My pup is at the 'eat everything' stage, her mouth doesn't stop, and as we live in the sticks then rabbit poo is on the menu daily. Even though I watch her like a hawk the only way to avoid this is to keep her indoors 24/7.
Yesterday she mad a grab for what I thought was a rabbit poo but it crunched, and when I looked there were several of those little flat shelled snails and I am sure she ate one of those.
For over 40 years I have taken in adult rescues, usually GSDs so this is the first pup I have had for about 10 years, and back then there was not a lot of awareness of heartworm, snails and slugs etc. But now the vets surgery has many posters warning of pups eating snails, so do you think I should be concerned regarding the snail snack yesterday, or any possible future ones she just may be quick enough to reach before I can stop her.

I would,not worry too much over the odd snail,For years we did not even know they were harmful,although heartworm is on the increase in this country and there are hotspot areas in Cornwall and Wales apparently.The snails have to have been contaminated by infected poo in the soil before they become a carrier,so not all snails are a risk.Obviously we clear up snails as much as possible but you have to let the dogs enjoy a bit of freedom.I mentioned to my vet the other day that the dog was bathed after rolling in fox poo,his immediate reaction was we were lucky not to pick up mange if our dogs were exercising where foxes had been,so now do we have to avoid country walks in case the dogs pick up mange?He then mentioned that they have a new spot on flee and tick treatment that protects the dog from scabies as well,available only from the vets of course,so now I shall worry about using ordinary Frontline.which has been excellent up to now.

Heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) is endemic here in parts of Australia.
It is transmitted via mosquitoes.
We use Frontline Plus here because it also covers paralysis tick if used fortnightly, whereas 'normal' Frontline only cover flea's and 'normal' ticks.

Our female used to eat slugs/snails when she was a puppy, it was disgusting, i remember once she had been outside late one night and she came in and ran to my hubby and licked all his arms and legs (he had shorts on) he noticed all these little slimy black bits, suddenly realised it was chewed up slugs, urgh!!!!!, im sure your puppy will be fine, its hard to watch them 24/7

Many thanks for putting my mind at rest, it seems as though there is always something to put the fear of God into us with our animals, and many "what ifs." but if you allow common sense to come in and listen to intuition and gut feeling, then you are usually right. As you say, the concerns with snails and slugs are recent worries and should not be allowed to stop normal puppy ( and dog ) adventures in the undergrowth, just in case something happens. Rather like children, you can't wrap them in cottonwool and have to allow normal play.
How lonely life would be without them. (slimy bits and all !!!)

Your slimey bits story reminded me ,some years ago one of our fluffy pups came in with very gluey whiskers and no amount of shampoo or soap would shift it,then it occurred to me that it was slug slime,and the answer of course was to sponge it with salt water,We used to have a low dry stone wall  bordering the path, which was a perfect snail haven so I cemented all the stonework.,also.I removed loads of snails when we stripped the ivy off the house wall,not aware of the heartworm risk then ,just trying to keep a few plants hole free!If the dogs went in the garden after dark on a wet evening I used to take a torch  and a bucket to collect snails,now we have security lights which floodlight the whole yard every time the dogs trigger the movement sensor,and the neighbours must think we are mad as the whole family can occasionally be seen crawling around among the plants late at night,especially when we  have puppies!!

I think we should make a distinction here: Heartworm is a serious issue in may countries including USA and Aus.

The parasite passed by slugs & snails in the UK and Europe is more properly known as Lungworm. It's a recent problem for us in the UK, but it's not to be taken too lightly, as I have heard of cases here where the vets did not recognise it and it did cause some issues.

It can, apparently, be treated using a Panacur protocol similar to the one used for treating Giardia, but usual routine worming using Panacur will probably not be effective.

I hear it is on the increase in the UK so I wouldn't dismiss it as a minor concern, especially in puppies.

> I think we should make a distinction here: Heartworm is a serious issue in may countries including USA and Aus.

I should have said that in my post MsTemeraire, thank you for that distinction.  It's very serious here in Aus.  Monthly tablets are an option, I opted for the yearly injection (hope that it continues to work!).

It depends on where you live.  Here in the South East / Surrey there is a problem with Lungworm (often referred to as French Heartworm) which is contracted from snails and slugs.  I use advocate which is, I believe, the only drug licenced to prevent heartworm.  It also covers other worms, fleas and mange, although not tapeworm so you would have to give another wormer for that.

Panacur is used to treat lungworm, but in considerably larger doses than would be used in a normal worming regime.

Unfortunately we don't have the same drugs available over here as you do in Australia, we don't have frontline plus, only normal and combo version. (which helps treat the house. ) THere is no injection for lungworm either. Monthly preventative over here is advocate or treatment can be given with panacur or milbemax but at different dose rates to normal worming. It is becoming a much more prevalent problem here in the uk.

No I know, lucyandmeg.  We've only been here 9 months, and it's rather a shock to the dogs system as well as our own I think! lol

Heartworm was one of the first things we had to tackle (prevention wise) and got the jab done straight away.  Paralysis tick is another, which was why I mentioned Frontline Plus.  It's all a bit new and a bit scary. 

PLEASE please do not underestimate the dangers of your puppy eating slugs or snails. French heartworm/lungworm ( angiostrongylus vasorum) is becoming a serious problem anywhere in the UK. Here in Dorset a Scottie puppy DIED 2 years ago and only on P.M. was it discovered that she had lungs full of the worms.
The vets at that practice now recommend that all puppies (and any dogs with a penchant for playing with snails/slugs) are wormed MONTHLY with Milbemax, as a precautionary preventative. I have just been told by a vet that the recommendation is now ADVOCATE or PANACUR.
I detest worming my 13 month old this often but will not take the risk of her dying from lung worm.

Many thanks for the reply.
Although I am concerned with the possibility of lungworm, I also am concerned with over vaccinating and putting too many chemicals into her, and wonder if worming every month may prove worse for her overall than the outside chance of lungworm. Is it better to take your chances with the remote chance of lungworm or take the precautions and fill her with chemicals every month. I think it may be one of those heads you lose and tails you don't win times. I don't think she has eaten any more snails and hope it was a one off, but you can never tell. She is due to be spayed in 4 weeks and I will have a word with the vet about this then, but am still not too happy about worming so frequently and wonder if it is a little OTT, however if she did get lungworm I would regret not doing it. Crystal ball time I feel !!!

From my experience, prevention is far better then cure, even though we followed a worming regime to lessen the risk onew of my springers still contracted lungworm, apparently Panacur kills one stage and Advocate or Stronghold another stage, but if if the parasite has progressed past those two stages then a large dose of Milbemax administered under vet supervision because of the risk of shock is effective against the later stages of the parasite.

My 5 year old springer was fortunately diagnosed with it fairly early on, even so the lungworm has left him with congestive heart failure and restricted lung capacity, the first symptom he showed was a slight weight loss then a dry cough, this was diagnosed as kennel cough until he coughed up blood and X-rays showed an enlarged heart and bloods revealed parasite spores.

He is now on medication to support his heart, is happy and still running around like a loon although he does get tired quickly, and we're told he won't make old bones.

my springer is a the second in a year I've heard of with lungworm, the first was a springer I re-homed to an adoptive family, he died suddenly after weight loss and a post-mortem showed lungworm infestation.

We are in West Cornwall and I'm told by my vet that Lung worm is a problem here and also in Wales and the South East, cases have also been reported in Scotland.