IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Our training and refreshers are only available during the following months: April, May, August, September.

Due to the regularity of extreme weather (severe heat and rain) which both poses a welfare risk to the animals and compromises the training, we do not run training during the following months: January, February, March, June, July, October, November, December.

Additional information on each of the topics below is provided in our Terms & Conditions.

Age Requirements

Dogs must be 10 weeks or older to be eligible for this training.

Temperament Requirements

Your dog must be very forward going, inquisitive of new environments and new people.

To successfully complete our snake avoidance training program, a dog must be motivated to explore and investigate the training environment.

Dogs that are aggressive towards humans are not suitable for our training.

Dogs that are codependent with another dog are not suitable for our training.

Remote Training Collar (E-collar) Use

E-collars are an integral part of the training and will need to be used on your dog throughout the program. It is important that you do not remove or adjust the remote training collar we place on your dog at any point during the training.

If your dog has had previous experience with an electronic collar (e-collar, bark collar, boundary collar, etc.) you will need to add the information to the form below.

Food Drive

Your dog must have adequate food drive to be able to complete the 'snake-odour avoidance' component of the training. Low food drive (low motivation for food) dogs are not capable of completing this component.

If you know your dog to have low food drive, please contact us prior to booking to discuss the situation.

Food Treats

Beef sausage and cheese are used as treats throughout the training.

Booking Multiple Dogs

A booking form will need to be submitted for each dog you are wanting to book in.

Typically we train up to two (2) dogs per session. Each dog is trained individually on rotation.

If you are wanting to have multiple dogs trained, you will need to bring a person to look after each dog.

Codependent dogs are not suitable for our training. Refer to the 'temperament requirements' in our terms and conditions for more details.

Confirmed Snake Killers

You will need to notify us on the form below if your dog has a history of engaging reptiles. It is very important for us to know if your dog has engaged any snakes previously.

The Second Training Session

Our snake avoidance program requires your dog to attend a minimum of 2 of our sessions. The second session is essential to avoid overwhelming your dog, test the retention of the prior lesson and change location.

Exposure to Snakes Outside of Training

Between sessions and after your dog has completed the training program, do NOT actively expose your dog to snakes in order to test its training. Snake avoidance training is provided as a preventative measure, designed to safely educate the dog to the consequences of engaging snakes. Actively exposing your dog to snakes outside of our training may erode our work and counter train your dog to approach snakes.

Refreshers

We advise refreshers to be provided annually. We can provide refresher training as frequently as you like which will test the retention of your dog and its level of instinctive drift under safe conditions that support and strengthen the training.

Medical Conditions and Vet Treatments

If your dog has physical impairments, we do not recommend booking the dog in for this training. If the dog becomes unwell or must undergo a vet procedure prior to the training, you must notify us as soon as possible.

Preparing Your Dog

Fasting

We ask that you fast your dog for 24 hours prior to each of your sessions.

Food rewards are an important part of the training. Even if your dog is a very good eater it should be fasted for 24 hours. No amount of food drive actually makes up for authentic hunger. Authentic hunger is very important as it is required to help your dog during the “odour recognition” & “contrast” phases of training. The contrast phase is critical as it gives your dog clarity and prevents your dog from making inappropriate associations and thus sabotaging the reliability of the training. If you choose not to fast your dog and its food drive is affected, we may determine your dog to be 'low food drive'. Please ensure you have read the section in our Terms & Conditions titled 'Food Drive' to understand what this would mean for your dog.

 

No prior exercise or obedience

Please do NOT exercise your dog any time within the 24 hour prior to each of your sessions. While you may normally find your dog easier to manage after exercise, we require your dog to be full of energy and motivation.

We also ask that you please refrain from doing any obedience with your dog immediately prior to and during the training. Obedience can inhibit your dog and we need the dog to stay open and happy to explore; we don’t want the dogs looking to the owners for permission to explore/investigate the snakes.

 

Please bring

Dogs water bowl, dog lead and either a secure well fitted harness or collar with a metal buckle is required for both sessions.

Only fixed dog leashes can be used during trainig, bungee and extendable dog leashes cannot be used.

Plastic clip on collars, choker chains, martingales, halti/gentle leaders are all inappropriate for this training.

Photos & Videos

Taking photos or videos is NOT permitted at any point during the training. Breaching this agreement will result in immediate cessation of the training and forfeiture of training program costs.

Weather Requiremants

Fine weather is required for the training to take place. If the weather is unfavourable, the training will need to be rescheduled.

Our training is only available during the following months: April, May, August, September.

Due to the regularity of extreme weather (severe heat and rain) which both poses a welfare risk to the animals and compromises the training, we do not run training during the following months: January, February, March, June, July, October, November, December.

Payment Options

Full payment of the training/refresher/testing including travel fees (if applicable) must be received before your session can commence. Payment can be made via cash (exact amount required), Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), or debit/credit card. Card payments incur an additional 1.94% (2.25% for 'over the phone') processing fee.

Changing Dates or Times of Bookings

Changes of the booking date/s or times must be made at least 72 hours prior to the booked session to avoid incurring additional charges.

Cancellations

To avoid incurring additional charges, cancellations for each dog must be made at least 72 hours prior to the first session of the snake avoidance training program commencing, or a refresher/testing session. Full details are available in our Terms and Conditions.

Filling in this Form

This form is intended to be complete for ONE dog only. If you are wanting to book multiple dogs, please complete a new form for each dog. If you submit a single form with multiple dogs details, we will ask you to resubmit new forms for each dog before we can continue. This is to ensure the Terms & Conditions are accepted for each individual dog and so that there is no miscommunication of information. Knowingly omitting details from this form, e.g. the dogs history engaging snakes or history with electronic collars, may result in the cancellation of the booking or cessation of the training. If the training must be cancelled or ceased due to omision of details, all course costs become non-refundable.

Should you answer yes to any of the following 3 questions, then this course is not for you:

• Is your dog is overly shy or fearful in social settings?
• Does your dog show aggression towards strangers in social settings?
• Is your dog physically unwell or impaired in any way?

A client waiver will be provided to you at the start of the first training session and must be signed before training can commence.

Booking Details

IMPORTANT: Please remember to only input the details for ONE dog. If you are wanting to book multiple dogs, please complete a new form for each dog.

Owners Details

Dogs Details

By submitting this form, you are confirming that the you have read, understood and accept all of the terms & conditions of service and that the information you have provided above is correct to the best of your knowledge.