One of the prices we pay for living in paradise (aside from traffic, cost of living, and all of that manmade stuff) is sharing the land with the lovely rattlesnake.
Generally speaking, they aren’t too difficult to deal with if you are your average suburbanite- just leave them be. It’s not like they’re Boomslangs that drop randomly out of trees onto your head (I had nightmares after learning that little factoid); they sun themselves on rocks and other exposed places trying to be left alone. They give you warning rattles. They are fairly non-confrontational.
Of course, none of this matters to an overexcitable dog. Which is why starting every spring, veterinary clinics and emergency rooms are flooded with sick, puffy faced dogs who got a little too close to a rattler. Unfortunately, some die. Treatment, even if it works, is very expensive. The rattlesnake vaccine may confer some protection, but does not eliminate the need for treatment after a snakebite. The best treatment is prevention.
A local Meetup group I belong to coordinated a Rattlesnake Avoidance clinic this weekend. I’ve heard about the classes, though I’ve never done one myself. Given my suspicion that this will be a pretty prolific snake season, in conjunction with Brody’s sincere enthusiasm for wildlife, I decided to check it out.
The premise is pretty straightforward: in a controlled environment with a variety of safely muzzled snakes, introduce the dog to the snakes and apply a controlled stimulus until the dog learns to avoid the snakes. Yes, it involves a shock collar, and I am OK with it. Here’s why:
- Rattlesnake bites are way worse than a brief session with an experienced handler using the shock collar. Way way worse.
- The trainers are well versed in the use of the collars and are using the absolute minimum stimulus needed to get the dog to avoid the snake. I observed multiple families and none of the dogs exhibited severe stress either during or after the session (which took about 5 minutes). Most of them stayed afterwards to play with the other participants. Brody’s tail was wagging the entire time.
- The trainers did not do the training with dogs they did not feel it would be effective for, for reasons of age, temperament, etc- dogs unable to associate the training with the snake. I wouldn’t have gone through with it if I thought they didn’t know what they were doing with both the snakes and dogs.
- I am by no means an advocate for shock collar training for general obedience. It’s overkill to use this technique for 99% of behavior issues and in the wrong hands can do a lot of damage. But this is literally a life or death situation that demands 100% compliance with very few opportunities for training and reinforcement.
The handler puts the juvenile down and another handler lets Brody do whatever he’d like. Naturally, he makes a beeline for the snake.
Here’s Brody doing exactly what one dreads one’s dog doing with a snake. He stuck his head RIGHT in his face. Multiple times.
After correction, he decided to walk away. Then the trainer looped around and walked him by the snake again.
And, he went right back in his face. I learned something new today: juvenile snake bites do not hurt, so in real life a dog would not be deterred by an immediate reaction, and is likely to be bit multiple times.
He got a stronger correction the second time. No one enjoys seeing their dog jump like that- but when I thought about the dogs I have seen who have been bit, those who survived and those who did not, it made the guilt more bearable.
Allrightallright already, I’ll leave the snake alone.
Interlude: We take a brief foray onto a trail, where snake skin has been scattered about to test the dog’s response to snake smell. Brody was appropriately inclined to avoid it.
And while they were doing that, they took out the Big Kahuna. *shudder*
Would you like to say hello? the trainer asks.
Brody says: Heck no.
Are you sure? the trainer asks.
I’m totally sure, Brody replies.
Having aced the final, the happy graduate is remanded to relieved owner custody.
I wish I had brought my videocamera instead of my regular camera, so you could have seen the whole process. I will when I do the session again next year. It was really interesting. Plus you would have gotten to hear the trainer say to me, “If he were out on a trail he would have been bitten about 3 times by now,” when Brody came upon the first snake. Money well spent, indeed.
Muzzled snakes? Who knew? I agree with you 100% that in this case, the use of the shock collar was entirely appropriate and effective. There’s a place and time, right? Aside from the dog being bitten, I would die of a heart attack if my pup brought me a “prize” like that to the back door. The happy graduate face is priceless!
WOW! That is very educational. I wish I could have done that w/my dog when we first got her. She found a juvenile rattle snake on a trip we took and we were beside ourselves, afraid she was going to get bitten before we could rein her in. If we ever get another puppy, we’ll make sure to look for a resource like that in our area. Thanks for the heads up! and Kudos to Brody– he definitely deserves a bully stick for learning such a valuable lesson! (I hope you had some chocolate or ice cream yourself too!)
Wow, this is amazing. I had no idea such a thing existed. It is also the first time I have seen a shock collar make any kind of sense! I have a friend that used to use one and I would refuse to walk with her.
“It’s not like they’re Boomslangs that drop randomly out of trees onto your head (I had nightmares after learning that little factoid)”
Thanks for sharing that bit of information! 8-/
🙂
We have no poisoness snakes where I live, but I join your pride in “The Graduate” and relief that he won’t be sniffing any rattlers.
Great training and info. Living in suburbia , there are more Canada Geese and Red Tail hawks and dogs whose owners neglet to leashe them , than snakes but I have seen them . Always on the lookout when walking the pups because the threat can come from below and above. 🙂
I agree that the shock collar would be the lesser of two evils and would save a dear pups life. Wow. Thanks for sharing
Very cool to see this process. We have many friends who have been through such training, but the snakes were in a glass box…not so up close and personal!
What a good idea! There should be more of these sorts of mini-classes available!
Glad Brodie graduated….love that last photo of him!
Ummm…I do know how to spell your dog’s name. Geez! BRODY!!!
Our blog friend Murphy just went to that class too!
http://dogcatgirl.blogspot.com/2010/03/rat.html
His mom even got video of the experience.
And thank you, I now have that song stuck in my head. hehehe
Those are some great pics! Snake close-up woo hoo!
When we moved into our last house there were a lot of harmless snakes, garden snakes. Our dog, big scary pit bull that he was, was rendered down into quivering jelly and terror by them. But if we stepped too close to one he would do his doggy duty and dispatch it with a quick shake (if I couldn’t get to it first to save it by tossing it over the fence) to save our rear ends from the Big Scary Garter Snakes, then return to our sides for more violent trembling.
At first. He got to the point that the fear was gone. And it did worry me that one day he’d run up against a snake that WASN’T a harmless garter snake and do what he normally did and scoop it right up. Luckily he now lives in a relatively snake-free area, but it’s a recurring fear of mine. I wish we had things like this around here but a quick google suggests we don’t. And we’re in a rattler-heavy area!
I suspect there’s more to this little phrase – “Brody’s sincere enthusiasm for wildlife” – than meets the eye, especially after reading last week’s post about the…er…parts found in the yard ;o)
1. How does one muzzle a snake?
2. I am so glad that I live in a state that doesn’t have poisonous snakes (okay, there was that one time but it was because some doofus who owned the snake let it go because he didn’t want it anymore. *headdesk*)
very, very carefully. 😀
man, I wish we could do that in Australia. out of the top 20 most venomous snakes in the world about 17 of them are Australian. I’m not afraid of snakes, but I do get a bit nervous walking in long grass/bush because in my area alone we have: red belly black, brown, tiger, whip and roughscale snakes. be glad that all you have to worry about is rattlers -they give you a warning! Australian snakes don’t!
and I think that the shock collar was perfectly justified in that instance.
I’ve heard some crazy stuff about Aussie snakes!
Very interesting post! I live in Ontario Canada where we don’t really have to worry much about snakes. I’ve always wondered how dogs that live in snake infested areas are trained to avoid them.