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I am a small animal veterinarian. As far as I was trained I would recommend the following:
1) Consult with a good dog trainer and consider having your dog "rattlesnake" trained. They train dogs to be leary of anything making that kind of noise. I've seen dogs flinch with bugs fly by their heads if they make a buzzing sound. It seems to be a good preventative.
2) There is a company that has recently developed, marketed and distributed a rattlesnake vaccine. This vaccine is probably available thru your local small animal veterinarian. I personally cannot vouch for it safety or effectiveness. The package insert states that a bitten pet, vaccinated or not, still needs to seek immediate veterinary attention. If you ask my opinion, I'd say avoid the vaccine.
3) Do not apply tourniquets. I cannot speak for other poisonous snake bites, but a bite from a rattlesnake causes among other things tissue necrosis. By applying a tourniquet you would only accelerate that process.
4) The best thing you can do following a snake bite is get your dog to a vet ASAP. Antivenin therapy, although expensive initially, is worth its weight in gold. The original post is correct in that most snake bites in dogs are nonlethal since they appear to be less susceptible than humans, but prompt attention is still VERY important.
Hope this clarifies things for you all.
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