Rattlesnake Avoidance Training for Dogs

[karstic]

I am a member of the Orange County Chapter of Quail Unlimited and we are hosting a Rattlesnake Avoidance Training Clinic for Dogs on June 18th and 19th. This year is already a banner year for rattlesnakes because of the amount of rain that we've had. If you take your dog out in the "wild", from Big Bear to your local park, please consider this training for the safety and health of your pet. Vet bills to treat a rattlesnake bite can range from $1000-$2000.


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RATTLESNAKE AVOIDANCE
TRAINING FOR DOGS

“15 MINUTES OF TRAINING
COULD SAVE YOUR DOG’S LIFE”

Rattlesnakes are common throughout Southern California – not just in the wild areas, but also in suburban neighborhoods and park areas. It is essential that your dog recognize a rattlesnake as a danger instead of an interesting plaything. For a dog, a rattlesnake bite is very painful, difficult/expensive to treat and, too often, deadly. To provide this important training, The Orange County Chapter of Quail Unlimited has organized their 3rd Annual Rattlesnake Avoidance Clinic to be conducted in Lake Forest.

The Rattlesnake Avoidance Training will be conducted by Mr. Robert Kettle -- widely acknowledged as a leading expert in Canine Snake Avoidance Training. Mr. Kettle, a professional herpetologist from Nevada, has conducted clinics for the Nevada Fish & Game, U.S. Navy, U. S. Air Force, numerous governmental and non-profit organizations throughout the Western United States and is approved by the California Department of Fish & Game.

Dates: June 18, 2005 and June 19, 2005
Time: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM -- by Appointment
Place: Serrano Creek Community Park,
Serrano Road, Lake Forest, CA.
(On Serrano Rd between Lake Forest Dr. and Toledo Dr.)
Cost: $50.00 per dog

These 15 minute training sessions are done by appointment only.

Please register early -- space is limited and we will sell out. Please contact Mr. Jerry Gehrls @ (714) 774-3465 for reservations or additional information. Also, please see our website at www.quoc256.org

Quail Unlimited is a 510©(3) nonprofit conservation group working to benefit quail, dove and their habitats throughout the United States. This event is a fundraiser for The Orange County Chapter to fund quail and dove habitat projects here in Orange County.

-----------------------------------------------------------Tear Here--------------------------------------------------------

Name: _____________________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________
Breed of Dog: ________________________________________________
Phone # (for confirmation of date and time) _________________________
Preferred Date & Time(Saturday/Sunday AM or PM): _______________
Credit Card Type:________ Card Holder Name:__________________________________
Card Number:________________________ Exp. Date:________________

Please enclose a Check or Money Order made payable to Quail Unlimited or provide Credit Card Information and send to:
Quail Unlimited
c/o Jerry Gehrls
621 S. Elder St.
Anaheim, Ca. 92805-4931
e-mail [email protected]

 

[Drunk tank]

:huh:

 

[karstic]

Tell me do you always hike with a loaded 12 gauge? I'm sure that would go over real well in Aliso Woods or Laguna Hills Wilderness parks. Or how 'bout when you let your dog out to take a leak on a trail run?

 

[rockwerks]

:huh:

Moron

 

[bajacalal]

Just curious but how exactly do you train the dog to avoid rattlesnakes without the dog actually suffering a snakebite and therefore fearing them?

 

[karstic]

I'll explain as best as I can.

The dog wears a shock collar. He is then walked through a course with caged rattlesnakes. As soon as the the dog fixates on the snake, he is shocked. This is repeated a couple of times approaching the snakes from different ways. Once the dog is run through the course they are brought to the start and taken off lead. The owner calls them from the other end of the course. The dogs do anything they can to avoid the snakes.

 

[Drunk tank]

Tell me do you always hike with a loaded 12 gauge? I'm sure that would go over real well in Aliso Woods or Laguna Hills Wilderness parks. Or how 'bout when you let your dog out to take a leak on a trail run?

Im from Colorado. :laugh3:

And to everyone else... it was just a joke. Come on Californians... lets all remember the funny days

 

[RichP]

I guess, we never let ours off leash, period. As far as a bumper crop year due to excessive rain, well we just kill ours as we find em....don't need the hazard, same with copperheads. An ice chopper does the job well and doubles as a walking stick. Maybe a few Sagittarius serpentarius turned loose in calif might be an option...
Back in 76 while I was down in georgia going to a crypto repair school at Ft Gordon we spent two days cruising the lake with a 18 ft jet boat and a case of mk3 grenades cleaning out cotton mouth nests at Clark Hill dam, too many dependants were getting bitten in the rec and picnic area run by special services.
Got no tolerance for vipers, don't care how 'politically incorrect' it is. Not after having to clean cotton mouths out from between the pressure hull and superstructure, in the DARK with a 9v spot light to replace zinc annodes on the boat I was on. Hated turnover and refit in charleston just for that, oh and the gators that liked to lay in the middle of the road at nite thru the swamp when I was duty driver, hellava speed bump even in a suburban...

 

[RichP]

Tell me do you always hike with a loaded 12 gauge? I'm sure that would go over real well in Aliso Woods or Laguna Hills Wilderness parks. Or how 'bout when you let your dog out to take a leak on a trail run?

I thought there was an anti-pissing in the woods law for dogs and people in calif.... :laugh3:

 

[Bent]

Im from Colorado. :laugh3:

And to everyone else... it was just a joke. Come on Californians... lets all remember the funny days

Growing up here in SoCal, I'd often spend a lot of time at my grandparents place in Lucerne Valley. If any of us kids wanted to take off hiking or exploring, we had to take a shotgun with us. There was also a loaded one leaned next to every door in the house that went outside. It's those damned Mojave Greens that bother me! Baaaad neeeeews.

Tim

 

[GSequoia]

If any of us kids wanted to take off hiking or exploring, we had to take a shotgun with us.

These days you still need to do that, only it's to keep you safe from the tweakers.

 

[Drunk tank]

Yep... never know when a tweaker gonna comming running out of the bushes, slap ya in the face and yell "I'M RICK JAMES, BITCH!"

 

[rockwerks]

Yep... never know when a tweaker gonna comming running out of the bushes, slap ya in the face and yell "I'M RICK JAMES, BITCH!"

man did not think it was possible but you topped your last stupid post! cangrats!

Our garage cat killed a baby diamondback yesterday.. and we moved a big one a coupel of miles away....try not to kill em but move em...they keep the mice and ground squirrel population under control....and they are about the only preditor left

 

[itsHud]

This training course actually works. (this might not be the location to be posted?) I put my Wiemaraner through last year. Being the high strung hunting dog that he is, I did'nt think it would work. I'm glad to say our first encounter this year, I tryed to drag him in close. He wanted nothing to do with the snake. Good enough for me. Those Vet bills are more expensive than Jeep parts...

 

[Bent]

...try not to kill em but move em...they keep the mice and ground squirrel population under control....and they are about the only preditor left

Agreed, I've only been in a spot where there was not any other option. My wife and I were hiking, she was young and I was still trying to engrain the notion of watching where you step thing in her. She ended up straddling a Sidewinder. Long story short, after taking it’s head off with a rifle and telling her it was ok to move again she didn’t know whether to mess her pants because of the shot or the snake. It did end up being one of her favorite stories to tell though.

 

[karstic]

Yeah they've got their rightful place in the pecking order. Although the thought of a Mojave Green scares the bejesus outta me.

A snake trained dog is not only protecting himself but can alert his owner to the danger ahead.

The training is cheap insurance for the dog and the owner. As soon as our pup is old enough he'll go through the course.

 

[karstic]

I guess, we never let ours off leash, period.

Our main user group is focused on hunting dog, situations where they wouldn't be on a leash, although there are plenty of situations where the family pet can be exposed to rattlers.

How 'bout just running around in the backyard. There's a lot of places here in SoCal where new housing developments border natural, open space, prime rattlesnake habitat.

 

[saki669]

Snakes fear my dog.

 

[RichP]

Our main user group is focused on hunting dog, situations where they wouldn't be on a leash, although there are plenty of situations where the family pet can be exposed to rattlers.

How 'bout just running around in the backyard. There's a lot of places here in SoCal where new housing developments border natural, open space, prime rattlesnake habitat.

Where homes encroach on habitat and the residents of the habitat are poisionous they plain and simply need to go, either thru relocation or they are expired in the most efficient manner possible. If I have kid and pets youbetcha that theres going to be a poisionus snake free zone on my property. I try to not leave any habitat that they can move into, rock walls, low decks, etc. At least the timber and diamondbacks we deal with here give warning, the copperheads don't. And they don't go into hibernation either like I was told, I was doing a network cableing job locally in a crawl space, the leaks from the central air kept it relatively warm down there and they had a enougn of a mouse population to support 2 diamond backs and a one 3 ft copperhead... both types always interesting to meet when low crawling thru a cellar....the copperhead almost had me, at first glance I figured a workman had taken a REALLY IMPRESSIVE dump at some time in the past, nope, copperhead.

 

[RichP]

Snakes fear my dog.

AWSOME PIC.....would make a good avatar