Three cups of calming Yogi tea and two yellow-labeled bottles of 
Rescue Remedy later, I thought I’d feel calmer. I don’t. My fingers sit paralyzed on the keyboard. I stare at the blank space beneath “Add New Post.” I don’t want to think about this week’s Never Shock a Puppy topic–rattlesnakes.
I’m terrified of encountering a rattlesnake. Not for myself. I’m scared, no, make that petrified, for Sadie. I want to protect her from every awful thing and the mere thought her being bitten wrings my stomach like an old rag wet with acid. I reach for a distraction. My current New Yorker falls open to “The Philosophy of Procrastination.”
I slip “Through a Dog’s Ear–Music for the Canine Household, Volume 1” into my laptop and try again.
Boulder is rattlesnake country. I know this and I know dogs who have been bitten, like Roxanne’s sweet Lilly. And, I know I have been very lucky. In 35 years of living and recreating in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains I have not encountered one rattlesnake. Neither have any of my dogs. But, I hear stories all the time!
To date I’ve been practicing a natural method, I guess you could call it, of rattlesnake avoidance. Luck. Common sense. Training.
Fortunately for us, rattlers haven’t taken up residence near our house even though we live in the foothills.
I also keep my ear to the ground, so to speak, and stay away from hiking trails that are known to be habitats for the reptiles. True, we’re missing some beautiful walks, but I’m just not into taking the risk. And, Sadie and I don’t hike when it’s warm not only because that’s when rattlers are likely to be catching rays, but because Sadie is extremely heat sensitive. Why take her on a hike when she’s just going to be hot and miserable?
When we do go for off-leash hikes I call Sadie away from investigating rock formations. All kinds of creepy crawly things live in, under and around rocks not to mention rattlesnakes. We also try to avoid tall grasses. That’s sometimes a little more difficult. In any case, “Leave it!” has become our cue to snappily turn your head and body away from the ‘whatever’ and come to me immediately!
Like natural birth control, natural rattlesnake avoidance works until it doesn’t.
So, I’ll ask myself the same question I’m asking you: “Would I ever consider shocking Sadie to teach her aversion to rattlesnakes?”
No. I wouldn’t. Why? Well, I’ll be honest with you, if she was a bolder, bomb proof dog, confident dog, I might. “Might,” I said. A reward-based trainer I greatly respect told me she’d consider using such an approach with the ‘right’ dog and with an over-the-top expert in training rattlesnake aversion using a shock collar. As with most professions, there are lots of ‘professionals’ but very few awesomely excellent ones.
Even with the right dog and trainer, though, so much still can go wrong. The dog might learn to avoid rattlesnakes during shock collar training but not generalize that learning to the real world of alien encounters of the reptile kind. The dog might associate the shock with something other than the smell, look, or sound of a rattlesnake–who knows what? Great. So now we have a dog with a new phobia that has nothing to do with rattlesnakes. I could go on, but you get the idea.
Another precaution against snake bites is rattlesnake vaccine which, at best, can buy you a little time. In addition to the risks inherent in vaccines in general there are particular issues with rattlesnake vaccine. Like there are different strains of flu, there are different kinds of rattlesnakes. So, just as we can get a flu shot and still come down with the flu because we catch a strain for which we didn’t develop anti-bodies from the vaccine, so our dog can be bitten by a rattlesnake whose venom is different from that for which she produced anti-bodies as a result of being vaccinated. Also, even after being vaccinated, our dog still might be overwhelmed by the venom injected by the snake. Vaccinated or not, if your dog is bitten you MUST transport her to a vet that has rattlesnake antivenin ASAP. You can read what UC Davis has to say about rattlesnake vaccine at their website: UC Davis VMTH Canine and Feline Vaccination Guidelines (Revised 11/09). You’ll need to scroll down to the section on snake vaccine.
So for now I’ll continue ameliorating and balancing the relative risks of my options. I did call our veterinarian today to see if she had the vaccine so I would know if I had the choice to have Sadie vaccinated or not. They do. I’m not. Considering my track record to date, I’m going to keep on keepin’ on with our natural approach to rattlesnake aversion. Here, though, is my fondest, if impossible, wish–that no dog ever, anywhere suffers a rattle snake bite.
This post is part of the Never Shock a Puppy Campaign.Please click on the bright green and blue image to visit the Never Shock A Puppy blog and leave a comment before midnight MDT, Sunday, October 17. You’ll be entered into a contest to win great prizes including a gift certificate from K9Cuisine and a free training session with a reward-based trainer in your area!
Thanks for the mention, Deborah. A friend of a friend “invented” the rattlesnake vaccine, and I’ve corresponded with him via email. Because Lilly already has bad reactions to regular vaccines, he said he would NOT recommend the snake one for her. So, that decision was easy (ish).
Since she has, however, now be bitten TWICE, it’s hard to explain to people why I would NOT use a shock collar on her to teach aversion (or try to).
After learning about the famous bloodhound who died from a snakebite, I know just how lucky we are that Lilly has survived TWICE … without antivenin … because none was available.
We’re just lucky that supportive care did the trick.
OMG Roxanne. I didn’t know Lilly was treated without antivenin. Really. I ache inside when I think of you and Lilly. It’s bad enough that she’s been bitten, but that she’s been bitten near your house. You must have nerves of steel. I so did not want to write about this. I think I’m a little superstitious that thinking about the awful thing will bring it on!
BTW, I thought the current vaccine is for a type of rattlesnake that’s not indigenous to our area. Does you friend still think Lilly, assuming she did well with vaccines in general, would benefit anyway?
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I share your reaction. When I thought Betsy was engaging a rattlesnake I screamed. If my scream had been recorded it would have rivaled any horror movie scream.
My son, when he was 3-years-old, was bitten by a rattlesnake. He was reaching into a hedge to get a kitten when the snake bit him. We rushed him to the local hospital and he was fine. In fact the bite was probably a “dry bite”, one where the snake did not release venom.
Even after these encounters…I am still not willing to shock my dogs.
I hear you. Thanks for you comment 😉
What did Betsy do when you screamed? I’m so sorry your son had to go through the bite. The whole snakebite-shocking discussion is definitely controversial…
Deborah, what an intense post. You always write so well. In this case, I could “feel” the emotion. I agree that it’s easier to avoid the areas known to have rattlers than take a chance. But still, there are always possibilities. Luckily, my dogs and I’ve had no experience with snakes other than small, benign ones. This is a difficult topic to cover, and you did it so nicely. I especially like the vaccine info, and Roxanne’s input to that.
Thanks Hilary. You and I have been very lucky! I hope for our and our dogs’ sake our luck holds.