Home » Santa Clarita News » Features » Dog Trainer, Rattlesnake Expert Aim To Save Dogs’ Lives With Rattlesnake Avoidance Training (VIDEO)
Dog Trainer, Rattlesnake Expert Aim To Save Dogs’ Lives With Rattlesnake Avoidance Training
Photo by Andrew Menjivar.

Dog Trainer, Rattlesnake Expert Aim To Save Dogs’ Lives With Rattlesnake Avoidance Training (VIDEO)

A professional dog trainer and rattlesnake expert stopped in Santa Clarita over the weekend with one goal in mind: to save dogs’ lives by teaching them to avoid the potentially fatal bite of a rattlesnake.


Sponsored Articles


Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking KHTS Santa Clarita News Alerts delivered right to your inbox.

Gina Gables, owner of Ma & Paw Kennel Canine Training Services in Simi Valley, personally trained numerous local dogs throughout the day at an outdoor course set up in a private area of Hart Park in Newhall on Saturday.

Dog Trainer, Rattlesnake Expert Aim To Save Dogs’ Lives With Rattlesnake Avoidance Training

A “smell” station on the course.

“We try to teach the dogs to learn to avoid the sight of a rattlesnake, or even the scent of one if they pick it up on the wind, or just from the sound recognize that that’s a rattlesnake and that they should avoid it,” said Gables, who has 27 years of experience as a trainer.

With the help of rattlesnake expert Steve Gardner and a small team, Gables walked each individual dog and their owner through a series of stations that focused on either the sight, sound or smell of a rattlesnake.

At the “sound” stations, a speaker was hidden in the bushes and played two different types of rattles for the dogs to hear. The “smell” stations featured several clusters of rocks and logs, some which were marked with the scent of a rattlesnake and others that were not.

Related: Keep Dogs Cool During Santa Clarita Valley Heat Waves

As for the “sight” stations, three live rattlesnakes of varying sizes were safely removed from their holding containers by Gardner and placed in the center of the path for the duration of each individual exercise.

Dog Trainer, Rattlesnake Expert Aim To Save Dogs’ Lives With Rattlesnake Avoidance Training

A live muzzled rattlesnake used on the course.

“They can’t bite or hurt anybody,” said Gardner, who has a degree in herpetology from UC Riverside and more than 30 years of experience as a field biologist. “We tape their mouth closed and we have a muzzle that goes with that, so we have a double safety measure.”

Gables humanely teaches the dogs to have a negative association with rattlesnakes using a remotely operated collar best suited for the dog’s temperament and personality.

“One of ours sprays canned air, which can be very effective for some dogs,” she explained. “We also have one that simply vibrates like your cell would if it was paging you– for many dogs that’s sufficient and works very effectively.”

The last option is a shock collar, which Gables noted she sets “at a very low level” to begin with and can gradually adjust throughout the course until the dog chooses to avoid the spot where he or she sees, hears or smells a rattlesnake.

“We try to be as gentle as we can,” she said, “and not scare the dogs too much going through the course.”

Santa Clarita resident Patrick Bailey decided to participate in the training for the first time with his two-year-old Staffordshire Terrier, Dixie, after moving to an area of Canyon Country known as Tick Canyon.

Dog Trainer, Rattlesnake Expert Aim To Save Dogs’ Lives With Rattlesnake Avoidance Training

Steve Gardner

“We’re up in the mountains and we take her on walks all the time, so we wanted her to be able to know what to do if she ran into (a rattlesnake),” he said. “(The training) was wonderful. They treated the dogs great, they treated the rattlesnakes great, and they knew what they were doing.”

While Dixie in particular may encounter a rattlesnake in the mountains, Gardner noted that rattlesnakes are common throughout the Santa Clarita Valley in general, and might be seen on a hiking trail, on someone’s property or in their neighborhood.

“They’re seen here almost daily– this is their natural habitat,” he said. “They’ve been here for a long, long time, and they’re still going to be here.”

The rattlesnakes Gardner uses for the trainings come from all over Arizona and California, and remain in his care for one year before he releases them back into the area where they were found.

His ultimate motivation for assisting Gables in hosting rattlesnake avoidance trainings across Southern California is to save dogs’ lives.

“I enjoy doing this. I’ve been doing it for a long time, and I think what we do here is a great service for the public to keep their dogs safe,” he said. “This saves their lives.”

Photos and video by Andrew Menjivar.

KHTS Features

Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.

Dog Trainer, Rattlesnake Expert Aim To Save Dogs’ Lives With Rattlesnake Avoidance Training (VIDEO)

2 comments

  1. Will they be doing this again. I’d like to bring my dog for this training. I generally walk her without holding he leash ( although she has one on ). I’ve used water spray bottle help break bad habits unfortunately I don’t have a snake to use.

  2. To provide the most effective dog training on rattlesnake avoidance in Arizona, Central Pet has partnered with Animal Experts, Inc. to offer a 15-minute training session that could save your dog’s life.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Melissa Lampert-Abramovitch

Melissa Lampert-Abramovitch has been writing for KHTS since Feb. 2014. She currently writes “Community Spotlight” and feature stories, and coordinates all aspects of both the”KHTS Adopt a Pet” video feature series and “Top Things to Do in Santa Clarita.” She is the creator of “KHTS Adopt a Pet” and acted as News Editor from 2019-2020, as well as Features Director and Newsroom Manager from 2016-2018. A former Valley Publications Staff Writer, Melissa was a contributor to the Santa Clarita Gazette and Canyon Country Magazine from 2015-2016. She has published feature stories with Pet Me Magazine, The Pet Press, The Signal, COC's Cougar News, and KJAMS Radio.