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A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
Meet the Trainer - Joanna Sloan
Jo has had a curiosity and love for animals of all kinds since she was a little girl. As a youngster she was frequently known to bring home strays, frogs, lizards, bugs…and whatever other creatures she could catch up with. Her appreciation and connection with animals has only grown over the years as she established herself in both horse training and dog training.
In 2011, Jo became a puppy raiser for a service dog organization where she learned about the benefits of positive reinforcement training. She continues to raise and train service pups and loves every minute of it!
It wasn’t long before Jo realized the need to add rattlesnake avoidance to her dog training repertoire. She proceeded to study rattlesnakes and after testing and hands on training, acquired several certifications as a venomous snake handler.
Jo loves working with dogs and their owners. She strives to help as many dogs as possible to avoid conflict with venomous snakes. She also enjoys helping dog owners to better understand snakes so they can learn to appreciate these animals and avoid dangerous encounters of their own.
Why Rattlesnakes Are Important:
Living in the Arizona desert and spending time outdoors with your dog makes rattlesnake encounters inevitable.
Many people are terrified of rattlesnakes. This is understandable given their potential for inflicting venomous bites and their mysterious nature.
Joanna enjoys helping dog owners to begin to understand and learn to appreciate these interesting creatures rather than fear them.
Rattlesnakes play a vital role in their ecosystem by controlling rodent populations. This helps eliminate rodent-borne diseases and maintains balance in the food chain.
As if that wasn’t enough of a reason to appreciate and respect these animals, their venom is also extremely useful in the development of several medical treatments.
Snake venom is a natural biological resource containing several components that are of therapeutic value. Venom has been used in treatments for cancer, heart failure, arthritis, diabetes, blood pressure control, pain relief, and for making anti venom.
HOW WE TRAIN
We come to you!
The best training ground for your pup is usually your own back yard.
Jo will arrive with a rattlesnake safely contained in a custom training box.
This allows your dog to clearly see, hear and smell the snake up close without any risk to either dog or snake. Your dog will be fitted with an E-collar before being introduced to the snake. Once they have had a chance to investigate the snake they may receive a correction from the collar to help teach them that these snakes are to be avoided.
Every dog is different, and Jo uses her many years of dog training experience to tailor her approach to each individual. Not all dogs need to receive a correction from the E-collar, some dogs need more than one. The intensity required is different for each dog and Jo always starts with the mildest correction first.
Once it is clear that the dog understands that the snake should be avoided, scent and sound are reinforced separately.
While Jo whole heartedly believes in positive reinforcement training, rattlesnake avoidance is one place where she believes an E-collar to be a necessary tool for most dogs.
Dogs are naturally curious and unless they have been trained to avoid snakes, most will stick their nose right up to one. Compared to the severity of a venomous snake bite, a correction from an E-collar is a mild and ultimately harmless way of convincing a dog to avoid snakes.
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CONTACT
480.773.5677
propawphxdogtraining@gmail.com