Sadly, I just had a nightmare come true on July 4th. Fred (2.5 y.o. vizsla) got popped right on the lip by what I suspect was a copperhead under some deck stairs. We were at Lake Norman (NC) and have killed copperheads at this house before. Of any of the pit vipers, the copperhead is the one you'd rather have a dog bit by, they say... not as deadly as a rattler or a moccasin. Its my observation that if you ask bird dog people about snake bites, you'll hear one half that take them in and fork over the $ for antivenin, and one half that swear by letting the dog ride it out. We weren't so hept up on doing the latter. Hope to God I never have to rely on the former, or ever go through this again for that matter.
Definitely want to take him to avoidance training to reinforce how unpleasant of an experience it was for all involved. Thankfully, $1625, a couple days time, and he is all better and back to normal.
P.S.: I quite literally had a dream the night before that Fred was running around in the front yard and got bitten. Guess I should have been more careful! In hindsight either a) the snake didn't deliver a huge payload of venom or b) the antivenin getting into his system within two hours of the strike kept the swelling to a minimum. Turned out a lot less severe than I thought it was going to be.