How much horse poo can a dog eat safely!?

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MissMincePie&Brandy

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My dog knows she's not to eat the horses poo, but she does it anyway. She is fed a healthy balanced diet, so I'm sure she's not deficient in anything.

I know most dogs do it, but she seems worse than the others and will eat vast quantities unless I put her in the car or tie her up, so I'm wondering if it's actually going to harm her by eating that much???

I don't really want to have her restrain her on the yard as she is a good girl, apart from this!
 
I sympathise, I have a horse-poo-aholic as well
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Be very careful - ivomectin (from wormers) is poisonous for dogs. So probably best to discourage it as much as possible, which I what I am doing.

Henry did actually make himself vomit one memorable day, he ate so much
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Are any of the horses on medications? That would be the only thing that would worry me.

My dogs used to eat horse poo where we walk (they hold endurance competitions in the forestry land sometimes) but they are so used to me bellowing NO! at them when they go over to it, they usually avoid it now
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I think I have the only dog in the world who is just not fussed by horse poo! He will sit in my stable whilst I muck out and not even look at it the poo
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He grew up on a Welsh Stud, so I am guessing he stuffed himself full of it as a Pup, and is sick of the sight of it now
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When you say healthy balanced diet, is it a dry complete food?

Ian Billingshurst in his original book re-introducing raw feeding sited this as a sign that all is not well in a diet. The dog can actually gain something from horse waste in that a horse can break down plant cell walls and complex carbs and a dog can't, this is particularly so of grains, which will pass through a dog whole.

Mine will occasionally eat a bit if I have been lax with their veg meal but generally much prefer rolling in it!!
 
Thank you for your replies. Good point about the wormers. The fields are all poo picked daily, so if I keep my dog away from the yard for a few days after they've been wormed would that be safe?
She's on Arden Grange Junior food for large breeds (she's 15 months old), and supplemented with a bit of boiled minced beef every few days as a treat.

She's qood at not rolling in it, she just likes eating it!
 
I was having a similar conversation with a behaviourist the other say and he did say that certainly as far as gundogs go a bit of scsince my last post, and he did say that for a gundog scavenging is natural behaviour, and that I actually shouldn't try to always prevent Henry from having a nibble but to get him to wait for my say so...

So it could well not be a dietary issue - just our dogs being, well - dogs
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So I'm now just trying to cut Henry down to the occasional nibble as opposed to stopping him - he couldn't believe his luck at lunchtime today!
 
Depends on your definition of 'safe'

My borders try an eat their own bodyweight and sport green beards for fun

The danger being is sat on a sofa been two farting terriers and gagging
 
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