# Border Terrier eating sheep & horse muck!



## Rusty the border (Apr 29, 2013)

Hi all, I have a 9 month old Border Terrier bitch called Rusty who is an all-round brilliant pup, however I cannot stop her eating all kinds of nastiness whilst out walking. SE has taken to eating sheep wool and runs off to eat it when she has it. I am considering muzzling her, has anyone got experience of their dog doing this and if so, any tips on what to do? Is a muzzle a good idea?

Thanks for any advice!


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## Fleur (Jul 19, 2008)

All my dogs eat every kind of poo 

I've just learned to accept it, make sure they are up to date with their wormers and wash their faces 

Otherwise teaching a strong leave and in the mean time keep her on a long line to help with training and to stop giving her access to the poo and maybe introduce a muzzle.

If using a muzzle take time to introduce it with lots of positive rewards.


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## PawsOnMe (Nov 1, 2012)

Jasper just a couple of months ago used to eat horse poop. we told him to leave it and gave him a treat whilst he did so. sometimes he'd have a nibble and we'd tell him to drop it and once he did we gave him a treat. he now avoids it, looking at it as if proud of himself for leaving it and then coming to us for a treat. 

he's now taken up to having a passing nibble of crusty dog poo :yikes: 

he's 9 months now and i'm hoping he'll soon grow out of it. hopefully yours will too.


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## Guest (Apr 29, 2013)

Just go with it  Eating it is better than rolling in it, trust me....


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## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

You could well just end up with a muzzle covered in poo. Which wouldn't be pleasant.


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## Skandi (May 4, 2012)

McKenzie said:


> Just go with it  Eating it is better than rolling in it, trust me....


I'm with you here! mine will eat cat and horse, but rolls in fox, cow and hedgehog atm.. I wish she would eat them all! B..A...T...H is a fight night


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## Rylee (Oct 21, 2011)

My terrier cross loves cat poo, like it's the tastiest thing ever!

She used to eat horse poo but I called her back to me and gave her a treat every time she left it alone and now she ignores it completely.


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## Rusty the border (Apr 29, 2013)

Thanks for everyone's replies, they are all great! It's good to know others have the same issue and their pups are improving.

I'm going to try reward training her to leave it and see if I can encourage her to drop the poo for abit of sausage!

Will see how this goes before resorting to a muzzle.

Thanks everyone &#128512;


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## reallyshouldnotwearjods (Nov 19, 2012)

My dogs eat horse poop all the time - best thing to bear in mind that horses have a vegan, high fibre low protein diet (well they are supposed to and most do in fields) so actually there is nothing harmful in the poop as such, Mine eat horse poop all the time, but they are my horses!! 

better than eating a regurgitated kebab in the park imo x


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## Phoolf (Jun 13, 2012)

Kes used to love eating horse poo, we just worked on a good 'leave it' and now she bends down to sniff and then walks on instead of me having to remind her. It's all well and good saying to let them eat it, but if the horse has been wormed recently the wormer in the poo could be toxic to dogs.


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## Supasilvfoxy (Apr 6, 2013)

Mine ignore dog poo, but will eat any other kind, including human. Hubby sometimes walks near fishing ponds and a lake which do not have any toilets for the fishermen to use, so if you gotta go, you gotta go. 

I think some dogs are opportunists and class all poo as food. Also some learn the habit from their dams when she cleans up after them. 

I don't think poo eating is harmful as such, it just offends us humans as most of us think it's rather disgusting. The older I've got the more relaxed I am about it, I just clean up - a couple of baby wipes in the pocket work - and carry on with the walk. Mine don't roll in pooh though, rotting carcarses are their preference, which is just as bad imo. 

You can train a dog the leave command quite easily, but you always have to be aware what you dog is doing/eating for it to be successful. I wouldnt bother with the muzzle though as someone said they would probably try to eat pooh through it so it wont be much of a deterrent.


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## Rusty the border (Apr 29, 2013)

That's a really good point about the toxins in horse wormer, our vet said the same. Our vets fees on worming tablets has doubled now she is eating horse muck as well as sheep poo (they carry different types of worms) so would like to get her out of the habit.


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## reallyshouldnotwearjods (Nov 19, 2012)

Rusty the border said:


> That's a really good point about the toxins in horse wormer, our vet said the same. Our vets fees on worming tablets has doubled now she is eating horse muck as well as sheep poo (they carry different types of worms) so would like to get her out of the habit.


mmm depends - target worming and worm counts (what I do) mean I only hard worm (insisted red) once a year, my worm counts are very low - due to (without being big headed excellent worm control), worming occurs 4 times a year and for a short period (unless some one is using a Panacur 5 day wormer) - I would be more concerned about the BUTE, however horses on high levels are stable/restricted movement kept. Cant comment on sheep, in a very long time, my dogs have never suffered any ill affects from eating horse poo, and there worming/control/effects has never changed. I do believe there is more of an immunity to some wormers, something we have been dealing with in the equine world for years, (hence worm counts and routine worming/target worming and rotation of wormers) x

what worms are transient from dogs to horses? tape? etc.


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