Reviews

Over the course of the last 20 years, I have had three gun dogs, Springer Spaniels, trained for Rattlesnake avoidance by three different trainers. My first dog was trained by Patrick Callahan of Game land K is everybody ennels in Norco, California. Callahan did a good job at training my first Springer to avoid rattlesnakes. This dog had a long life and by the time I was ready to train my second Springer Callahan had unfortunately, passed away. I then searched for a second trainer and came across another trainer, who was training in front of the Bass Pro Shop in Rancho Cucamonga, California. This trainer continues to hold training periodically at Bass Pro Shop.

I took my second Springer  to the other  training on a very warm day where temperatures reached into the 90s. The young man completing the training was, in my opinion very showy and appeared impressed with himself and seemingly wanted others to be impressed by him, and did not seem to be very interested in the dog himself.  He took no time with the dog and kept calling him a “her.”  Although my now four-year-old gun dog went through the training that did include sight, sound, and smell, I was not convinced that the training was adequate and I had always doubted whether or not this dog was trained to the point of staying away from rattlesnakes.

My wife purchased a new female gun dog two years later, and when she was one year old, I came across an ad for Web Parton. I reviewed a YouTube video on Mr. Parton and that’s what made me decide to take my one-year-old to him. Mr. Parton was also working his week-long event at Bass Pro Shop in Rancho Cucamonga.

I immediately noticed the difference in training between the three trainers. Mr. Parton conducts his training with a small group of dogs so that they can learn from each other. He took time to associate with my dog and the others in a group and explained everything to the owners in detail so they understood all the aspects of the training.

Mr. Parton probably spent 20 minutes on my dog alone. He made sure that the dog knew what the smell of the Rattlesnake was, which is their primary way of identifying  them, and used different rattlesnakes with different temperaments, so that the dog would see them and then hear the rattle when the snake became agitated. Mr. Parton used a variety of scenarios in order to thoroughly train the dog to avoid the Rattlesnake. He took extra time with my little girl dog because she was smart enough to try and outfox the collar and snake and still try to get up to it. Mr. Parton did not stop training her until he was confident she would avoid rattlesnakes.

Mr. Parton instructed me for one scenario to try to walk up on the snake with my dog. During the training, this one-year-old Springer had learned enough to stay away from the Rattlesnake and blocked my path to warn me of the danger. I was fairly confident she would avoid rattlesnakes whenever possible. I decided to have my now six year old Springer retrained by Mr. Parton.

The past training had possibly worked in the area of sound with this dog as I noticed Mr. Parton took an enclosed bucket with a Rattlesnake in it from his truck and the snake began to rattle. My six year old Springer heard this and keyed on the bucket. However, this is where his learning had apparently stopped. This dog got very close to the snake, within a couple inches, to see it and smell it. It did not seem that the dog knew that the smell of the rattlesnake was dangerous. Mr. Parton re-trained  this dog and at the end of the training, the dog wanted no part of the rattlesnake. I was confident this dog would avoid rattlesnakes in the future because of Mr. Parton’s training.

I would encourage anyone with a dog that lives in rattlesnake country to go through Mr. Parton’s Rattlesnake Avoidance Training. It was well worth the time and money.

Pat Bailey

It was apparent from a very early age that my border collie  had no fear of snakes.  At 13 weeks of age, during a “potty break” at puppy school, Kelsey discovered her first snake in the grass outside the classroom.  She eagerly picked it up and held it as it squirmed from both sides of her jaws.   Luckily this took place in high mountain Colorado where no poisonous snakes are found.  It is obviously a different story here in Arizona.

So, last year as a preventive measure I enrolled Kelsey in Jay and Web’s snake aversion program.  She was quickly taught with the assistance of a live, defanged rattler to avoid the sight, sound and smell of a Western Diamondback.

Two weeks later while hiking on Charloix Gap Rd with Kelsey on leash we encountered a rattler.  Kelsey spotted it first in the weeds beside the trail.  She spooked and jumped clear of it alerting me to the danger I was about to encounter.  This time she showed no interest in playing with the snake  or picking it up.

It was coiled, rattling and ready to strike. .  Her alertness and warning allowed me to avoid the snake and probable painful consequences.  I believe this story would have had a much different outcome if we hadn't gone through the snake aversion training. I definitely recommend it!!.

Kristin Goddard
SaddleBrooke resident

A lesson from Bear

We live in an area where we often find rattlesnakes in our yard.  Last year when we found a rattlesnake in our backyard, we all reacted differently.  Bear, our big and lovable Yellow Lab, wanted to see if he could catch it, until we screamed “NO!”  Bear is always dreaming of catching a rabbit, bird, coyote, javalina, owl, lizard, or anything that moves.  Of course he is much too slow to actually come close to catching them, but rattlesnakes don’t usually run!  Two nights later our neighbor’s dog was bitten by a rattler.  She survived thanks to a very expensive ($1200) visit to the vet.

We talked about how we really should take Bear to the rattlesnake aversion class we had heard about.  We made an appointment to attend class on a Saturday night.  Bear is 120 pounds of curiosity and good nature, so he was excited about a trip to go bye-bye, no matter the purpose or destination.  We arrived early and Bear had a chance to roll around on the grass out front.  Jay Smith explained the theory and training process and Bear had his encounter with a large, angry rattlesnake.  He definitely took the training to heart!

Less than one week later, when I got home from work, Bear told me there was something in the garage.  He was very wary, sniffing about and acting very nervous.  Could there be a snake?  I nervously checked where he said it was, by kicking some of the boxes and looking behind them with a flashlight.  I didn’t hear anything rattling or see anything, so I told Bear he must be mistaken.

The next morning, Saturday, I was doing chores around the house and Bear was once again alerting me to the fact that there was something in the garage.  I checked again and this time I picked up the large ice chest that was in the corner.  We both jumped and ran when there was indeed a rattlesnake under the ice chest inside our garage.

I put Bear in the house and removed the snake. When he came out, he checked around the area to make sure, and pronounced it snakefree!

So, the lesson from Bear?  Animals are smart and should be believed when they tell you something is wrong.  Jay’s training worked great, was money well spent, and should be attended by all dog owners who don’t want their best friends to get snakebit.

Jim and Debbie Knutson

Guys,

I went hiking this morning at Catalina State Park and about 3/4 of the way through the hike the dogs and I came across a rattle snake.  The dogs were on the retractable leash and they both stopped about 10 feet from the snake while it was crossing the trail.  They watched it for a bit and as soon as it rattled it’s tail they both bolted about 15 feet behind me and away from the snake.  It was incredible to see their reactions to it!

I wanted to thank Penny for getting me to take the snake class, since I was being stubborn about it.  During the snake class Natasha went right to the rattler and was struck by it.  I imagine the same thing would have came true today on the hike if it hadn’t been for the snake training.

I attached the images of the snake to this email for you guys to see.

Just wanted to say ‘THANKS’ to both of you and that the class works extremely well!

Thanks again,

Darin

Hi,

My husband & I had brought our tan & white beagle, Maddie, to your snake avoidance training to the Heritage House/Marana Parks & Rec several weeks back.

Yesterday, while my husband was out cleaning our pool, Maddie was roaming in our Myoporum (ground cover). All of a sudden, she backed up and began howling loudly. Bob went over and poked around the area with a shovel and didn't see anything, so he went back to the pool.

Once again, Maddie went into the ground cover, backed up and began howling. This time, he put her in the house, then went back to look further with the shovel. He found @ 3′ rattler curled up sleeping/resting. So, he shoveled the snake.

Needless to say, she indicated TWICE to him that there was a snake there and obviously had only smelled it, as it wasn’t coiled up to strike. He praised her profusely and gave her treats. We are SO grateful & proud of her.

Interestingly enough, just the night before a friend whose dog had also taken your snake class had mentioned they were going to bring her back this fall for a refresher, and I told her we were planning to do the same. It doesn’t appear we need to do this at this time, as she still remembers what she’s supposed to do!

I’m SO glad I hadn’t come home to find her either dead from a snake bite (as one of our other 3 beagles) and/or at the vet’s with a $2,000+ bill, IF shem was even able to be saved. We wanted to share this story and thank you again for your class!!!

Lori

My dog Roxy loves to chase animals, but will not go near a toad since her toad training a year ago. She learned very quickly to stay away from toads after Web’s training session. I had a dog that use to catch toads and would become very sick. Once he had a seizure and there was nothing a vet could do to counter act the poison. When I adopted my new dog Roxy I did not want anything to happen to her. Web’s snake training worked so well, that I asked if his training would work for toads and it did!

Thanks,
Lisa