Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Wy. or Montana: Know anyone who trains dogs to avoid rattlesnakes??

I need to get my goldens trained to avoid rattlesnakes.. Especially my youngest.. Heard of a guy in Az. that does this, and just wondered if any one in Mt. or Wy. does snake avoidance training for dogs..

You just missed the one they had here.
Her number is in the top.
Give her a call.
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2015 Rattlesnake Aversion Clinic
June 26 8:00 AM 135 Southport Ave., Lewiston 208/413-3032 shellyd181gmail.com Website


Two years ago in May, I had an 8 month old, 5 pound, Poodle/Chi puppy that was bit by a rattlesnake in our home, she wasn't big enough to withstand the bite and died early the next morning. When I got a new puppy I decided it would be as safe from rattlers as I could make it so she got the shots and I started looking for rattlesnake aversion training. I found 2 in southern Idaho, but neither used real rattlesnakes and I had missed them anyway. So I decided we could travel and continued searching for trainers. I found Natural Solutions was having a clinic in Wenatchee, WA., so I did a little checking on them and some other trainers out of SoCal. Natural Solutions had great reviews and a very informative website. But, what really made my decision was a line in their bio that said they cared for the well-being of the snakes as well as the dogs. On a whim I contacted them and asked if they'd be interested in stopping by Lewiston on their way to Wenatchee and to my surprise they said yes.

It wasn't as easy as that though, Natural Solutions had to get permits to bring their snakes into Idaho before the clinic and I had only a few weeks to advertise. But they did, and I did, and 28 dogs were trained to avoid rattlesnakes last year. I heard back from several participants praising the training and thanking me because their dogs had successfully avoided rattlesnakes later in the summer.

Training takes an average of 15 minutes per dog. The trainer sits and visits with each owner as he calmly puts a small shock collar on the dog and trades leads from the owner's to his. Training consists of four stations, each designed to help the dog learn to avoid the sight, sounds, and smells of rattlers of different ages and sizes. The final station is interactive with the owner. The trainer approaches each station and allows the dog to react naturally. If the dog fails to acknowledge the snake it receives a small shock and is circled back through the station until there's a proper response. The final station is interactive with the owner, who has been watching the earlier training.

The trainer's website is www.rattlesnakeaversion.com if you're interested. Natural Solutions has discounted their fee to $70/dog and I donate my time, space, and advertising because I feel so strongly that no one should loose a beloved canine family member to a rattlesnake bite. Rattlesnakes are a part of living in this area and dogs are curious by nature, so it's up to owners to keep their dogs as safe as possible!

This year's Lewiston Clinic is Friday, June 26, from 8am-3pm. Response has been great so far this year, 30 dogs signed up already!

Wage, thanks,I will try and get in touch with these folks..

Butch Nelson does it. He does them around MT and below are blurbs of two of those places, although both have passed. His isn't as involved as that described in wageslave's post. I have no idea which method is more effective.

http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyl...de2a870-222f-5418-86f1-d656c04c5140.html

http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyl...0cd3590-2b23-5762-a8e1-7158033b1131.html

You might also check Tritronics website, they used to have a guy that did traveling clinics on snake bteaking and he went through MT and WY

Thanks, I will check these out.. Wages contact is mostly in Calif.
I am hoping to locate something a bit closer.. Again thanks.

I PM'ed WyoCoyotehunter to inform about that guy in Az, Web Parton. Web is going to Northern Utah in early Aug. He told me he is booked solid. He will be three weeks in Salt Lake with some time in Ogden and then south to St. George then back to Tucson.
His website has not been updated for these events.

He has done the snake avoidance training with all of my dogs and all of my friend's dogs. We will be doing Colorado toad avoidance with my newest dog in Sept.

http://www.snakesafe.com/

I would like to share with everyone that there is a rattlesnake vaccine for dogs. It doesn't work on the dual toxin Mojave but is reported to work on the other rattlers. My vet Dr. Michael Robinson swears by this vaccine. He has seen very positive results with over 100 dogs some who have been envenomed more than once! He says they don't need antivenom just some benadryl and in some cases some pain meds. IMO it is well worth the cost.

Az. I thank you for the pm.. As a note to the vaccine for dogs, one of our locals had his lab give the vaccine for snake bit.. But the dog had a reaction and died with in a short time.. It was a huge lab in good shape.. This has prevented me from going that route.. But thanks for all you have done..

That is horrible news about your friend's lab. That would have caused me to reconsider a vaccine too.