I can surely understand why dogs go after litter pan droppings as if they are candy. Cats eat their food so quickly; most cats gulp down their food, so the food is unprocessed basically pure protein. But why horse manure? Horses aren’t carnivores, they are herbivores. So why would both my dogs be scarfing down the contents of the fresh manure pile when I muck out the stalls?

According to Dr. Michael Richards DVM, dogs’ eating other species poop is a natural behavior. It only becomes an issue when dogs live with people, because people think the behavior is disgusting. They eat the poop in order to mask their own scent from predators. Now, you and I both know that the family dog isn’t going to be eaten for dinner anytime soon, unless it happens to run into a cougar or a coyote, but the problem is the dog doesn’t know that. Instinctively, when the dog is outside, he feels vulnerable; therefore he dives into the manure pile. The only danger comes from them eating the poop after the horses have been wormed. Apparently, there is also a high water content in horse manure so the dogs are drawn to it.