Certain frogs and toads, if not all, are toxic, and sometimes lethal if eaten. I don't think eating a spider or bug is dangerous, as long as it eats it before the bite.

But other animals - lizards, mice, etc, - carry internal parasites that may infect the dog; or mice could be poisoned and be dangerous to eat.

I forgot about the frogs...we definitely have poisonous ones in Florida. She has not chased any of those yet though. I have heard horror stores about dogs eating frogs. I try to discourage her from eating anything that moves. But I saw my husband yesterday encouraging her to chase down an ant.

In your area, there are many, many crawly or slithery things that should not be played with by pets. Think of all of the soil dwelling wasps and hornets, just for one group. Velvet ants ( a wingless wasp) pack a powerful sting. One fire ant could lead a dog to a mound, where he would soon be covered in ants. Cicada killer wasps are actually quite aggressive in defending their nests. Take it from me, their sting is not something you'd want a dog to experience.

All spiders can inflict bites and all have venom. Snakes, some toads, and maybe even some lizards can cause problems, too.

I think that your husband is amusing himself at the dog's misfortune.

I agree rhizo...he did not really realize what he would be encouraging. I have since scolded him and I'm sure he will behave in the future. The lubber she tried to eat yesterday is fairly toxic and rodents have been known to get extremely sick from it...there is one bird that pecks the lubber and lets the toxins come out and then eats it later. Lucky for the dog I think its gross to eat bugs so I stopped her.

One of my dogs likes to play with lizards but is not interested in eating them . However, I am quite certain if I tried to take something away from her she would eat it.

Years ago when she first came to us, she tried to eat a little frog- we have lots. She got the funniest look on her face and has not once since then been remotely interested in frogs at all. She did spit the thing out.
Frogs secrete a poison when they are attacked that tastes bad to predators.

Most dogs or cats will only eat a frog or a toad once. Anything in your yard is toxic to pets if you use pesticides and herbicides to make your yard look like the neighbors!

I garden as naturally as I can....for my yard to look like my neighbors I would have to concrete over everything....not an option :-) Seriously though I do not use pesticides or herbicides. In fact I just bought some nematodes to put in my yard to kill undesirable bugs. The problem with letting her eat a frog even once is we have extremely poisonous toads in Florida. One lick even and she can get seriously sick or die. I have just been trying to get her not to eat anything outside..not the plants or the critters. She kind of listens, she no longer puts the plants in her mouth, but she still picks up dead bamboo leaves which seem to be her favorite and mulch. She loves the mulch. She has never gotten to eat either as I am always watching her and make her spit it out, but she has not stopped trying. I have seen her ignoring flying butterflies but a couple weeks ago there was an injured one on the ground that she was playing with (thanks to hubby i was inside). She has also ignored the birds thus far. She has been chasing the lizards but so far has not had any luck. I think I just have to convince hubby that it may be cute to watch her chase the bugs but it is also dangerous as she does not distinguish between good bugs and bad bugs.