Avalanche Certification

 Hey Tribe,

Allow me to introduce you to a certified Avalanche SAR dog: Fly.

Superhero pose

Yep, this weekend our brave girl confidently loaded into the snowmachine sled and was hauled up the mountain to begin her search for simulated avalanche victims.

Ready to begin!

After being given her search command, Fly flew across the snow and pinpointed the location of a human hiding deep under the snow's surface in a small cave; after I marked the location, Fly was off running up the slope and out of sight before I could even attempt to keep up with her.  When I did manage to glimpse her again, she was eagerly searching and moving her way across the jumbled snow before she stopped in the middle of seemingly nowhere and told me she'd located another human under the snow.

Eyes on the prize - goggles cut snow glare, block blowing snow crystals, and just look cool.

Here is a low image quality video of Fly making her second find.  Love her happy face as she peeks in to see the person!

After the safety and support volunteers had dug the "victims" out from their snowy depths, Fly and I were congratulated on passing the evaluation in just 6 minutes!  We then loaded back into the awaiting snowmachine sled and zoomed back down the mountain so the next K9 team could take their turn.

I ended up relieving one of the volunteers and was hidden in a snow cave for the last K9 team.  It is a strange feeling to be buried under the snow and I'd have to say I'm not a fan of the experience, but we do it for the team and we do it so that our efforts may one day help bring a loved one home.

My view: before being buried

My view: while being buried

My view: after Team Bandit made the find

This is Fly's third discipline of certification: she is already certified to be deployed for Scent Specific Wilderness Area live find searches, as well as Human Remains detection.  However, just because we passed our evaluations and are certified, that doesn't mean our training and practice are complete - no, we will continue to hone our skills and practice, practice, practice, because learning and improving should never cease.  

Fly poses with the gear we use for avalanche work - beacon, shovel, and probe not visible.

There is a misconception that to become an Avalanche dog, one just signs up for a class and then takes a test at the class' completion and, voilà, you have an Avy Dog, so I just want to clarify that this is not how it works, at least not here in Alaska.  To be a deployable SAR dog unit, Fly and I are members of a SAR team with other dog handlers and members.  We train together weekly (often twice a week).  We take classes (paid for out of pocket) about first aid, human behavior, wilderness survival, weather, navigation, crime scene preservation, disaster preparation and building structures, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.  We buy our own gear (which is expensive).  When there is need for our services, we are deployed solely through our Alaska State Troopers - we can't just go rogue and jump on missions whenever we feel like it - laws and liability come into play here.  Search and Rescue work is a lifestyle, not just a title to be earned for a piece of paper to frame for your wall, a brag post for your social media, or a feather for your cap (though with all the work we put into it, those things are nice, I admit).  So, before you start searching the internet for the closest "sar training class," understand that is not really how it works, and be honest with your desires, ability, time, and truthfully your pocketbook.  

My teammates packing up gear after 7 hours of SAR work today.

Okay, I didn't intend to throw a wet blanket on this celebration post, but now you can better appreciate how much time and energy went into this certification and why I am so proud of our Fly girl!