really obsessed with him munching on anything other than his toys.