Training dogs to avoid snakes

WITH the weather warming up more snakes are venturing out of hibernation; local dog owners are keen for their canine friends to stay away from the slithering reptiles.

Attending a Dog Snake Avoidance Training held on Saturday at the Mirboo Recreation Reserve, dog owners were keen to condition their pets to avoid snakes instead of attacking them and potentially getting fatally bitten. 

Using four different types of venomous snakes, most common to South Gippsland, including the Eastern Brown, Lowland Copperhead, Tiger and Red Belly Black Snake, dogs are trained in one afternoon. 

The Reptile Man, Raymond Hoser began the program a few years ago and uses snakes that have been devenomised, so no harm can come to the dogs or humans handling them. 

Raymond’s daughter Adelyne Hoser, Snake Handler and Victorian Dog Trainer, Daniel Mannix, were carrying out the training. 

With overcast, hazy skies and mild conditions, it was a perfect day for the training, as the snakes are less active when it’s not too hot, as a Tiger snake lay on the cricket pitch in the middle of the oval. 

Daniel accompanies the owner and pet out onto the oval and the dog is free to run around until it comes across the snake.

According to Adelyne, hunting dogs usually find the snake quite quickly, while pugs with their poor sense of smell usually have a harder time.

Once the dog is literally touching the snake, they receive a quick zap from a collar that has been placed on them. 

Some dogs yelp and others jump up in the air, but all dart away. While it seems somewhat cruel, Adelyne comments that it is better than the alternative, which could be a fatal injury. 

All the dogs are exposed to all four of the snakes separately, in a variety of environments, as they each have different smells and the dog is subsequently trained to avoid each of the snakes, according to smell. 

Sarah Prime brought her dog Oddball to the training as he once brought an Eastern Brown snake into their living room – as a gift – and she doesn’t really want another gift like that.