My dog Griss has a nose for snakes. When we lived in Connecticut it was squirrels, here in Arizona it’s rattle snakes. I talk to many dog owners out here who have never had this problem. My wife and I live on South Mountain, which is the largest lity park in the U.S. It’s huge and of course mountainous. And all the wildlife is of course protected…meaning lot’s O’food for the predators.
Our first couple of hikes and walks Griss never found anything other than a lizard to two. However, when the weather heated up he found his first Rattlesnake. My wife and I were wrought with fear as he was several yards in front of us. He had never seen one before and of course went up to it and sniffed around. It didn’t strike but it’s rattle was going crazy. he knew enough somehow to stay clear, or at least out of it’s way.
We kept walking and warned other hikers of a snake in the road. I had to call Griss several times before he finally came back into line with us.
Now everytime we go on a walk (everyday) he’s searching for rattlers. Over this sumemr he’s found at least a few dozen if not more…he searched them out, and as soona s they make noise, he goes on a search for another one.
What should I do? Negative reinforcement doesn’t work on him…Any ideas?
You have your dog on a leash, yeah? Just pull him away. (You’re probably thinking, "Duh, thanks for the lame advice. :))
Our great dane is as lazy as can be (dumb too), but when he hears a snake he’ll go running right towards it. Since then, we’ve been sure to keep him on a leash so he’ll stay away from the snakes.
The obvious answer is to keep him on a leash. I believe Mojave rattlers are native to your area. If he gets nailed and fully envenomated his chances of survival are remote.
I know of a woman (through the Cornsnake Forums) that puts on rattlesnake avoidance clinics for dogs in CA. If you post to the General Chitchat forum over there she may be able to hook you up in your area. Free registration and a helpful group.
My dane is quite obedient as well (we usually walk him with out a leash), but he is still a dog. “AAAAAAHHHHH!!! Something small is scurrying!!! LET ME INVESTIGATE!!! AHHHH…hey, ow. Why is it angry? Lemme lick him to make him feel better. Wait wait…that didn’t help at all…”
A friend of mine raises Labs, and where she lives, they have a water moccasin problem. She teaches snake avoidance with a shock collar and a rubber snake , or a harmless live snake , by zapping the dogs when they show any interest in the snake. She claims it works , but I have never had any reason to try it.
Not much help here. But they do have training clinics for this. I’ve seen them advertised (marketed to the hunting dog crowd) in the Corpus Christi Caller Times before. A Google search reveals quite a few links to such clinics.
