your dog and rattlesnakes

[lewdogg21]

Highly recommend avoidance training. There is a thread on it in off topic.

I did this last year and shots for past two. Cheap insurance.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?p=14058657&posted=1#post14058657

http://socalrattlesnakeavoidancetraining.com/home.php

[RAMCLAP]

We did ours out at Raahauges a couple of years ago. Fortunately, we haven't had to put it to the test.

[MJB]

I would never pay for that......they just shock the hell out of your dog.

They do smell, noise & visual and just shock your dog if he looks that way. Of course theirs more but that's about it in a nut shell.

The bite you need to worry about is the one they done smell it, see it or hear it.....like retrieving game and bam they get hit. If it hits muscle not good but bones like feet or if they just bite thru the skin folds and miss muscle I've seen them have a little swelling and that's it BUT they may not be able to be given the rattler vaccine anymore

[lewdogg21]

The dog associates the smell and sound with the e collar. Very effective deterrent. Otherwise your curious dog can get bit.

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[Coyotegunner]

Having a friend lose a dog to a rattlesnake.None of us will go without having this training done to our dogs.It may not be 100% against a dog running over the top of one and getting bit.My friend had his run over one,get bit once and then the dog took the snake on.Several strikes killed the dog in less than 4 minutes.I even miss that dog.
I have owned a few 4 legged hunting partners.I love them.For me this training is not perfect,but better than nothing.
A good friend in Calimesa lost 1 of 4 West Highland Terriers last year in their lawn to a 4 ft diamondback.That dog fought the snake to the bitter end.The other 3 dogs,well they got snake avoidance trained the following weekend.

[ElDub1950]

When I finally get some property, I'm hoping to find the right kind of dog and right kind of training to alert on rattlers, similar to a bird dog.

Reason: When kids/grandkids come over I'd like to let the dog out, have him search the immediate property and point out the snakes so I can deal with them, before the kids go playing.

Simply having my dog avoid snakes doesn't solve that.

Has anyone found that kind of training?

[MJB]

The best training is when your in the field and you find one. That's the time to do the same training, walk slowly down wind of the snake let the dog see it smell it and hear it then shock with verbal command. From their just walk away and go back in another direction and repeat.

In the class you have lots of dogs and people it's more like a field trial with all the commotion. It's not real world in my book

Mine now baye them up if they find them in the open and i'm near.

[XVIga_Rob]

I'd like to do the training! I looked into it about 8 years ago, when my dog was about a year old. At the time, I could not find anyone in the Sacramento valley that was doing this training. Vet's & trainer's all said it sounded good, but we're unaware of anyone doing the training, in the area.
I don't hunt him as much as I'd like these days, and he still run's the occasional 4wd trail & camp sites.

[M1NM]

Wife's dog got bit by a rattler while they lived in Paso Robles. The dog got between the snake and her 3 year old brother. After phoning her mom and the vet. The vet said to shot the dog because it would be too long for him to get there. They lived way out of the south side of town down about a 15 mile dirt road. So at age 12 she got her dad's deer rifle loaded it and shot her dog. This is the same girl who at 8 would not eat meat unless she saw it come out of the store package. She wanted to be sure she wasn't eating the family cow which she considered a pet.

[devster55]

I went out back last year on the porch and my lab was sitting next to a 3 1/2ft rattler. When I opened the door the dog was looking at me like why are you yelling at me cause I was yelling at him to get inside while I was loading up snake shot in the pistol. Luckily he was not bit.

[ScottB]

I have encountered my share of snakes with my dogs and I agree 100% with snake avoidance training and I prefer a pro. I don't agree the training is affected by the controlled atmosphere. I have seen my dogs encounter rattlesnakes in the wild and they don't want anything to do with them now. I don't agree with using dead snakes like some DIY guys do. Different smell and well.. they're dead. Dogs know dead. As for why I prefer a pro, timing is everything with the stimulation. There is a tiny moment when the shock must be applied and a good trainer like Bob Kettle out of Fallon, who trains military and police dogs and has done all my dogs, can see it in the dog's eye and act in that moment. He is also bonded and insured which I like. You can catch him at QU fundraisers in LA County. I don't think he gets down south much but there is a guy the NAVDA folks use - Andy and also in San Diego County there is a guy that is supposed to be good. Don't know his name - Fred something? Web Parton has a program that I have heard good stuff about, but he is based in Yuma. Not sure if he travels much. Repeat the training 12 to 18 months later, although Parton says his 1/2 day training is a one shot.

Lately I have seen the pet crowd get into this training and I see flyers at my local trail heads and vet, offering clinics for stupid amounts of money $100-$150. That's nuts. Figure $65 with about 10-15 going to QU. Also I would stay away from the hippy feel good trainers that say they use only positive reinforcement. Snake avoidance is aversion training. You are teaching a healthy fear and a shock collar in the hands of someone who knows how to use it is all I would trust. I also get the vaccine. Cheap and can't hurt.

Anything you do regarding a snake in the presence of your dog will imprint on the dog. Doggy see, doggy do. If you are aggressive, they will learn that attacking is how you deal with snakes and they will get bit (I personally know a lab that learned this after watching his master beat a snake to death and could not be broken of it afterward). Best thing to do if you encounter a snake, ideally after the training, is to go to your dog (he should have stopped in his tracks or even better retreated to you) and calmly hook him up, back away from the snake and cut a wide arc around it and move on just as he was taught in the training.

[taperxz]

Wife's dog got bit by a rattler while they lived in Paso Robles. The dog got between the snake and her 3 year old brother. After phoning her mom and the vet. The vet said to shot the dog because it would be too long for him to get there. They lived way out of the south side of town down about a 15 mile dirt road. So at age 12 she got her dad's deer rifle loaded it and shot her dog. This is the same girl who at 8 would not eat meat unless she saw it come out of the store package. She wanted to be sure she wasn't eating the family cow which she considered a pet.

I sure hope the dog was under 35-40 lbs. Many dogs get bit and don't die. Small ones, no!

I know of several dogs getting bit in our area and never taken to the vet. They look a little messed up for a while but a rattle snake bite on an average size dog is no death sentence for them.

[Bull Elk]

training

The best training is when your in the field and you find one. That's the time to do the same training, walk slowly down wind of the snake let the dog see it smell it and hear it then shock with verbal command. From their just walk away and go back in another direction and repeat.

In the class you have lots of dogs and people it's more like a field trial with all the commotion. It's not real world in my book

Mine now baye them up if they find them in the open and i'm near.

There are many times I'm training without a e-collar, so that won't work. Plus, if your dog is working out in front of you he/she may come up on the snake long before you are aware of it or have the time to do something before it strikes.

[ScottB]

I sure hope the dog was under 35-40 lbs. Many dogs get bit and don't die. Small ones, no!

I know of several dogs getting bit in our area and never taken to the vet. They look a little messed up for a while but a rattle snake bite on an average size dog is no death sentence for them.

You are rolling the dice and betting the dog's life on it. The severity of a bite can vary tremendously and you never know how bad a bite will be until it happens. Lots of dogs survive bites, lots don't. I had a dog bit once and he was barely envenomated. His biggest issue was infection. By contrast, I know people who have lost dogs to snake bites.

Severity of a bite is determined by the makeup of the venom of a particular species or local population as well as how much venom is injected and where. A bite by a Mojave green is pretty much a death sentence. An acquaintance was bit a few years ago by a typical diamondback in the hills north of Claremont. He's about 6' 200 pounds, 30 and healthy. He ended up getting medivaced to Loma Linda Hospital and spent almost a week there. Got the length of his arm sliced open to relieve the swelling. I think the tab was over $250K. That bite would have quickly killed a dog of any size.

[jmonte35]

You are rolling the dice and betting the dog's life on it. The severity of a bite can vary tremendously and you never know how bad a bite will be until it happens. Lots of dogs survive bites, lots don't. I had a dog bit once and he was barely envenomated. His biggest issue was infection. By contrast, I know people who have lost dogs to snake bites.

Severity of a bite is determined by the makeup of the venom of a particular species or local population as well as how much venom is injected and where. A bite by a Mojave green is pretty much a death sentence. An acquaintance was bit a few years ago by a typical diamondback in the hills north of Claremont. He's about 6' 200 pounds, 30 and healthy. He ended up getting medivaced to Loma Linda Hospital and spent almost a week there. Got the length of his arm sliced open to relieve the swelling. I think the tab was over $250K. That bite would have quickly killed a dog of any size.

I'm pretty sure taper was talking about the comment of shooting your dog if its bit. A bite is not neccesarily fatal and shooting your dog is retarded. Many dogs survive bites without treatment. I'm also certain if one of tapers ugly brown dogs were biten he would take them to a vet.