Essential
PD360 AssessmentYour dog's personalized starting point Dog BoardingOvernight stays with trained care Snake AvoidanceRattlesnake safety training GroomingLow-stress bath, brush-out & nailsFoundational
Foundation Camp14-night basics + manners DaySchoolDaily training + structured enrichment Private Lessons1-on-1 coaching for you + your dog Group ClassesWeekly skills in a social settingCurriculum
Grade-Level Curriculum8 grades from Pre-School Puppy to Dogtorate Training JourneyWhat progress looks like, week by week Our MethodologyHow we train and why it lastsScottsdale + Cave Creek · Arizona
Rattlesnake avoidance training conditions your dog to turn and run from the scent, sound, and sight of a rattlesnake, before a strike ever happens. One short session at our Scottsdale or Cave Creek campus can be the difference between a normal hike and an emergency vet bill.
Rattlesnake avoidance training conditions your dog to actively avoid Arizona rattlesnakes using e-collar reinforcement around live snakes. Each session lasts about 15 to 20 minutes at our Scottsdale or Cave Creek facility. Your dog learns to recognize the scent, sound, and sight of a rattlesnake and to move away from it on its own, even when you are not watching. An annual refresher is recommended to keep that avoidance sharp, especially before desert hiking season. You can add this to a training camp stay or a private lesson series, or build a program that bundles it with your dog's other training.
What It Is
We train a clear negative association to rattlesnake scent and sound using a small stim on an e-collar. Your dog then avoids rattlesnakes on its own, off leash and out of sight.
Why It Matters in Arizona
Arizona has 13 rattlesnake species, and they turn up on trails, in washes, and in backyards across the Valley from March through October. One bite often means a $3,000 to $10,000 emergency vet bill. Training is $109, and it teaches your dog to back away before any of that happens.
What Is Included
One short session gives your dog a clear, lasting reason to keep its distance from a rattlesnake on its own.
How It Works
Who It Is For
If your dog spends any time outdoors in Arizona, rattlesnake avoidance is for you. It is one of the few things you can do in under an hour that genuinely lowers the odds of a life-threatening emergency.
Not sure whether your dog is ready? Call us at 480-595-6700 and we will give you an honest answer.
After training, our girl occasionally ran into snakes on trails and would not approach them at all. She often let us know there was a snake up ahead before we knew it ourselves. Karen B., snake avoidance client
Pricing
Want to bundle snake avoidance with a camp stay, boarding, or private lessons? We will put together one plan and one quote for your dog.
Our Method
We train with live, intact rattlesnakes secured in double-mesh cages, so your dog learns the real sight, sound, and scent without ever coming within reach. More than 18,000 dogs trained since the early 2000s, and every lesson is read to the dog in front of us.
Our Standards
There are far too many variables in rattlesnake avoidance to leave anything to chance, which is why we require our lead instructors to complete a minimum of two years of training before they run a session. That experience lets them read and adapt to every situation that can come up with a dog and a live snake.
Only hand-picked trainers join our snake avoidance team, and we hold them to a high standard because we take your dog's safety seriously. The result is a calm, controlled session and a clear avoidance lesson that lasts.
From Arizona Families
Partners is rated 4.8 stars across more than 2,000 reviews from Arizona dog families. Read what snake avoidance clients say below, then pick a session time while spring slots are open.
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A first session is $109 per dog and an annual refresher is $89 per dog. Choose First Timer or Refresher right in the scheduler above and add more dogs in the same window.
Each session runs about 15 to 20 minutes. We schedule every time slot individually, so there is usually only a short queue of three to four dogs ahead of you. Most owners are in and out within the hour.
Yes. We train with live, intact Diamondback rattlesnakes, not defanged or milked, and every snake is secured in a double-mesh wire cage the entire time, so a snake can never touch your dog. The e-collar stim is set and timed by an instructor with at least two years of avoidance training experience, and we have safely trained more than 18,000 dogs since the early 2000s.
No. The e-collar delivers a brief, low-level stim that startles rather than harms, timed precisely by an experienced instructor. The goal is a clear, lasting avoidance association so your dog steers well clear of snakes on its own.
Rattlesnake season in Arizona runs March through October. The best time to train is before your next hike, not after a close call. Most families book in early spring before peak season, and the scheduler above shows every open slot at Scottsdale and Cave Creek.
We recommend a refresher once or twice a year, ideally before desert hiking season. At the end of every session your instructor tells you exactly when your dog should come back based on how it responded.
Yes. Add additional dogs in the same scheduling window and bring the whole crew through together. Many Arizona families run all of their dogs through before hiking season.
