# Dog eating goat poop?



## Lucky_072508

I have a 9 year old dog (chihuahua/pomeranian mix) who has always had a sensitive stomach and has runny poop very frequently. Ive recently started letting him come in the goat pen with me while I feed them. He loves being out there mainly because my other dog isnt allowed and he gets to dig around for goat poop and eat it lol. Since he has started doing that, he has had solid, healthy looking poops. It appears to be a good thing but im wondering if there are potential health risks that i am unaware of.


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## WillowGem

I would be worried about him getting parasites from ingesting the goat poop.

hankfully, or not :roll: , my little Chihuahua mix only wants to roll in it...LOL!!


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## xymenah

Like willowgem said parasites are the first thought. All my dogs eat it and it makes them sick mostly because they end up eating a lot of rocks too. But hey if it helps him I say go for it.


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## ThreeHavens

My dog used to dig up and eat cat poo. My mom would call out, "Girls, he's out eating cocoa crispies again, go stop him!"


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## Lamancha Lady

My dogs and chickens eat goat poo. But my dogs will eat any poo goat, cat, deer so long its poo.


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## TheMixedBag

Mine eat it when.they can. Never had problems with it, so i never really thought one way or the other about it. I might try to avoid it if they've been wormed with ivermectin, but on the other hands, i worm my dogs with zimectrin gold once in a blue moon with no problems either.


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## GoatsLive

My dogs have shown no interest in eating goat berries fortunately, but one of our dogs does
use the other as a soft serve machine if I'm not there to scold her.

I'd be very concerned about the dog picking up parasites from the goat berries. While I regularly test
my goats for parasites, there's no telling what's attracted to the poo after it hits the ground.


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## Maggie

Our dogs eat it all the time too, its like candy to them lol!


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## Boondachs

If your dog is on a monthly heartworm med that also treats for intestinal worms, in general he/she should be OK. The thing to watch for would be cocci. As with goats, all dogs have cocci pretty much all the time in very very small amounts. As long as you do not see any adverse effects I would not be overly concerned. 

I cannot imagine that he/she is eating a substantial quantity either unless he/she is climbing into a dump pile that contains a huge amount of poo.


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## fd123

WOW!!!! WHAt an interesting thread!! lol.....i guess ill throw in my 2 cents also....my chihuahua eats it and rolls in it whenever she gets the chance!! shes an inside dog and it ticks me off when she does this because then i have go straight and give her a bath (like i dont have enough to do already)...lol...its funny though....she loves goat poop!!!!!maybe i could teach her new tricks using goat poop for her reward...???.... NOT!!!!


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## GTAllen

We have 4 chihuahuas. They do not eat goat berries, that I know of. 

However, one thinks he is a boer goat and likes to lay around with them and be with them. He likes to eat the pellets and sweet feed if he can work his way into the feeder. He is the bottom ranking "goat", because he is so small , and has to eat last. The goats sometime charge him, but he is small and fast, so he avoids them with ease. I will try to get a picture of him and the goats.


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## toth boer goats

Yep ...most dogs love goat poo....I am always yelling at them... to go potty.... not eat it...LOL :laugh:


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## packhillboers

Well.. with our dog on the worming medication, I don't worry too much but will yell at her to stop when she does eat it. As for cats. There are times.. I do not want cats on our property at all mostly because they have 'poop' territorial wars. This is the main reason why dogs will eat the cat poop. a cat poops on what it wants to claim and the dogs says.. NOT on my property. This is the way cats are and I will not tolerate them pooping in the goat pen. They really get into trouble for doing that if I catch them. A cat will even sometimes poop on a dog poo.. Yuck.. cats... ! Such snooty things.. but i do love our two cats still.


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## jaycee

Dogs eat poo. Thats just the reality. I have 4 rescue dogs and they eat... goat poo, cat poo, cow poo, pig poo... I never get how it doesnt make them sick but they are always very healthy. I wouldnt worry about it ... just dont let them lick your face after leaving the goat pen


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## EarthStoneHollowFarm

I am not sure how the dog's taste buds work anymore.
My two mini schnauzers eat goat, duck, geese and chicken poop. Actually, my female is itching from it. It may be the runny turkey stuff she had earlier.


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## neubunny

most parasites are species specific - or only to closely related species (like goat - deer). I wouldn't worry.


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## tookaleapfarm

One of our dogs is a poo-hound...she likes the goats' output, but donkey poo is the true delicacy!

The other is terrified of the goats -- that fear overrides any desire to eat their poop. She's not sure about the chickens, either, but she's decided it's safe enough to eat, provided she keeps a wary blue eye fixed on her surrounds.

And when we asked our vet about risk of worms or other oogies, she indicated that parasites are typically species-specific, just as another posted commented.


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## Bellaboo

Don't worry my do eats any kind of poop. She eats her toys to.


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## Axykatt

Sounds to me like yer dog has an imbalance of intestinal flora and that goat berries contain what it was missing. 

If you worm regularly and the dog is otherwise healthy I wouldn't worry. Frankly, that's probably not the grossest thing your dog ingests in an average day.


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## Arkie

Our only dog is a totally spoiled couch decoration Yorkie. When outside where the goats have been tethered she will go after goat berries like they are a delicacy. I scold her for being a goat $hit conosewer.

Bob


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## Sheffba

lol.. We have a black lab and shih tzu and my daughter's pomeranian comes over and all 3 of the love to eat the poo and they love to roll in duck poo!! GROSS!! yep they do come back in till they have had a bath.. hee hee

can someone tell me why they do it?
*http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...q70YNt3hcRYMekrCZOX8Ogw&bvm=bv.43287494,d.eWU*


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## PiccoloGoat

Maybe they like the smells of it. 

I think my dog sometimes eats out of the cat litter box because her breath smells like cat poop every now and then


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## ThreeHavens

My dog used to eat the cat poop, we'd say he was eating cocoa krispies :I


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## Axykatt

ThreeHavens said:


> My dog used to eat the cat poop, we'd say he was eating cocoa krispies :I


We call them homemade kitty treats.


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## lottsagoats

Most worms are species specific, dogs don't get goat worms for the most part. They eat poop for the fiber and the gut bacteria (think probiotics).


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## gkatherine62

My Chihuahua eats it ... guards it just in case the other goats or sheep may want to eat it  I haven't had any health problems with her.


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## MsScamp

Lucky_072508 said:


> It appears to be a good thing but im wondering if there are potential health risks that i am unaware of.


Dogs eat other animals poo because of the pass through protein in it. There are usually no health risks to the dog because parasites are generally species specific. However, dogs are intermediate hosts for Neospora protozoa that cause abortions in cattle. I don't know if they are intermediate hosts for other parasites or not, but a little research might be in order to find out.


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## CAjerseychick

kinda off topic but I worry about the chickens picking thru the dog poo and eating it....


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## WY.GOATS

Great thread! My Great Pyr thinks she has struck gold ever since I brought the goats home. They are like her personal gumball machine, complete with warm-water fountain. Just about one of the grossest things I've seen for a while, but so far no ill effects. I guess we'll see how it goes after a month or so....


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## toth boer goats

This is a very old thread.


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## WY.GOATS

toth boer goats said:


> This is a very old thread.


Indeed - but quite relevant to my current situation


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## jaycee

My dogs eat any kind of poop. Cow poop goat poop cat poop (my favorite because it means less work cleaning the litter box). I think its harmless just dont let them lick your face!


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## toth boer goats

Eww, LOL.


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## Suzanne_Tyler

I am usually able to train my puppies not to eat any goat poop after a week or so of bringing them home.


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## WhiteFeatherFarms

I'm just glad to hear my dogs aren't the only ones who will do ANYTHING for my goatie poo...I have a puggle with an iron stomach, she tries to dig under fences for it & given the chance, will follow behind any goat just waiting for it to drop


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## lottsagoats1

Cocci and most of the internal (and external) parasites are species specific and cannot live in unrelated species. Poop is full of probiotics and fiber, so yes, it could balance a bad digestive tract. My dogs eat any kind of poop they can find and even though I do not use a chemical wormer with the heartworm prevention each month, they rarely have a worm load.


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## 15WildTurkey

Ive always maintained that nothing tastes bad to a dog. It just tastes MORE. Except for stuff like Icy Hot or other chemical stuff. Anything natural is fair game. My mastiff thinks the goats are the most awesome Pez dispensers.


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