Like most pet owners, I love my dog. And it should come as no surprise to anyone that my wife, my son and I all consider Nikki a member of the family. So it was one of those phone calls you hope never to get when you're relaxing on the beach while on vacation.

The call was from our good friends who were watching Nikki while we were away. No, she wasn't dead, but she was in the emergency veterinary hospital after having ingested a huge amount of snail bait. It appeared that Nikki and our friends' pooch had somehow knocked a box of the stuff off a high shelf in the gardening area and had started chowing it down.

It was possible that a quarter to half of the box had been consumed – and Nikki, being the food hound she is, probably had the lion's share. Within 45 minutes, both dogs were starting to show symptoms like seizures and muscle spasms.

It turns out that snail bait is particularly nasty stuff, worse even than rat poison, because it goes into effect within minutes, assaulting the nervous system and organs. I had heard stories of dogs being poisoned before, and whether it was a total accident, as in this case, or a deliberate act, it always seemed to turn out badly for the dog.

So I was a bit surprised to hear, when I talked with the doctors at Northern California Veterinary Specialists in the Pocket, that with prompt and appropriate medical attention, most dogs actually can survive the ordeal. The treatment reads like a laundry list from hell, though, and it doesn't come cheap. Intravenous saline, Valium, muscle relaxers, activated charcoal, stuff designed to flush out and prevent the toxins from being absorbed into the system are all part of the regimen. It would have helped if the dog had just thrown up, but of course she didn't, having the cast-iron stomach that she does.

My family and I felt very confident in the level of care that we were getting. It included a late-night call from a vet who, seeing that Nikki's condition was deteriorating even after he had exhausting almost all medicinal remedies, recommended gastric lavage to pump the toxic bait out of her. A reassuring call the following morning put our minds at ease. Nikki was going to pull through and, I'm pleased to say, shows no ill effects today and is basically back to being the same stupid dog she always was.

I'm sorry to say, however, our friends' dog, which came into this emergency situation with a host of other serious medical ailments that made it less likely to survive the grueling process, needed to be put down. No doubt our friends, whose quick actions brought both dogs to the necessary medical care that eventually saved my dog's life, also considered their dog a member of the family.

So it is extremely important, as we move into prime gardening season here in the snail and slug capital of California, that we consider applying pest control products responsibly. Consider alternative, nontoxic methods that protect the garden, but don't threaten pets or water supply. Read the ingredients on that box of snail bait. Some brands, like the type my dog got into, even look like dog kibble and are wheat-based or contain molasses.

There are also more creative approaches, which range from placing beer-baited traps to simply picking off the slimy things and squishing them with your foot. These approaches will save your dog from the danger of being poisoned and your bank account from a hefty, unplanned expenditure.