Dobermans vs snakes

Dasz88

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Sooooo I fell down a weird rabbit hole while I was supposed to be working... but there seems to be an inordinately large number of "diberman saving owners from cobra" stories in India.

First, I had no idea that the doberman breed was even well known in India! Are there any doberman chat members from India here? Do you see other dobermans?

S

TRIGGER WARNING, DOBERMANS PASS AWAY IN SOME OF THESE ARTICLES.

12/26/21: Times of India article with video about Kali, female doberman who protected her family from a cobra (Kali lives). Doberman fights Cobra to save his owner’s family | News - Times of India Videos.

7/14/16: male doberman (name not given) who was only bought a few months ago fought off and killed 4 mountain cobras before succumbing tk his injuries (a pic of the dead dog is shown in the news so don't click if it is upsetting!). The dog was given a hero's burial by the village with wreaths laid all around him (which is impressive in itself because dogs are often looked down on in India): https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.de...ras-to-save-eight-of-masters-family-dies.html

2007 (old article): Doberman named Khan saves 17 months old toddler from deadly king brown snake in Australia Family dog saves toddler from deadly snake

There were other articles about dobermans and snakes but I wanted to just pick ones that seemed well verified. I think this breed of dig has an amazing sense of judgment and protective ability!
 
I think I'll stick with never allowing my dog to go up against our local rattlesnakes! We don't have many, but generally if you hear the rattle and back off, they retreat as well. It's just a warning (how fair is that?) to be left alone. Have no idea about cobras though. I don't know what to say about Dobermans sense of judgement in these cases unless they were trained to attack snakes. Then it's not judgement, it's training. I should go watch the links before making any judgements myself, LOL.
 
Ragnar has warned and went into protection mode from two black water snakes in our back yard- not poisonous but a snake is a snake when one walks up on it. I really think be it a snake, a very loud/vocal owl, cat intruders or a large hot air balloon….they will hackle up and protect us from anything foreign and menacing. (Both of mine go absolutely beserk when hot air balloons fly low over my back yard).

The India stories are heroic examples of how far they will go to protect us from danger. Just amazing how attached and in tune they are with us.
 
they will hackle up and protect us from anything foreign and menacing.
LOL, that's my problem is that EVERYthing seems to be foreign & menacing to Asha. :rofl: I mean, I appreciate it, but sometimes it's just so overkill... and then the snake thing, I don't want my dog to be that kind of hero.

We have rattlesnake avoidance classes here in the southwest - probably other places too. They bring caged rattlesnakes and you walk you dog past them with an e-collar on. The instructor has the remote and stems the dog at the correct time. You continue exposing the dog on your walk-by to the sound of rattling until they are completely wanting to avoid getting near the rattle noise. Sometimes the cage is in view where they can see the snake and sometimes it's hidden where they can only hear the rattle. They learn in a one day session to avoid anything thing that looks or smells like a rattlesnake. Once a year you can do a walk through proofing if you've paid for the original class.
 
Re Doberman in India..about 4 years ago I came across a series of training clips on YouTube by an Indian chap who bred Dobes which were probably the finest breed specific clips I’ve ever seen. No frills, very clear & relatable.
His control over 3 off lead adults at the same time in one clip was remarkable. Its a great shame that I’ve not been able to find them again.
 
Re Doberman in India..about 4 years ago I came across a series of training clips on YouTube by an Indian chap who bred Dobes which were probably the finest breed specific clips I’ve ever seen. No frills, very clear & relatable.
His control over 3 off lead adults at the same time in one clip was remarkable. Its a great shame that I’ve not been able to find them again.
Is it

Ramachandran Subramanian

I watched him ages ago and he still shows up in my YouTube subscriptions! The way he would walk around in the dark with off leash Dobermans was impressive!
 
I’ve been meaning to post this video. This happened a couple of weeks ago at work. I was in the shop when I heard Stassi’s “somethings here, I’ve confronted it and want it gone bark.” 😂
 
Jazz uses a very serious bark for snakes, or snake skins, or even snake smells. She knows not to go near but she lets me know I need to check it out! I've always praised her for alerting but then let her know to leave it be and come away! She has saved me from blundering into a snake on walks many times! :thumbsup:
 
Jazz uses a very serious bark for snakes, or snake skins, or even snake smells.
A few weeks ago Asha was acting weird and jumpy and then barking at a log. She'd bark then put her nose in a crevice, then jump backwards and bark again. I went to see what it was and it was a snake skin.
 
And about the rattlesnake aversion training topic. I wonder how much different a rattlesnake snake could possibly smell to a dog than say a wild gopher snake? I could be way off but I would have to guess a wild gopher snake smells more similar to a wild rattlesnake. Than the aversion rattlesnake that is being handled by humans and equipment, compared to a wild rattler. For that matter I would summize that it’s about the mere presence of a snake and being shocked by the collar than being a rattlesnake. But I could be wrong
 
I wonder how much different a rattlesnake snake could possibly smell to a dog than say a wild gopher snake?
For that matter I would summize that it’s about the mere presence of a snake and being shocked by the collar than being a rattlesnake.
One aversion trainer said to beware of RS Aversion being taught with non-poisionous snakes because they are not the same and dogs can tell the difference. But I agree with you, aversion training has a whole different meaning than search training.

Here's what I know about nose work in dogs: They can be taught to act differently with different odors for sure. And they can be taught to ignore similar smells when placed close together with the one they need to find. A termite dog can go into a building that has bed bugs and ants and only alert on termites. Then send in a bed bug detective dog and they will alert only on the bed bugs. They won't mix Search and Rescue dogs with Cadaver dogs on one scene. But these are examples of finding something specific and the dog knows what it is. Avoidance training could easily spill over by common sense. If the smell, sound or sight of a rattlesnake means an unpleasant shock is possible then they learn to avoid it. They may recognize a bull snake is very similar but not quite the same, but just being smart and well taught, they would probably avoid that snake too. That would make total sense to me. Avoidance training probably spills over to similar, if not all snakes because it's smart on the dogs part, not because they can't tell the difference. When teaching essential oil odors, I taught my dog on Birch first, and once she was solid on that, I just put out Anise and Clove and she found those like it was all the same thing. Trailing/Tracking dogs can be taught to follow one persons odor and stick with it even if the track is crossed over by other people. Oops, sorry. I love everything about nosework & dogs - totally fascinated by it all.
 
I would like to teach our dogs to avoid ALL snakes since I swear if Eroy tries to pick up another garter snake to bring to me I will be running around the yard screaming like a maniac. LOL
 
I would like to teach our dogs to avoid ALL snakes since I swear if Eroy tries to pick up another garter snake to bring to me I will be running around the yard screaming like a maniac. LOL

I’m with you. I would prefer my dog just avoid all snakes. I can’t really see any good that’s going to come of any dog engaging with snakes. Plus snakes do eat a bunch of rodents and other pests. My dog seems to handle the snake situation pretty optimal she wants them to go away but doesn’t get close enough to get bit. I’m happy with that. Alert me to them, and I’ll handle it if need be.
 

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