whimes replied to your post: In other news, I really wish I had a herper friend...
i wish we lived near each other x.x i keep snakes, and where i hike we encounter rattlesnakes…gahh i’d love to learn
You are the herper friend I desperately need. Bring yo snakes, bring yo dog, and we will DO THIS.
I actually don't think it'd be too difficult to teach, though! You could always practice on a novel object first. I'd teach a solid, proofed back up cue first, and then just present object/snake to dog, immediately cue back up, and voila.
ofwordsandwaltzes replied to your post: In other news, I really wish I had a herper friend...
What about rubber snakes and trying to generalize the cue? Especially if a pet store would put some in a snake cage for you so they had scent.
THIS IS A GOOD IDEA. I'd still want a live snake just to make sure the dogs view them as the same, but that'd be super convenient for the initial training and proofing.