With spring here, many of us are heading outdoors to rejuvenate our winter-ravaged yards and gardens. We will enjoy the sunshine after being cooped up during the dreary winter months. As all dog and cat owners know, our faithful companions want to be with us when we are outside because they are anxious to spend a little time in the sunny outdoors during the spring time, too. That means that while we concentrate on the shrubs, grass, and mulch, we can’t forget about them.

Please be careful to avoid snail bait poisoning in your dog or cat!

Our dog, Scout, was “helping” me in the yard just this week. He and I were preparing the soil for our vegetable garden. Actually, Scout was digging faster than I was. We grow traditional vegetables, but for years we’ve also planted artichokes. Our success rate is abysmal! Finally, this week I found 3 baby artichokes on our only surviving plant! I was really excited until I noticed the slimy, fat slugs crawling around my precious artichokes.

After a fast trip to the garden store, I carefully set out a granular preparation to ward off these nasty slugs. That made me think about Scout and how this snail bait might affect him, so here is my take on protecting plants from these creatures… and protecting dogs and cats from slug and snail bait. Read the rest of this entry »