Today i took my little staffie (18 wks) Maisie for a walk around our local lake. You know how proud you feel with everyone cooing at them when there babies ( that is except for the ingnorant ones who think staffs are killer devil dogs grrr that gets me mad!) well anyway i was feeling chuffed and so proud as she has just learnt to walk to heal when this woman who was laughing hystericly at her when i looked down she was walking around with a lump of horse pooh in her mouth!! i was so embarressed, why do they do this is she got some kind of difficiancy or what? how do i stop her doing this i have said no she drops when i say (well sometime) but then picks some more up further along. How can i stop her doing this. I mean look at what it does to roses i could end up with a dog the size of a horse at this rate!!! LOL

There's all sorts of theories as to *why* - it maybe a deficiency, the dog may be trying to mask their scent with that of the prey animal, if a dog eats it's own it can be a sign of over agressive toilet training, it can also be a sign of bacterial overgrowth.......  To stop it you really need to know why - if it's a deficiency then adding something like pineapple or corgette to the diet can help, if it's a hunting instinct then you'll need to keep a careful watch and distract EVERY time the dog tries to do it, bacterial overgrowth needs treatment with antibiotics from a vet, over agressive toilet training is one of the hardest to stop, but the techniques need to be adjusted.

HTH

Must admit Gus used to try and have a nibble when he was very young too :(
He's 14 months now and doesnt bother at all. Could it just be their age and inquisitiveness ??

Its probably quite tasty at the end of the day...Horses - especially in winter have a hard feed and many horse owners add sugar beet to this feed - You cant blame a dog for having a nibble its probably very sweet and tasty, and its only recycled grass!!  My trainer has GSD's and they have all done it, they also have very string 'leave its' so when she tells them, they do!  Its very common.
Sarah

Also many dogs who aren't normally bothered by it may find it more tempting in Spring when the foal poo is very tasty due to milk :D

Lindsay

Edit: Meant Strong 'Leave its' not string one's :rolleyes:

You should try living with 2 Great Danes who love it, and 2 horses who make loads of it! They have a nibble every morning when I take them in the field - doesn't hurt them, I think they just like the taste :rolleyes: :D

Horse poo is a very good bowel conditioner, don't worry, providing you worm on a regular basis it will do no harm.

Same here Chloe, you've seen nothing until you have seen a   bulldog with a mouth full of horse s### oh my it's vile  :-) :-)

I have 3 Staffs and the 2 pups (nearly 6 mths) also think horse poo is a delight (walking in the New Forest is turning into a nightmare!)  The one thing that seems to be working for them is the "leave" command (you will have to teach your pup this assuming she doesn't know it already!) and everytime they go to pick some up, I say "leave" and they drop it - and now when they see some, I can see they both hesitate now before going near it and generally they will just sniff it as opposed to eating it (yuck!).  Of course, they will still forget and wolf it down occasionally, but it is getting through to them! 

Good luck!

I have to be honest, i don't find it as vile as fox, sheep, or other dogs "leftovers". I thank my lucky stars its just horse manure they like ...because if they started licking the tops off cow pats they would find themselves outside

Mines a big fan of horse poo too, and has been known to steal dirty boots for a midnight cleaning session.

I read on another list of a Boxer who grabbed a mouthful of horse manure and tried to get it down so quickly that he started choking. His owner had to clear it from his mouth and throat, by which time he had stopped breathing. She had no alternative but to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Fortunately he recovered. Don't know if the same can be said for his owner!

Just a word a caution - something I didn't believe until a very experienced friend recently confirmed it. She has had dogs & horses for years & her dogs have always eaten horse poo. Last month she nearly lost her daughter's dog after he had eating the stuff - because the horses had just been wormed & whatever is used is extremely toxic even after it has been through the horse!! Poor little dog was fitting & very very ill.

THe ivermectin used can be very toxic to some dogs.

That's the trouble isn't it - even Forest ponies are wormed so i guess we should all be aware of this.

Lindsay