re: Question: Good friend's young lab got bitten by unknown snake last week and today they

I like my dogs, but not 3500 dollars worth. It would have been Benadryl and prayers.

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Buy some Victor Snake A Way from Lowes. The stuff works.

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bullshite! There is solid evidence that it is hardly effective if at all and even less against venomous snakes. Just do a little research.

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worried there maybe more around their house

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If you live on the water in louisiana it's gonna happen one day. In southeast Louisiana, it'll happen a good bit. Its nothing to worry about except for young kids. Dogs handle cottonmouth bites extremely well.

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A rattlesnake WILL kill a dog.

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Mine has been bitten twice by a western diamondback, both times in the face, and other than swelling and hurting she did not even care to stop hunting. She's been bitten more times than that but I did not see the snakes that got her the other times. I took her to the vet the first time, he assured me he could treat her and take my money but she would be fine. The second time I kenneled her in the truck and watched her about 30 minutes and when she did not show any sign of adverse reaction I let her out and we continued to hunt. She didn't miss a beat. That said she was less than 3 years old at the time and was extremely active and healthy. I would certainly take a vet I trusted word for it and would certainly take a dog to the vet at least the first time....it could be body size or overall health makes a difference, I do not know, but my Lab is nearly 10 years old now and other than being a smart arse she is fine.

She also never paid a minutes attention to cactus thorns, mesquite thorns (a damned mesquite thorn will make a grown arse man who is hard as a rock cry like a baby) or goat heads....I have seen her roll in goat heads and have to pick hundreds of them off her before she could get in the truck let alone the house because as soon as a damned goat head smells carpet they let lose and wait on someone's bare foot to come along.

I have also seen her turn solid white in sub zero weather in the PNW and Canada and pant and never slow down. She will willingly swim around in broken ice in sub freezing weather while I am setting decoys when she could be in the blind making snide remarks about where they are being placed. I have seen her whup sandhill cranes (don't hunt cranes with a dog who is not accustomed to the onery bastards, they will blind a dog who thinks they are a goose) and never get any damage from the experience - VERY unusual. She has regularly made multiple 300 yard retrieves on giant Canadas in the Columbia River when the surface temp was below freezing and the river was shut down to barge traffic because of ice, high flow rate and wind. I have also seen her hunt running cottontops and pheasant, in the desert, when it was over 100 degrees and have to make her drink water. Over a 6 day period in September 2017 she retrieved 6 limits of teal on the Pecos River (worst mud I have ever encountered anywhere) in the morning and 6 limits of dove in the evening in 100+ degree weather in the desert each day and beg for more. Pretty typical behavior for a hunting lab with some pedigree who is birdy. Ain't no stinking snake going to bother a dog like that....a road runner may cause her to die of a coronary someday but a snake ain't nothing.

Tell them to get a cat

Well I had a dog die from a cottonmouth this year and another that almost died so there goes that theory.

It all depends on where they are bit and how much venom they get from the bite. I've now had 2 that were saved because of antivenom.

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Moccasin and copperhead won’t kill a dog. It’ll swell. Give it Benadryl.

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Had a stray German Shepard the kids adopted. Came home to them crying and my wife ready to bring the dog to the emergency clinic. I looked at the dog told then a copperhead probably bit her (on the snout) gave it a Benadryl and it was fine the next day.

After all the rabbit dogs we had and my Grandpa putting chewing tobacco on copperhead/ congo's bites that vets saw ya;ll coming.

And yes, those big timber rattlers will kill a dog.

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I'm just telling my experience with it, I'm by no means a vet. I also understand the steepness of the bill, when these last 2 were bit in the same day it ran us about $3,500. I feel if we are to bring the dogs into our home we have a responsibility for their care and that cost was acceptable to my family. Others may not feel that way and that is fine as well.

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Same here with bills we have 3 golden retrievers and have a credit card just for their care. It's no interest for 6 months so we can just break up the payments if we need too. They are like family to us.

Snake repellent is a total waste of money. Period !!!!