Precautions Enclosures or backyards where dogs are kept in outer suburban and rural areas should be free of long grass and rubbish. This applies for the area surrounding those enclosures also. Dry dog food should be stored in such a way as to lessen its availability and attractiveness to mice. When exercising a dog in bushland during spring, summer and autumn, it is advisable to restrain it on a leash. If the dog is exercised, choose an open area where you can have visual contact with it always.
Dogs are more susceptible to the venoms of snakes than cats.
If it involves a large venomous snake then the prognosis is rarely good. Even so, if there are signs of life, with the correct antivenom dogs can make a remarkable recovery. Often it is the case with work-dogs on the farm that death occurs in the vehicle on the way to town. In humans a swab of the bite-site will allow objective identity of the type of specific antivenom required. The problem in hairy animals is locating the bite-site.