Your Dog and a Rattlesnake


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Took my dog Max for his annual Viper Avoidance retraining yesterday. I believe so strongly in this training that I wanted to share an opportunity for those who are going to be in the Kingman AZ area on April 4th ... the Saturday before Easter Sunday. Jim Walkington of Viper Voidance.com in New River AZ will be doing his rattlesnake avoidance training for dogs AND their owners who travel into areas where rattlesnakes live. This is not a walk-in clinic ... you need to call Jim to make an appointment. He can be reached at 480-215-1776. Depending on you and your dog the training only takes 20-30 minutes and is done with LIVE Rattlesnakes not old snake skins.

I hope that if your dog and you have not trained that you will take advantage of this opportunity. DISCLAIMER: I am not getting paid for this announcement nor would I take money for doing so if it were offered. I volunteered to do it when Jim told me he was going to be in Kingman to do the training. I feel so strongly about this training that I told him I would post to the three main forums that I frequent. Do your best four legged friend a favor ... give him/her a fighting chance to avoid being struck by a rattlesnake ... this training will definitely be worth the price of admission ... AND it may save your dog's life!

Jim's website is: WWW.VIPERVOIDANCE.COM

Mike F

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My dog has had the training three times. We have always been concerned that it would work in the real world because she is very curious and loves to chase lizards or anything else that will run.

Two days ago while on a walk with my wife our dog stopped and pionted at the base of a large bush. This was her first encounter with a rattler and when that snake started to buzz she, the dog, took off in the opposite direction.

What a relief to know this training worked for our dog.

The dog came home but I think my wife is still running.

Ed

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My wife reminded me about the rattlesnske shots and yearly booster. I know there are mixed opinions on these shots but our vet has seen positive results for dogs who have had the shots vs dogs that have not. If our dog does get bitten in one of the remote areas we go to we want the dog to have every advantage possible to survive.

Sounds so good I wonder if I could get one of those shots.

Ed

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My wife reminded me about the rattlesnske shots and yearly booster. I know there are mixed opinions on these shots but our vet has seen positive results for dogs who have had the shots vs dogs that have not. If our dog does get bitten in one of the remote areas we go to we want the dog to have every advantage possible to survive.

Sounds so good I wonder if I could get one of those shots.

Ed

Only if you sit and be a good boy!!

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I would like to weigh in on this topic if I might. As most of you know, anti-venom is still largely collected from horses. They inject venom into these noble animals in doses small enough for them to handle and the horse develops the anti-bodies to neutralize the venom. Viola - anti-venom. There are arguments from both camps on a dog's ability to do the same. I am in the pro camp. As long as someone with the appropriate "smarts" figures out the correct dosage, I believe it can work. One caveot - some dog breeds are, in my opinion, too fragile to handle this regimen - i.e. Maltese, Poms, etc. (Now don't you Maltese owners attack me - I am just trying to help your dog).

But when it comes to a human doing this - whoa!!!! There are some nuts out there who have been doing this. In fact, I saw a documentary on this - and the fool is one shot away from eternity. Bill Haas, the curator/owner of the Miami Serpentarium, now nearing 90, has been bitten over 170 times and he has developed some immunities to certain venom. He usually still needs medical care, but his chances of survival are HUGE. But he is the exception and his was not a planned immunity build-up, but came about by a series of misfortunate mistakes. It was an unexpected result.

Snake venom varies with different creatures, and I am not talking only about hemotoxin vs. neurotoxin. Certain elements can vary from snake to snake in the same species. Moreover, often a snakebite from a venomous snake will be a "dry" bite - or venom-free. For whatever reason, the snake either just used a lot of venom on prey or chose not to use its venom on some fool putting their hands in his den. But conversely, some snakes do not have the opportunity to use their venom for awhile and you get a full load bite. The eastern diamonback is famous for this, as is the western diamondback. They usually inject an enormous amount of venom and no pre-bite regimen of introduced venom into one's body is going to help you in that situation. Indeed, it might work in just the opposite way and have so exhausted your natural defenses that you might experience an allegic reaction (anafelectic).

Hope I didn't come across curt or judgmental - just trying to help.

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I remember we had an especially snakey year at Gold Basin about 10 years ago. I told my old buddy Plaz Conner (R.I.P.) to be especially careful because I saw 2 in one day and three 4 days later on another day.

Main reason I was telling Plaz is because he always took his two Jack Russel terriers with him detecting.

Well I don't know why he didn't heed my warning because not 10 days later he called me crying. A Mohave Green bit both his dogs. Bit the male first, and then the female. The male died and the female barely made it as he rushed the dog to a vet in Kingman. AND, he had anti-venin with him and administered it to both dogs.

Plaz considered himself something of an amateur herpetologist, and he always carried anti-venin. I guess the problem with anti-venin is that it works on the hemotoxins, but it does nothing for the neurotoxins. Mohave Greens have both and apparently they venom is closely related to that of a Cobra.

Bottom line is, be careful out there. Pay attention. And never reach or step into a blind location. Look first then move.

When you are in a gully and you round the bend and there is a rock outcropping about shoulder high, make a really wide turn, far enough away from that outcropping so that if a rattler were lying on a ledge sunning himself, he wouldn't be able to strike out and bite you.

BCOT!

Doc

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While swinging June 26th. 2001, I bumped into this Mojave Green Rattle Snake with my coil, quite unintentionally, I can assure you. But it never made a sound. Apparently quite happy to let me walk really close so it could bite me. It came right over my coil at me. After backing away quickly and screaming like a 12 year old girl I threw my pick at it and doinked it.

I would have glady walked around it and went on my way, but it didn't give me a chance. What happen to this nonsense about rattle snakes not normally being aggressive?

Not being one normally prone to violence, I made an exception in this case. Glad I always carry an extra pair of underwear with me. I have gone the opposite direction of many of these reptiles, when they give me fair warning, but this one was no bueno..

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One of Dodacious' close friends has Jack Russell and they are quite the dog! ... About 7 years ago they decided to go camping at LSD and invited us to join them ... I didn't realize they were going to let their pair of JR's run free ... When we got there the first thing I told them was that rattlers were sort of thick in the area they chose ... Well, a couple minutes later, the two dogs started getting aggressive toward a greasewood bush and, boom, there was a rattler in a kangaroo rat hole ... The dogs went after it and both got nailed on the face ... The first one lasted about 20 seconds and toppled over dead almost like a cartoon dog, legs stiff and straight out from its body ... The other got sick and swoll up a bit but was OK ...

So all the talk lately about snakes inspired me to do some concentrated research on telling a Mojave and a Diamondback apart ... Then I went through my collection of rattlesnake photos I've take over the past few years and discovered that the vast majority of the snakes here on my property, including the one that killed our little border collie, as well as those I photoed at LSD and the Vultures are Mojaves!!! Crap!

Like Doc says, be careful out there! ,,, Cheers, Unc

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