Snake Fears and Fit Pics
Hey hey! Happy Thursday. So glad the weekend is almost here. Hope you have something fun planned. We’re having friends over for dinner Saturday night and plan to do a Sabino Canyon hike sometime this weekend, too- now that the weather is cooling down a little, we’ll be able to get outside more often.
Bella is grateful.
[All tucked up into a Bellaball]
The only thing I worry about with the cooler weather is that rattlesnakes come out to play. The neighbor actually found one in his front yard last week and the Pilot had to carry it with a stick out into the desert. We have to work on rattlesnake-proofing our backyard and I’m also considering enrolling Bella in a rattlesnake class. It teaches dogs how to recognize the scent of a rattlesnake –I think they use one with the teeth removed?- and shock the dog as it gets close to the rattlesnake, so they can learn that it’s dangerous.
The thought of anyone shocking Bella freaks me out to no end, but I think a rattlesnake bite would be exponentially worse…. so we’ll see what we decide. Has anyone else done a class similar to this?
Some eats
This morning’s bfast was a waffle + eggs
and for lunch I packed up the rest of my Renee’s salad and sandwich from last night
along with a Larabar and plum for snack.
I’m off to teach, but I hope you have a wonderful Thursday!
xoxo
Gina
Show Me Your Fit: Check out these amazing and motivational pics from fellow Fitnessistas- I always love seeing what you’re all up to. [Send any “Show Me Your Fit” pics my way to fitnessista at gmail dot com, subject: Show Me Your Fit]
Lisa: Myself (in the purple and black) and my friend Caitlin (in the red and black) before the Parkway Run 5k held in Philadelphia, benefitting the Cancer Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 7,000 people and $650,000 raised for children with cancer – what better way to feel good about giving back, and at the same time giving back to your body with a good workout?! Loved it!
Niki from Alberta, Canada, shaklining- she said it’s a great way to work balance and core:
Kimberly: Self pic of me running a 13.5 km trail race in the Beautiful Vancouver area on September 24. Notice the sweaty beast I became and the dirty shoulder and face…yes, about 7km in, I took a little tumble, nothing serious.
Loved this pic that Laura sent:
Allie: My favorite workout is anything involving chin-ups. They make me feel so strong and awesome!
These aren’t the best pictures, but it’s hard to get a good angle in my tiny hallway 😛
Kristina: This is my best friend Jeny and I after running the San Diego Marathon. We both managed to get a PR on this race. It was my fourth full Marathon and her first!
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I had NO idea that rattlesnake dog classes existed! That is so creative and, actually, really important. Those Show Me Your Fit pictures are awesome, Gina! Makes us all feel more connected, even if we don’t know each other personally. 🙂
Shock or no, I say go for it! When my husband and I lived in Tucson our neighbor’s dog got bit by a baby rattle snake and died. Better to have her safe and unharmed even if she does get scared for a little bit.
Just have to put my 2 cents in on snake training as a dog trainer and vet-to be 😀 Although I can’t comment on a trainer’s with whom I’m not familiar, I wouldn’t suggest taking a shock collar class without giving it some serious thought. First and foremost it is essential to observe the class given by a trainer before bringing your own dog to see if you feel 100% comfortable with their methods of working with dogs. Sure, it is true that it can be just a light shock (if it is set that way), but I have personally shocked myself with them, and it’s been enough to make me yelp and jump out of my seat. I firmly believe that anyone who is going to use a training tool such as this on an animal absolutely must try it themselves to understand the sensation that the animal will feel. I have known many animals who it has not bothered in the least to be trained this way, but I have also known many dogs for whom this is is a very scary experience. If you think about it, they cannot truly understand exactly what the shock is coming from, and cannot always associate the negative sensation with the appropriate stimuli; is it the person in front of me causing this? The other dog? The leash? Etc. I have known dogs to develop generalized anxiety, on leash aggression, dog-dog aggression, dog-human aggression, etc., from the use of these collars. Also, I personally like to try methods like teaching a super reliable recall or “come” command with amazing rewards (chicken tiiiiime!) as positive reinforcers, before turning to punishment based training (as more of a last resort). I hope I don’t come across in any way other than putting my friendly 2 cents in! I may sound overly cautious but working with dogs is my work so it’s hard not to chime in 🙂 I would be super scared of the snake thing too! I haven’t heard of the vaccine but that sounds like a great idea to look into with your veterinarian! Good luck! Oh and ps. I loooove the fit pics! So inspirational <3
Just another aspect to think about of course… I can’t say it’s something I’d never advise to a client as I don’t live in an area that has poisonous snakes, but I would suggest weighing all options when making any and all training plans, is all 🙂 Ok I’m done my… novel? haha
Tabi, these are my thoughts as well. There is a lot of good research out there that can articulate in more detail regarding the risks and harms regarding shock collar training.
thank you so much for all of the info. i’m going to call the vet and see what she suggests since bell is so teeny
Kristina and Jeny look awesome! I don’t look that put together BEFORE running let alone after 26.2 miles!
i couldn’t imagine being somewhere with rattlesnacks! ahh i guess in saskatchewan i’m lucky that way.
I love the slacklining fit pic! I’ve tried it once before and it is so HARD.
Love the “show me your fit” pics! Kimberley looks so hardcore!
I <3 Bellaball. Yikes! Be careful with the rattle-snake proofing! Thinking about it gives me the heebies-jeebs!
I guess that's the trade off for living in a beautiful, dry, sunny state. 🙂
Love those pics! So inspirational!
I was so excited to see that you had put the ‘show me your fit’ pic up that i had sent you (the first one listed, with my friend caitlin). Seeing everyone else’s pictures makes me want to take more of the different workouts I do and start collecting some just for my own personal record. too bad i can’t take pics in yoga class during any of the harder poses i try to master!
There are rattlesnake vaccines available for dogs. They really work – one of our dogs was bitten a couple years ago, and thanks to the vaccine she came through it fine. Talk to your vet about it. It is amazing.
Also, I hope that was a dead rattlesnake the Pilot carried away and he’s not getting anywhere close to live ones! Even the dead ones can still poison you if you get close to their teeth – the jaw can still clamp down.
Definitely do snake training. I live in Mesa,and see rattlers all the time in Usery Mt Park. It will save your dogs life and yours! Cause as soon as they smell or hear one they will run the other way.
They use shock collars and you are not with them when they do the training. They do not want to have the negativity associated with you. Just the negativity of the snake. The good ones set up in the desert & the snakes are in cages. The take your pup on a walk and if they show any interest in the snake smell or visually,they use the shock collars.
There is also a rattlesnake “vaccine” you can get. You should still take her to the vet if bite, but it helps with any side effects. You can get it through your vet.
I am terrified of snakes. They aren’t really common in my town but there’s a park nearby that our teachers use to bring us to during school trips and during one trip, in the forest part of the park (it’s quite a big park), I came upon some kind of snake. I freaked, my friends freaked. It wasn’t fun. Tom must be pretty darn brave to have picked up that snake with a stick and moved it away. I wouldn’t have come close to that thing–even with a ten foot pole! Oh and Bella as a Bellaball is too darn cute!
I’m late to the party but still wanted to comment. I agree with Tabi that punishment based training should rather be used as a last resort.
My dog and I used to live in Northern California and had a couple of run-ins with rattlers. Although he used to be a rather dominant dog and would run after all sorts of critters, he was acting totally different with snakes, slowly backing away and not wanting to go back to the same spot again. I strongly believe that animals will understand the threat that a rattle snake is, so maybe the vaccine is a good option for you.