Great question, especially in the trendy opinionated times we live in also full of misinformation: well, rubber snakes do not act or smell like a real snake. This is a serious threat we are seeking to mitigate so this is no time to be trendy or succumb to so-called politically correct social pressure to never correct your dog.

And anyone that knows how we train knows positive reinforcement is the backbone to our individualistic approach combined with appropriate, fair and timely corrections.

All training methods and equipment have limitations and though it has fabulous benefits, positive reinforcement does nothing to stop a dog from doing something it decides to do (and you don’t want it to) this often being an overriding impulse with major fixation. 

We want to be very clear, firm, consistent and fair with the dog for best results so delivering low but ample stimulation is by far the most effective method of snake avoidance training. 

Again, this is a serious threat we are attempting to mitigate and this is no time to not put our best foot forward. It is a few seconds of discomfort to potentially save a life or avoid a vet bill that can reach up to 8K. Due to the treatment expense some owners may not be able to financially handle it even if they desire to, leading to very undesirable outcome.

Properly used, Ecollars are fabulous tools and save many dogs lives every year not including venomous snake interactions. The misinformation about ruining bond and trust between dog and human is simply inacurrate. Having used these methods on thousands of dogs, we know this to be statement of fact.

Yes. Even those that would never consider reaping the benefits of an Ecollar otherwise have embraced the value and effectiveness of them with snake avoidance training.

At Cross Country K9 Training and The Fang Fighters LLC we use whatever methods work for each individual dog and adjust accordingly. Understand, we don’t enjoy making a dog uncomfortable for a few seconds but we are passionate about the benefits. 

Typically about 7-20 minutes for each dog.

We recommend coming back a year later for a refresher although you could be advised to come back later the same season based on your dog’s behavior. Training Spring, Summer or Fall is all equally effective.

Absolutely not. Hard to find anything with a dog that is 100%, particularly over a lifespan. For example dogs could be running full speed and perhaps jump off a large rock landing on a snake sensing it too late for avoidance. Or they may have diminished sensory due to strong wind direction, age or health and not see, smell or hear a

snake. 

This training is to help minimize the potential.

Great question! Having trained hundreds of dogs over decades, always seeking to improve, and always asking attendees to advise if they see any residual behavior post training we can report none. There have been a handful that said their dogs were hyper vigilant for the first  few minutes the next time in the field but settled quickly.