Snake aversion training

Maria · 05-04-2008, 12:36 AM

Can anyone tell me if there is an upcoming snake aversion course being offered near Houston, Texas?
Maria

saesms · 05-04-2008, 05:58 AM

what sort of training is that? i havent heard of it

Maria · 05-04-2008, 11:41 PM

They use snakes with fangs removed, and use a shock collar on the dogs to teach them to "avoid" dangerous snakes. Snakes also have a distinctive smell that dogs pick up. I wanted to do this 8 years ago, and at that time my pup was bitten by a copperhead; he did not attend the couse. I have not found a snake aversion course this time around near Houston, Texas. I would be interested to find one for this new pup.
They do a lot of this training in Arizona because of the rattlesnakes there. In Texas, we have our share of poisenous snakes.
Maria

saesms · 05-05-2008, 05:44 AM

in our farm our rajapalayam breed of dogs and dobes love to have a go at snakes,

though our dogs outnumber the snakes easily

Dobeman · 05-05-2008, 12:29 PM

The snake aversion classes I have attended with some of my dogs had snakes where fangs had not been removed. The training is for sight, sound and smell. It worked on all of the Dobermans that I have taken through except one male with very high pain tolerance and extreme prey drive. My Great Dane male also had to go back twice to 'get it'. He would avoid snakes when on his own, but when I was in the picture he didn't seem to care.

They now also offer Colorado River Toad aversion training. Also with the e-collar.

As opposed to incidents with toads, most snake bites seem to be accidents - i.e. dog running by a bush or a rock where a snake is hiding. These type of accidents cannot be prevented with aversion training.

My dogs are not allowed to run in the desert during snake season. I have snake fencing around the yard, which has worked very well.

There is also a vaccine on the market. Depending on who you talk to, you get very mixed feedback on it.

gracieface · 05-05-2008, 01:02 PM

wow, this is interesting, and makes me glad I don't have a snake problem where I live- that was always my concern when I visited my parents in AZ, was usually during rattlesnake season and to say I'm afraid of snakes is putting it mildly.

v320 · 07-03-2008, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dobeman

My dogs are not allowed to run in the desert during snake season. I have snake fencing around the yard, which has worked very well.

Ok, that is a new one to me... what is a snake fence?
Is it just a scent of some sort you put on your parameter?

diamond · 07-03-2008, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dobeman

The snake aversion classes I have attended with some of my dogs had snakes where fangs had not been removed. The training is for sight, sound and smell. It worked on all of the Dobermans that I have taken through except one male with very high pain tolerance and extreme prey drive. My Great Dane male also had to go back twice to 'get it'. He would avoid snakes when on his own, but when I was in the picture he didn't seem to care.

They now also offer Colorado River Toad aversion training. Also with the e-collar.

As opposed to incidents with toads, most snake bites seem to be accidents - i.e. dog running by a bush or a rock where a snake is hiding. These type of accidents cannot be prevented with aversion training.

My dogs are not allowed to run in the desert during snake season. I have snake fencing around the yard, which has worked very well.

There is also a vaccine on the market. Depending on who you talk to, you get very mixed feedback on it.

Good to know. I also live in AZ and just avoid desert areas during snake season. Kind of like supervising young kids around an unfenced pool. A dog at the park I go to was bit by a rattlesnake while sniffing at a bush at the edge of a grass park. He is fine 2 grand later.

Dobeman · 07-04-2008, 12:30 AM

What I call snake fence is a 3' tall plastic fence - like chicken wire but plastic, black, available at Home Depot - that we installed along the perimeter of the yard, attached to the real fence, buried into the ground a bit. Only tiny snakes could sneak through, unless there is a gopher hole, which I have to check for every day. "Weak" spots are only at the gates, so we have to close them very thoroughly.

I have only had one snake in the yard since we installed the fence and it had come in through a gopher hole - and sure enough bit my Great Dane.

Apparently, they sell some stuff that smells bad to snakes at the "Do-it-yourself pest control" stores, but I have heard it does not work well and our yard is huge, so we decided to install the fence.

2RescuedDobies · 07-04-2008, 01:34 AM

Patrick Callaghan is the one that's well known in California. I don't know if he does trainings in Texas. Well worth the time and money invested though unless you've got a dog that has an extremely high pain tolerance and extreme prey drive. Though it worked very well for an aquiantence of mine who was running a 10 dog malamute team up a trail and the lead dog turned the whole team around twice. The musher throughly irked got out to see what had happened and she saw a rattlesnake laying in the middle of the trail just up ahead. The lead dog saved the whole team for incurring multiple snake bites.