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FREQUENTY ASKED QUESTIONS

The most common questions about dog snake avoidance training

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What are the signs & Symptoms of Snake Bites?

The more common signs and symptoms of snake bite in a dog involve:

  • Weakness followed by collapse

  • Shaking or Twitching

  • Dilated Pupils or Difficulty Blinking

  • Vomiting & Paralysis.

  • Loss of bladder or bowel control.

  • Blood in urine.

 

NOTE:

  1. There may be other signs and this is not an exhaustive list. If in doubt, take your dog to a vet to get checked.

  2. The signs of a snake bite are dependent upon the type of snake that bit your dog. Symptoms can vary significantly.

  3. There is not always necessary all of the below symptoms. Only 1 or 2 of the symptoms may occur. If in doubt, take your dog to a vet.

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If you Suspect a Snake Bite in a Dog?

If you think your dog has been bitten by a snake:

  • Keep calm yourself and control your own emotions

  • Keep your dog calm as possible and reduce stimulus around him.

  • Remove people who will make the situation worse.

  • Do NOT wash the wound.

  • NEVER try to catch or kill the snake yourself.

  • CALL THE SNAKE HUNTER on 0403 875 409

  • Take your dog to the Vet ASAP. (The quicker you do this, the more chance of survival).

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Do You Have General Advice?

  • Train your dog, and train him/her very well.

  • When going for a walk, if your dog is properly obedience trained, you will be able to recall your dog when they go too far away from you

  • If your dog has good recall, you can call him away from a snake.

  • When going for a walk, stay on the path and away from the edges.

  • If your dog smells something and finds curiosity in it, pay attention to what your dog is doing.

  • Do NOT let your dog play with dead snakes.

  • Teach your dog not to go near snakes/lizards/reptiles.

  • Keep your dog on a lead at all times when walking. Make this a short lead so you have full control of your dog.

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Can you Train Any Dog?

  • We can train any dog that is over the age of 6 months and has been approved by a vet to use an e-collar.

  • We have trained dogs that have killed snakes in the past.

  • We have experience training security dogs, scent dogs, lap dogs, therapy dogs, hunting dogs, family dogs and more.

  • Some (Very rare) dogs have no interest in snakes what so ever. In these cases, training is not necessary.

  • There is no age limit to training. We have trained dogs that are 15 years old. As long as they have passed the vet clearance, there are no issues with training.

  • Even if your dog is a 'rescue' and came from a traumatic background, we can work with your dog's individual needs.

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What is your training methodology

Dogs are taught through classical and operant conditioning to avoid snakes they identify visually (sight) and through olfactory (smell) senses. This is done with mumerous snakes (Both venomous and non venomous) in a variety of scenarios across two separate training sessions that are 14 days apart.  All training is tailored for the individual dog - its needs, personality and temperament. Training can be done in both groups and 1:1 training.

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Do All Snakes Smell The Same?

Dogs PRIMARILY smell living creatures (such as snakes) in 3 different ways:

1. Gender: Male or female.

2. Individual: Such as Mark, Joanne etc. (They don't know our name but identify us as individuals).

3. Species: Cat, Bat, Frog, Human, Dog, Snake.

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Dogs can be trained smell individual subspecies of snakes e.g tiger snake, lowland copperhead etc, but they smell species first. That is why we train with a range of different snakes (venomous & non venomous) so dogs learn to (generalise) avoid all snakes upon smelling them.

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