It might feel good on her mouth, since she's probably teething.

Otherwise, some dogs just like weird things. Our big guy, enjoys shredding the bark off logs, and chewing it, but not eating it. My little girl will eat grass clippings any chance she gets.

When you correct her do you replace the bark/root with something appropriate? Does she have her own things to chew on outside??

One of my huskies did this when she was young, and eventually outgrew it. She even ate a rose bush once - thorns and all. Never found a trace of blood from it either.

She seemed to lose her fascination with sticks soon after we got a real back yard of her own, when her focus changed to digging for moles.

My current Siberian eats dirt or bunny droppings or something I can't identify. Dogs are weird.

The dog I'm currently fostering really loves the super hard flavored chew bones, not sure what brand I got, but like a Nylabone I guess. These were too hard for my other dogs, but he loves them and the softer ones are gone too fast. So when I find him with something he shouldn't have, I take away the wrong thing and give him one of his bones or stuffed toys or something of his. With consistency they do learn.

You dont specify where you are when this is taking place. Is your dog on a walk with you or out in your back yard...Do you leash walk your dog at all?? If so, maybe some more leash walking with a bumper or other tpye of retriever toy for your dog in place of the plant material.

I had a dog that ate sticks of all kinds every time she was outdoors. . She kept my backyard very neat. It didn't seem to hurt her. She chewed them up thoroughly and also ate dog food. She never had intestinal problems.

Thank you for the responses. First we are in our own back yard when this happens. I do walk her around 2 blocks(.8miles) in the morning and afternoon(before the kids come home from school) unless it is raining. I am not physically capable of walking her more than that. Then I throw a tennis ball for her, for about 15-20 min. then she looses interest. I make her bring it back by calling her when I see she does not want to play any more, so we have ended with success, just as I end her other training with something she knows. Her eating bark usually happens when I am working in the garden or picking up the yard, or even when we are just sitting around. I then will replace it with one of her outside toys she has lots of ropes. She will give it a couple of chews then will quit(I praise her when she does chew it). I have a large Kong for her but no matter what I put in it she seems to not have any interest in it. I will look for the nylabones, and try them. She never has seemed like a big chewer, she has many ropes and a hard rubber dog tire, but has not chewed on any thing else that she should not like furniture, shoes, or the kids toys. It seems like if she cannot eat it she don't want it. Could her food be missing something she needs and she is eating roots and bark to make up for it. Are dogs that smart? Maybe I should try her on another food?