Rattlesnake Aversion Training

[rpcrowe]

I killed a large rattler on my property a few weeks ago when it was threatening Serena, my Great Pyrenees...



The Great Pyrenees is very protective of its property and will challenge any intruder, even a snake. While Serena is large enough to bluff off a coyote, a rattlesnake would mean her death or at least a lot of pain (not to mention the very expensive vet treatment).

So, I decided to enroll Serena in a snake aversion course...

The trainer made use of a mild shock collar and lead Serena close to a muzzled rattlesnake. The dog was very curious...



After the collar shocked her, she veered away from the snake and after a couple of tries would not go anywhere near the rattler. She even avoided the scent of the snake.



I am not a fan of using a shock collar for "normal" training but, this could be a life or death situation, and I don't think a couple of mild shocks is too much to pay to keep the dog relatively safe from rattlesnakes.

The trainer stated that they suggest repeating the training in a year. After that, the training will have imprinted itself on Serena's brain and should last for a lifetime...

BTW: This is the first time I utilized the "silent shooting" option of my Sony A6600... Works great (since I was not using flash) but sure seems weird not to hear a noise after pressing the shutter button.

[escape]

Nothing like a well-trained dog. Not too long ago, I was in Chinatown and I saw a guy walking with his dog. The dog stopped and picked up a chicken bone. The owner said, "Put it down," and the dog just dropped it. I was so impressed. He was definitely trained for the city.

[rpcrowe]

When I went through "Therapy Dog Boot Camp" with my Goldendoodle, the "Drop It!" Command was one of the first and the most important commands that we learned.
She learned it so well that she would walk down a line of tasty treats and never eat one....
This command is so important in pre-Covid days for hospital visits because medications and sometimes dropped by patients a which could kill a dog.

[lovelife65]

We had thought about doing this type of training for our dogs, but decided against it. I believe there are methods that don't use shock collars, but we always have our dogs leashed on trails and are cautious on where we take them in the heat of the summer.
A well trained dog is important, you are right Daniel. We could certainly be better in that regards. .
Interesting results Richard. Maybe we should rethink our position on the training.

[rpcrowe]

Sharon...

The collar used on Serena has a shock capability but, I don't use that facet. In fact, I have unscrewed the electrodes. Serena reacts very well to the vibration and sound modes of the collar.

There are several behaviors that I wanted to stop with Serena (barking is not one of them). We have oak trees with brick circles at the base in which we have planted society garlic. Serena likes to hunt lizards in these circles and she demolishes the planting plus she smells of garlic after her hunt. Additionally, we have a relatively lightweight interior fence designed to keep our dogs away from our chain link perimeter fence. Using even the sound facet of the e-collar stops Serena from putting her paws up on the interior fence and she has just about decided that it is not worth hunting lizards beneath the oak trees.

The reason I don't use the e-collar for barking is that barking is a natural behavior of the Pyrenees and is their way of warning off intruders.

The e-collar in sound or vibration mode is quite benign and doesn't hurt the dog a bit. In fact, I have used an e-collar on deaf dogs (an the lowest vibration). I train them to expect a treat when the collar goes off. They learn to look for me and the treat when they feel the slight vibration. After getting their attention, I can use hand signals to get them to do what I want them to do (Well, almost).