Avalanche dogs are a vital aspect of ski patrols. While in avalanche terrain most people ski or snowboard with a beacon (as they should be) the practice is much less common on resort. In the case of an in-bound avalanche, an avalanche dog might be the only way to locate a buried individual.
While it might be a life-or-death job for the humans, it’s all just a game for the dogs. The training typically begins when the dogs are young, starting with tug-of-war and eventually developing into hide-and-seek. Eventually people will begin to hide in snow caves as a part of the training, as we see in this POV video from Schweitzer Mountain in Idaho.
The pup seems so darn happy when it finds the human, running back and forth, rolling around in the snow, etc. You can check out plenty more clips and photos of avy dogs at the Idaho resort on the Schweitzer Avalanche Dog Instagram.
