My dog eats snails in the garden. Is it dangerous? How can I stop him?

Snails are generally non toxic to dogs, but the problems come with with the parasites they carry, and if they have been poisoned with snail poisoning. Snails carry lungworms, which will be passed to dogs when the snail is eaten by the dog. Not all snails carry lungworms, so you can monitor Daisy for signs of coughing and difficulty breathing. If she develops those problems, you should take her into your vet. The snail's shell could also potentially cause GI obstruction or GI upset, but it's not too likely. Monitor her for vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, or extremely lethargy, and if you see any of those signs, take her into your vet. Finally, as I mentioned, there can be problems if the snail was poisoned with snail poisoning. Signs of toxicity from snail poisoning include tremors and twitching, which are exacerbated by noise. If you see any of those signs, you need to take Daisy into your vet right away. If she is actually normally, eating and drinking normally, and having normal bathroom habits, I would not worry about her.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Ziggy loves the snails and slugs huh? Advocate is labeled to treat lungworms outside of the US. We have Advantage Multi and if I'm correct I don't think it's labeled for that here. So it appears that one of the active ingredients (imidacloprid or moxidectin) treats lungworms. Other than being a gross habit hopefully you won't see any problems with his odd taste in treats. It is possible that the medicine doesn't kill 100% of anything that it is labeled for so keep a close eye on him for coughing or other signs related to vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Good luck with Ziggy. Maybe he will grow out of this.

Unless you have slug bait down in the vicinity i would not be immediately concerned. Slugs and snails can carry lungworm and monthly prevention should be considered to prevent infection in any dogs which may be exposed in affected areas, your vets office can advise on local infection risks

My biggest concern is that he could ingest some intestinal parasite eggs and get worms. So try to prevent him from eating the dirt if at all possible. If not, I would just periodically have him checked for worms - every 4-6 months.

Try keeping a toy or something that makes noise with you (you can put some pennies or pebbles into an empty soda or tin can and tape it closed to make a shake can that you can rattle or drop next to her to startle her into stopping) when you go outside with her. When she starts to eat weeds, squeak the toy or clap your hands to make noise to distract her from what she is doing and tell her 'drop it' or 'leave it'. As soon as she stops what she's doing give her a treat or the toy to play with. Over time this should give her the idea that she gets a nice treat when she listens to you when you ask her to stop. If she does not stop you may need to take her outside only on a leash so you can control her trying to eat weeds until you can break her of the habit. Some species of plants can be highly toxic to dogs (lilies, sago palm are two common toxic landscape plants) so teaching her to stop is a good thing.

A small amount of dirt and leaves probably won't hurt him much although he can pick up parasites, so I would recommend deworming him on a regular basis. It may also cause him to vomit or have diarrhea. I would worry if he eats rocks or sticks as these can cause a blockage in his stomach or intestines that will require surgery. You can monitor him closely when outside and try to deter him from eating these things by giving him an appropriate chew toy.

There is not way to get him to stop except to restrict his access to those areas. This does have potential to spread bacterial and intestinal parasite infections so I would make sure he is on a regular dewormer (most heartworm preventions already include this) and monitor for any vomiting or diarrhea.