How to teach your dog to avoid RATTLESNAKES

Train your dog to detect Rattlesnakes.
It can save your dog.
It can save your life.
It can save you money.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dog
• Rattlesnake in cage
• Electronic collar
• A friend

1. 
    
   Your children may be at risk

   Rattlesnakes can kill people. Understand that before you even get into this.
   If you don't know what you are doing, leave it alone!
   As they say on TV, training should be done by a professional.
   So if you know what you are doing, then read on!

2. 
    
   Bringing the dog towards the cage

   Understand you are using NEGATIVE AVERSION CONDITIONING to train your dog. Simply, that means that when they recognize the snake, they receive a stimulus from the collar, which teaches them association.
   This RECOGNITION can be in the form of:
   * An alert
   * A smell
   * A sense
   * A sound
   * Visually

3. Rattlesnakes emit an odor (scent) and a sound (rattle) that is specific to them. If you are aversion conditioning your dog to a rattlesnake, do not use another species, dead snake or snake skin.
   Do not use rain sticks, as while this sound is similar to the human ear, it is different to a snake sound when detected by a dog.

4. Place the snake in a secure enclosure (cage) that is preferably mesh based. Locate this cage out of sight, in a natural area.
   Have a friend place the e-collar on the dog.
   (You do not want to handle your own dog, due to perceived cues emitted by you.)

5. Approach the cage with the dog.
   Do NOT use any obedience, commands, leash input or force.
   Your dog should have the perception they are "going for a walk".

6. As soon as the dog "recognizes" the snake, nick them with the e-collar.
   The collar should be set to a level so that there is a substantial response, but not high enough to create panic.
   Don't be too "soft" as this could cause the dog to develop an immunity to the collar.
   And yes, we are all concerned for the welfare of the pet.
   There is nothing fun about aversion training.
   You are saving your dogs life through a negative process, remember.
   And remember, an e-collar used correctly, is very safe and unlikely to injure your dog.

7. As soon as you get a reaction, run the dog AWAY from the snake.
   This teaches "flight" response, which most dogs do NOT naturally have.

8. And finally, test your dog in a few different environments. This creates a stronger association, and ensures your dog has a balanced aversion association.

Tips & Warnings

• Use EXTREME CAUTION when working with rattlesnakes.
• Use a high quality e-collar, such as TriTronics.
• If you are new to this, try and observe someone else before doing it yourself,
• Remember you are saving your dogs life.
• The most obvious one: RATTLESNAKES are potentially LIFE THREATENING.
• Do NOT attempt to defang a rattlesnake or use defanged snakes for training
• If you have a HIGH DRIVE dog, then ensure you repeat the training regularly
• If you are nervous of snakes, hire a professional

[mommyhen42]

on 8/14/2009 Great tips! I teach a rattlesnake aversion class every year and this is exactly how it is done! I have had a few people in my group refuse the class simply because it is aversive but there is NO positive way to train this. We use all sorts of snakes in addition to at least 1 real rattlekid and to date no dog that graduated the class has ever been bitten simply because they will NOT get close.