What It Takes to Become an Avalanche Dog: At Least Two Seasons of Training

How avalanche rescue dogs search

An avalanche dog doesn't search for a person. It searches for their scent. Human scent rises through the snowpack, and a trained dog follows it across the debris to the spot where someone is buried. According to the Colorado Search and Rescue Association, a fully trained avalanche dog can clear a 100 x 100 yard site, nearly 2 football fields, in 20 minutes.

That speed matters, especially in a state with roughly a third of all U.S. avalanche deaths, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. About 75% of avalanche victims die from asphyxia, per the American Alpine Club, and the Utah Avalanche Center reports 93% survive if recovered within 15 minutes.

Without a transceiver signal, the human alternative is a probe line: a row of rescuers driving probes into the snow every 50 cm. Avalanche.org calls it "the last resort." A dog needs no signal at all.

Colorado avalanche dog teams and the Peak 7 slide

In 1987, a slide on Peak 7 near Breckenridge caught 8 people. The 4 without transceivers died, and finding them took hundreds of rescuers and 3 days. Summit County decided the next search had to move faster. The Summit County Sheriff, Summit County Rescue Group, and Flight for Life built Colorado Rapid Avalanche Deployment (C-RAD), a system for flying trained dog teams straight to a slide.

How avalanche dogs are trained and certified

Handlers begin working with their dogs at 8 weeks old, according to the Colorado Search and Rescue Association. Handlers describe the early training as simple; a person hides in a ditch or snow cave, the dog finds them, and the reward is a hard game of tug. Then the burials get deeper, the search areas wider, and the scenarios more complex.

Breed matters less than most people expect. Retrievers, shepherds, and border collies are common, but Front Range Rescue Dogs also runs Australian Shepherds, Dutch Shepherds, and mixed breeds. In the organization's words, "breed…is not the most important aspect."

Certification is demanding, and not every team makes it. At Breckenridge, it typically takes about two seasons of training before a dog is ready to test. Dogs then move through certification levels, from a basic search up to finding an unknown number of people buried across a large area, according to Meet Breck's Avalanche Rescue Dogs. Handlers are tested too, on winter survival, avalanche knowledge, and rescue skills. And the dog has to stay focused through chairlift and snowcat rides on the way to work.

What avalanche dogs can and can't do

Avalanche dogs are fast, but distance is the one thing they can't beat. Even by helicopter, a dog team usually arrives after the 15-minute window has closed. As C-RAD President Doug Lesch puts it, "Though a live find has not been had from an avalanche in North America, the closure that finding a victim brings to the family is immeasurable.”

The dogs are the backup. The first rescue still belongs to your group, and Avalanche.org notes companion rescue is often the only way to save a buried partner. Carry a transceiver, shovel, and probe, and check the CAIC forecast before you go. When your own trail partner travels with you in winter, keep them close and under control on any route that crosses or runs beneath steep snow and know the early signs of cold stress in dogs.

For the dogs who earn their miles

Our dogs earn their miles on the trail. These dogs earn theirs on call. They ride lifts at first light, deploy by helicopter, and search debris fields in conditions few people ever see. Behind each dog is a volunteer handler who has invested years in training.

Each of these organizations is largely funded by donations. If you travel in Colorado's backcountry, consider supporting the team that serves the terrain you use.

We will share more on winter travel with a trail partner in Field Notes this season.

Adventure On.