Overview                                       

We are now on YouTube: Viper Voidance

Rattlesnake avoidance training for all breeds of dogs.

  • One-on-one training sessions ( in New River).
  • Fee: $80 per dog when you come to us in New River, AZ. (New River is 30 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona) Retests at New River site is $40 per dog.
  • Twenty-one (21) years of experience. Thousands of dogs trained...and two cats.
  • Live rattlesnakes used in the training. Snakes are caged for everyone's safety.
  • Training available during the week and on the weekend.
  • We travel to towns around Arizona providing training. Check the training calendar.
  • Cost per dog when we travel to a site outside of our New River location is $80 per dog. Minimum number of dogs apply, typically 12-15.  Retests at a non New River site is $40 per dog.
  • Call 480-215-1776 to schedule your training session.
  • Payment accepted: Cash,Check, or Zelle
  • Starting January 1, 2025 my price will be $100 per dog, retests remain at $40 per dog


We Train the Fuzzy to Avoid the Buzzy





What we offer:

New River, AZ

Viper Voidance-- Award Winner!

Next Door App's  Neighborhood Fave

Best Pet Services- 2024 and 2023


When humans and their pets move into the desert areas of the southwest, they come into contact with the "locals". These locals: scorpions, spiders, bees, wasps, centipedes, toads, and rattlesnakes, often carry lethal poison or venom. We offer effective training that teaches dogs to stay away from the most dangerous of the locals, rattlesnakes.



The type of training we offer is often referred to as "snake proofing", or sometimes "snake breaking". However, to be perfectly accurate, the training should be called snake aversion training, or rattlesnake avoidance training. The idea behind this type of training is to have the dog associate the smell, sound and sight of a live rattlesnake with an unpleasant consequence --a shock from a shock collar. The dog is not harmed and very quickly learns to stay away from rattlesnakes.

Every year, in the United States, approximately 15,000 dogs are bitten by venomous snakes. The highest fatality rates occur in Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas. Dogs are mostly bitten on the head and face, 70-80% of the time. The rest of the time; 20-30% they are bitten on the feet or legs, with rare bites occurring on the body. Rattlesnakes top the list at 80% for venomous snakes that bite dogs.

(Note: There is no accurate data on the number of dogs bitten every year, I have seen numbers that range from 15,000 to 150,000)

Ages for Training
As a rule of thumb, puppies can be trained between 4-5 months of age. The timing of the training depends on the maturity level of the dog. A very immature puppy would benefit by waiting until it's five months old; while a wise four-month-old would do just fine. We've trained puppies younger than four months because either they have already been bitten, or they've almost been bitten. In this case, the rule is: "old enough to be bitten, old enough to be trained."
If the puppy has an attention span greater than a Bartlett pear, can walk on a leash, is curious, and sticks their nose into everything, they are a prime candidate for training. There is no cut off point for old age. If the dog is out and about and likely to come into contact with a rattlesnake, they should be trained. I've heard too many sad stories of people losing their old dogs to rattlesnake bites.

When to Train  
Now, is the best time to train. In the desert regions of Arizona, there is no "true" hibernation season for rattlesnakes. When the temperature inches toward 80 degrees(read in the high 70's) they can be active any time of the year. Veterinarians in Carefree, and Anthem, AZ have treated dogs for snakebite in January and February.  Call now, 480-215-1776 to enroll your dog for training.


Snake avoidance training is NOT date related!  Did you watch the calendar before deciding when to train your dog to sit? Of course, you didn't. So please stop waiting until the heat of the Arizona summer before deciding to have your dog trained to avoid rattlesnakes. If the trainer uses live rattlesnakes to train your dog, the dog will remember the training regardless of the month the training is done.


Full time rattlesnake avoidance trainer in Kingman, AZ

After a five year apprenticeship with Viper Voidance, Eloisa Alcaida, is now offering rattlesnake avoidance training for dogs in Mohave county. A Kingman resident, Alcaida is training under the business name--Rattlesnake University-- her phone number is 520-831-0459

    Facebook.com/rattlesnakeuniversity 


We are now on You Tube. Search for Viper Voidance.