Snowbowl tells that avalanches are a skiers biggest fear, and in order to help that they are trying something new. Ava, an 11 week old puppy is being trained to detect people who get stuck in the snow. If an avalanche occurred she would be able to alert the staff so they could rescue.
Dru Miller with NAZ Today reports that Ava is the newest member of the team. He tells how her work is tough, and that she must train for hours with plenty of concentration.
Ski patrol dog handler, Hilery Hagery, explains that Ava will use her nose to find pools of human scent in the snow. For her training she is being taken on chairlifts and snowmobiles, as well as hide and seek games. In these games they show her the toy, then run and hide it, leading Ava to have to sniff it out and find it herself. For harder training, people will be buried in holes allowing her to get used to human scent.
In about a year and a half Ava will be 60 pounds bigger and ready to save lives.
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