Can you tell me how to deal with rattlesnakes and maybe give me some info on ther behavior?

any personal experience? the dogs found a big one about 20ft from camp and they scared it off..last night just after sunset i lit a fire in time to see another one...maybe the same one...coiled up and ready to strike just a few feet from me right where the puppy usually naps. i threw some rocks at it and it left. are they territorial? do you think it will come back? do i have to kill it so that it doent end up killing one of the dogs? anything i can to do to keep it from coming around? thanks