Our mock trail course
Extensive, Elaborate & Comprehensive Training Course
We take pride in our uniquely extensive training course. Gina has expanded and revolutionized R.A.T. for dogs to give them a better chance of learning to recognize and avoid rattlesnakes they encounter. Essentially we have three courses in one: First to Train, secondly to reinforce what they learned in the first course then finally proofing on a course with stations they have not yet encountered.
In our Mock Trail Course dogs will have multiple exposures to the sight, scent and sound of rattlesnakes. We take time to scout the location of our training events and set up a 'trail-like' course consisting of about 9-13 stations. Our competitors typically have only 3-4 stations in total! The course itself takes up about 1/2 acre, and is in a natural setting. We alternate with sight, sound, and scent as we train, test, and proof the training repeatedly in multiple scenarios including ‘dummy’ stations.
When using props as 'dummy' or test stations, we want to be sure your dog clearly understands what they should avoid, and what they don't have to avoid. We don't want your dog to be avoiding any and all sticks or pile of logs/rocks, garden hose, etc. We want to teach your dog to discriminate between items they should avoid (with sight, sound, or scent of rattlesnakes) and other random things…
In our course we use multiple live (double) muzzled snakes of varying sizes, not just a snake in a cage.
3 Sections to our course
- Initial Training (4 stations)
- Reinforcement (4 stations)
- Proofing (5 stations)
3 Types of Stations
- Sight Identification: When your dog only sees a rattlesnake, including a baby, but cannot smell it or hear it.
- Sound Identification When your dog is exposed to just the SOUND of a rattlesnake, including the sound of a baby.
- Scent Identification: You and your dog may not be able to see or hear the snake, however, your dog can SMELL snakes!
There will be multiple locations on our training course for each of the phases mentioned above as well as other items designed to give your dog the BEST opportunity to learn to recognize and avoid rattlesnakes.
