My only add to this discussion is that I hope at least a few of the offending rattlesnakes got a full dose of CCI snakeshot or the equivalent.

I have an eight year old German Wire Hair bird dog. When going through hunting training I sent him through snake avoidance training twice.

He failed. He hates snakes and feels obliged to kill everyone he sees/finds. He killed 8 last year including 3 rattlers and 2 copperheads plus 3 harmless ones.

He has been twice been bitten but either dry bites or he was sling them so hard they did not get complete bite.

Last year one of the Copperheads bit him on the inside of his mouth. That one required a full vet treatment and several days of inpatient treatment.

He has fully recovered and I hoped that would stop him and his snake hunting. Set some birds for him for some retraining the other day. Pointed the birds also killed a copperhead.
A very stubborn dog.

quote:

Originally posted by germandogs:
I have an eight year old German Wire Hair bird dog. When going through hunting training I sent him through snake avoidance training twice.

He failed. He hates snakes and feels obliged to kill everyone he sees/finds. He killed 8 last year including 3 rattlers and 2 copperheads plus 3 harmless ones.

He has been twice been bitten but either dry bites or he was sling them so hard they did not get complete bite.

Last year one of the Copperheads bit him on the inside of his mouth. That one required a full vet treatment and several days of inpatient treatment.

He has fully recovered and I hoped that would stop him and his snake hunting. Set some birds for him for some retraining the other day. Pointed the birds also killed a copperhead.
A very stubborn dog.

You would think that one run-in with a porcupine or a skunk would be enough too, but some dogs just can't learn.

Sounds like the OP's pup will be okay.

quote:

Originally posted by Micropterus:

quote:

Originally posted by calugo:
So I'm curious how do you train a dog to avoid rattlesnakes?

Shock collar, full power. Teach them that snakes will hurt them.

The lady who has done the training here has three different types of collars: shock collars, vibration collars, and compressed air (maybe CO2 cartridges?) collars that give a little blast, almost sounds like Pssst. If you have used shock collars on your dog, she uses one of the other types of collars. She and her helpers setup a course with several stations. Some have some old snakeskins, some have speakers operated by an app on an assistant’s phone, and some have live snakes (double muzzled). She runs the dog through and it learns to avoid all three types.

Update: His swelling has gone down a wee bit. He is able to barely open his left eye (which is right below where he was bit). His bark still sounds funny as he still has a lot of fluid and swelling around his gums/face/mouth/neck/shoulder. He is still slow and his appetite isn't back yet.

He has traces (not excessive but clearly can be seen) of blood in his stool that I've never seen before but vet said that should be ok.

It is taking a while, but I'm hoping each day when I wake up, he gets better.

I may look into rattlesnake avoidance training and the annual vaccine which are probably cheaper than a $2000 vet bill. I do also have the meds prescribed so if it does happen in the future, I can monitor to see if it's a dry bite and based on symptoms, may just get meds to self treat him.

My buddy has a pretty good shock collar. About $200 but works quite well for their young pup who is more rowdy and spry than my older dude. That said, when my pup's prey drive kicks in, he's hard to drawback, so I'm hoping the shock collar will help.

Thanks again all. The kind words and stories have helped me weather this better.

quote:

Originally posted by germandogs:
I have an eight year old German Wire Hair bird dog.
He hates snakes and feels obliged to kill everyone he sees/finds.

I've had 3 wirehairs. They always took great joy killing raccoons and possums. Especially the ones they would find while we were pheasant hunting in the South Dakota Cattail swamps

quote:

I've had 3 wirehairs. They always took great joy killing raccoons and possums. Especially the ones they would find while we were pheasant hunting in the South Dakota Cattail swamps

Wirehairs are amazing and this one is the best of the bird dogs I have had over 50 years of quail hunting but my God he is stubborn.