Rattlesnake and Toad Avoidance Training for Dogs

Why do you use an e-collar? – An immediate negative association (the shock) is used to teach the dogs to avoid the three S’s of the R.snakes / S.toads through our multi-point course, paired with the trainer looking for specific behavior ques. The shock only happens when the dog is focused on the station and is too close / curious, if they are properly avoiding, no shock!

Do we have to do this again? / How long will my dog remember training? - Dogs are individuals and some associate and learn faster or better than others do. Large majority of dogs do great with training, and will avoid for years to come, but if they need to come back through training a second time in the following few months or next year, that is okay! Several factors can attribute to your dogs learning, such as breed traits, age, focus, other training, hearing/vision issues, etc. We always recommend coming through for a refresher (half price) once yearly past the initial training, it is an easy way to bring it back to the forefront of your pups mind; an encounter can happen at any moment.

My dog was bitten in the past, do they still need training? – Yes! Getting bit does not teach them to avoid in the future. The pain from a bite can be delayed up to a couple of minutes and often times the dog does not appropriately associate the pain with the snake, which is why we use an e-collar, instant association.

My dog went up to a dead snake? – This doesn’t mean training didn’t work, just that dogs like gross stinky dead things of any kind. Once it has been dead for even a short time, or blood has been exposed, that scent changes and is no longer what we trained with. Still keep dogs away and use a stick/tool to move dead R.snakes if needed, they can still potentially envenomate after death for several hours.

Does this work for all snake species or just Rattlesnakes? Sonoran Toads vs. all toads – This is R.snake specific training, they have a distinct scent profile to the dog, which their venom glands are a big part of, they also have a sound (usually), and a defensive behavior. These things make R.snakes different than non-rattlesnake species to the dogs, they have shown us many times over that they do in fact know the difference between R.snakes and non-R.snake species of snake. Dogs are individuals though, some may avoid non-R.snakes as well, while some dogs may still show curiosity towards our harmless species of snake when encountered.
Same goes for our Sonoran Toads, it is training specific to them and their unique scent and profile. If you need help identifying snake or toad species, you’re welcome to send us photos!

What if my dog doesn’t notice a R.snake? – There are several factors that go into your dog noticing and avoiding a R.snake. Several environmental factors attribute to the dog’s awareness and ability to smell/see/hear the snake. Wind speed/direction, temperature, humidity and camouflaged surroundings all play a role in daily life. But, dogs are smart and will keep themselves safe, when a R.snake is detected, they will remember, and know to avoid the situation, rather than being curious and getting too close. They need to know it is there in order to avoid; dogs present specific behaviors associated with avoidance, watching your dog during training will teach you what to look for afterwards & recognizing their avoidance behaviors in the real world can keep you both safe!

We encounter a lot of snakes, my dog stopped avoiding as well? – Desensitization; when R.snakes are encountered on a very frequent basis (avid hikers, field dogs, or you just have a ton of snakes in your area) dogs can overtime become less fearful of them since nothing bad (e-collar shock) is happening when frequently encountered . If this is your situation, it is recommended to repeat the training yearly to help upkeep the dog’s avoidance behavior. Keep snakes a bad thing after training, do not stay in the area where a R.snake was spotted, move away before praising your dog for avoiding. Staying in the area of a known R.snake with your dog and acting like everything is fine, taking photos or giving your dog treats, are ways of desensitizing them to the R.snakes and working against the avoidance training.

What if my dog did this training with someone else in the past? – Avoidance training is not all equal, there are several methods of doing this from different trainers and can be less effective given certain circumstances, let me know and we can talk about it!