Gun Dog Forum

Just curious on opinion of the clinics and the vaccine. Gathering intel cause I’m not sure where I stand on it.


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I live in an area that has quite a few snakes. Saw a rattlesnake on the road today. I normally kill a couple of poisonus snakes a year around my house. My neighbor has lost 2 cats to snake bites and another neighbors dog got bit a couple of years ago. I will be taking my GSP to South Dakota this year. They have snakes too.

I get my hunting dogs vaccinated. It is cheap insurance. Side affects have been minimal. Vaccines are not a cure all but I owe it to my dogs to give them as much of a chance as I can in the event they get bit. For $30 some dollars a year, I haven't found a reason not too.

My GSP picked up a 5 inch lizard in her mouth today. I had to open her mouth to get her to drop it. If that was a snake, she likely would have gotten bit several times. I might have been too. I have not found snake avoidance training anywhere near where I live but if I do, I will likely have her go through it.

Mosby wrote: ↑

Sat May 22, 2021 10:46 pm

I will be taking my GSP to South Dakota this year. They have snakes too.

You only need to worry about snakes in South Dakota if you hunt out around the Missouri River or west of the river. For the most part the eastern half of South Dakota is snake free. I've lived and hunted in SD for over 40 years and have never seen a snake except near the Missouri River.

Dakotazeb,

That is really helpful information. I had been told snakes were common but not more than that. I have been through SD a lot but this will be my first year hunting it. The areas I have been looking at are all east of the Missouri River, so that should be one less thing for me to worry about with a young dog. Thanks.

I have all my dogs complete snake avoidance training and now that I live in rattlesnake country they get the vaccine as well. I have a lot of faith in the avoidance training, it keeps my dogs away from all snakes, my old dog would even avoid shed snake skins. I was told by a Vet that the vaccine is for timber rattlers and we have prairie rattlers and he stated it was a waste (different venom) but I dont think it can hurt. I also have a Teckel (wirehair dachshund) that gets the training and vaccine too. My 2 older Drafts will point the rattlesnakes but they definitely respect/fear them.

One year I killed 8 Mojave Green rattlers near or in my yard. Anti venom does not work on the venom of Mojave Green. I had my dog to snake avoidance 3 times. When she smells one, her ears go back and she comes to my side. She may bark to warn me but she is going the other way. Totally believe in snake avoidance. Gopher and king snakes have a different scent and she doesn't react to them.

Snake avoidance is really the only answer if you live or take your dog into some areas.

What is snake avoidance training?

Nyzk wrote: ↑

Tue May 25, 2021 3:56 pm

What is snake avoidance training?

From one companies website:

"The purpose of this training is to teach your dog to learn the smell, sight & sound of rattlesnakes in order to avoid being bitten. While we can NOT teach a dog to always notice/detect a snake (ie: the wind is at the dog's back/ snake is hidden & not rattling, etc.) we ARE teaching them that the rattlesnake is a bad thing & to stay away WHEN they do notice/detect it.
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According to our local veterinarians, 90%+ of bites happen to the dog's nose/face area because they are investigating it due to not knowing what it is. This training teaches them NOT to investigate it & know that it is a bad thing & to STAY AWAY."

The Mojave Rattlesnake venom is a neurotoxin (effecting the nervous system) where all the other rattlesnakes are a hemotoxin (effecting blood). That is one reason I figured that the vaccine would be worth using since Timber rattlesnakes and Prairie rattlesnakes are both hemotoxin venom. I was going to share this info on my original post but I did not want to "nerd out" on everyone, LOL

My wife took my GSP for a walk a bit ago and my dog found a dead timber rattler near my garage. She looked over and the dog had the dead snake in her mouth. I must have ran over it a couple days ago when I was mowing or driving my ATV. Didn't see it. The dog dropped the snake but clearly had no fear. I need to figure something out.

I had my dog in a NSTRA trial this weekend. She came to an area and her ears went back and she let me know there was a rattler there by her actions. I told the judge and he let me know a snake was killed there an hour earlier. Nice to know your dog is that snake broke.