Moxie has recently developed a rather disgusting habit.
She had been prone to eating stuff that would make any owner cringe, like fox poop, but recently in the wet weather she has taken to eating slugs. My OH gets them straight out of her mouth (or what is left of them) and if we catch her we say "no" sternly. You can catch her out of the corner of your eye looking to see if you are watching her before she grabs another tasty treat.
I don't know what to do, and do they carry any nasties? I keep her wormed and flea treated every two months as we live on a farm.
Has anyone else had this problem and can anyone hink of a solution?
Thanks.

we live on a farm too list of preferred food includes sheep poo , cow poo , rolling in dead things from fox to frogs personally would be grateful if all they ate were slugs besides probably good for the garden!!

On a serious note its just proteins in a slug and wont do them any harm one answer is to take water bottle out with you and give them a squirt when you see them carrying out an anti social activity which is just a little out of your reach if they wont respond to recall command or leave which would be the preferred option.

Just out of curiosity - i know slug poison is dangerous for dogs, so what would happen if a dog ate a slug that had eaten slug bait?

Sam

very unlikely because the poison causes the slug to literally turn itself inside out and is just a left as a mess, there are pet friendly pellets and would be more worried about them eating the pelets .lots of different remedies to get rid of slugs that are enviro friendly ie egg shells , gravel, copper bands and beer traps (can anyone hate them that much to waste beer!)

Hi there,
This reply will be of no help whatsoever but just wanted to let you know you are not on your own .
Elly adores slugs, but it makes my stomach churn when i see her chewing on them but theres no way she will give them up.
She also loves poo of any kind, shes not a fussy eater, yuk horrible beast that she is.
My friends Springer doesnt do it, so why does she?
If you find any answers, please do let me know.

Murphy ate slugs as a puppy and they both love poo! Hope everybodies eaten their dinner,... this isn't nice, but most dogs really like human poo, and we have a problem round here after the travellers have visited, because they seem to use fields area where they camp as a toilet. Just a word of warning.

YEP
My 2 eat all of the above. Cassie ate a frog the other night and she was foaming at the mouth still wouldn't give it up though
Never hurt my two eating any of the above and except for trying to get the frogs off them which both of them hunt out in the garden I usually ignore it.

yummy slugs but to get a proper crunch you need to be eating snails

I'm sorry, but the original post did make me giggle I don't think eating the slugs can do any harm, just not a very pleasant habit for you to have to live with.

did he get slimed?!

George found a massive slug the other day - his first I think (awwwwww bless NOT!)
he bit it in half and luckily decided he didn't like it - but it was too late! he'd already got slime all round his mouth yuk! I thought it would just be gooey and tried to wipe it off with his towel but it stuck like glue!!! sooo gross (pukey face!) and I had to spend the next 10 mins trying to pick it off!

Gosh, thanks everybody for the comments and suggestions. It is very reassuring to know that other dogs do it, and that it is fairly harmless. Our farm is organic so the slugs don't get pelleted, only beer traps so Moxie is not at risk from poison.
We have made some progress on the slug eating, too. Those with delicate stomachs don't read on........
My OH has decided to make it in to a retrieving game and has taught her to seek them out but not eat them. When she finds one he gets his secuteurs out of his pocket and slices them neatly in half. Lots of praise for Moxie for finding it. She now can't wait to get out at night to find the first one, and even picks out frogs and toads! (which are, of course, not decapitated)

Poo, yes, that's a difficult one. Moxie loves the fox poo but won't eat it if you spot it first and call her off.
Human poo, that's a difficult one as it must smell great to dogs. Many years ago, when my first daughter was born, we had a springer cross called Sherry, who used to run off with the nappy liner if it contained something tasty. We just thought this was her mothering instinct tidying up after the "puppy"
Thinking about it now, it was probably because it was food to her.
Yuk!

I hate to be the harbinger of bad news - but I read you have to be careful about them eating slugs because they can carry heartworm disease.

I don't know if this is just an over exaggeration - but I thought I would post the link again just in case there could be a problem.

It may have already been discussed on the forum - if so - sorry.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7492135.stm

cath,
No it hasn't and thank you for the link. I was worried that there might be a health risk from some sort of parasite.
When I have read the information I will mention it to my vet. We are due vaccinations in a couple of weeks.
Thanks again for the information.




footnote- I have just looked at this and am very grateful to you as we live in the south west of England. I will keep her away from slugs from now on, but more importantly I know what signs to look for should she be infected.
I cannot thank you enough.
I am also going to get her to the vet this week.

Please note

http://springthing.3.forumer.com/index.php...topic=25822&hl=