Everyone loves to see patrol dogs on the mountain at their favorite ski resort, but they serve a much more important purpose than just being an adorable addition to the slopes. They generally exist to locate buried victims in the event of an avalanche, so their training is incredibly vital. Snowbird ski patrol explained how they pick these pups and begin their training.
The dogs are chosen at a young age, generally by their drive to sniff around and play and how active they are. Their first summer is usually focused on building confidence, ensuring that they’re comfortable and happy around the equipment, chairlifts, people, and everything else that they’ll encounter on the mountain.
The actual search training is taken very slowly, beginning with simple games of hide and seek. When it comes time to searching in the snow, the new pups watch the more seasoned dogs participate in proper search drills. While it’s important work, these dogs are more than happy to do it.
