Do Dogs Keep Snakes Away

Snakes are everywhere and can come from all sorts of places. So it is not at all surprising to see them in your garden. 

This is a grave concern for you as you have a young toddler at home and worry about his safety.

You had heard from a friend that keeping a dog will help to prevent snakes from “visiting” your house. 

Is this true or is it just a myth? Let’s find out from this post.

Do Dogs Mess with Snakes?

Proactive action is always the best way to safeguard your family from any snake invadation in your home or garden.

This is probably the reason why many families keep dogs in their homes if there are lots of snakes in the neighborhood, since snakes like to hide themselves in the air vents.

You see, dogs with their acute scent of smell can quickly detect the snake’s presence and attack them.

In fact, dogs have the ability to locate small animals such as a rat or snake even when they are still far away from your sight.

For certain breeds of dogs, such as terrier breeds (eg. Australian Terriers, Cairn Terrier, Lakeland Terrier, Norfolk Terrier, Rat Terrier, Yorkshire Terrier), they are more inclined to hunt and attack small, fast moving animals such as rats, mice and snakes.

This is the natural instinct that these dogs have been trained to do since ancient times.

In the past, people used to find out about the presence of snakes by looking for footprints or snake holes in their paths. 

However, you certainly have a better way to do it… (With the help of a dog!)

Are Snakes Afraid of Dogs?

Snakes will keep themselves away from the dogs. 

You see, dogs possess sharp and pointed teeth which help them to prey on their targets. 

Armed with their swift movement and acute smell, they are able to easily get hold of their prey and start the vicious cycle of biting.

This makes the snakes wary of their presence, and will usually avoid them. They will keep themselves away from dog’s territories as they don’t want to be chased after by the dogs. 

They know that dogs are very territorial, and they don’t want to mess up with that. 

While snakes will keep themselves away from dogs, there will be times when they will retaliate as an attempt to protect themselves when they are attacked by dogs. 

And if your dog gets bitten by some poisonous snakes such as Eastern Brown Snake, Mainland Tigersnake, Inland Taipan, the snake’s venom will enter his blood stream.

This venom will attack your dog’s internal organs and cause pain and swelling at the bite area. In severe conditions, this can lead to death.

Your pet may be in danger if you do not seek medical help right away. The vet will take samples of the dog’s blood and give it an injection of an anti-venom serum.

Does Dog Poop Attract Snakes?

Is it possible that your dog’s poop can attract snakes to your yard? Do snakes like the smell of a dog’s poop?

The quick answer is “No”.

Snakes will not find your dog’s poop to be appealing BUT if these poop attracts rodents, then snakes may come along for the ride.

If you do not want to take the risk of rodents finding your dog’s poop and lure the snakes, then do your best to remove the feces from your yard.

Snakes can smell their prey (rodents) from miles away. They will frequently “visit” the area where they smell rodents.

If you have a dog that poops everywhere in your yard, which could potentially attract rodents, it is possible that a snake will visit your house regularly.

What Is the Best Animal to Keep Snakes Away?

If you have a snake problem and are looking for ways to get rid of them, then you may be wondering what is the BEST animal to keep snakes away?

Snakes are typically preyed upon by foxes and raccoons. Keeping guinea hens, pigs, cats and dogs will also discourage snakes.

If you live in an area where foxes are naturally prevalent, you can use fox urine as a snake repellent by spreading it around your yard.

What Smells Keep Snakes Away?

Ammonia is certainly not going to be an appealing scent for snakes, and it works extremely well at keeping them away from your garden.

What you can do is to soak a rug in ammonia solution and cover it with burlap. The smell of the ammonia will drive the snakes away.

Other scents that can deter snakes include sulfur, vinegar, garlic, cloves, cinnamon, lime and onions. 

Alternatively, you can grow some plants such as Marigolds, Mother-in-Law’s Tongue, West Indian Lemongrass, Onion & Garlic that are known to repel snakes.