The Paws Patrol
From the Winter 2026 Issue
When skiers are caught in an avalanche, it’s dogs to the rescue
Forget the vision of the St. Bernard with the cask of whiskey. If you find yourself caught in an avalanche in the mountains of North Idaho, you’re more likely to be greeted by the wet nose of a much smaller Labrador or border collie (or even a Weimaraner). And forget the alcohol—it will actually make your body lose heat. Your canine savior will instead deliver humans with shovels and first aid training.
Dogs with their keen sense of smell have long helped to find humans under snow. But in the past decade they have risen to new heights of professionalism in North Idaho. After Jeff Thompson arrived at Schweitzer with his certified avalanche dog Annie in 2015, he worked with three ski areas in the northern Rockies to form NRAC—the Northern Rockies Avalanche Canines. In addition to Schweitzer, NRAC members include Silver Mountain in Idaho and Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana.
NRAC has enabled dog handlers at all three areas to provide their dogs with consistent and challenging training and experience. The group has defined three levels of certification that create a uniform set of qualifications.
Leigh Berclaw and Murphy celebrate passing the NRAC Backcountry Validation. Photo by Tracy Tuttle
Candidate dogs are the recruits of the avalanche dog world. They work on basic obedience and socialization like other dogs, but they also learn how to ride chairlifts and snowmobiles, as well as on the shoulders of their skiing handlers.
Operational dogs can quickly find a human buried in a typical avalanche search area. They are ready to work at their ski resort, but not yet ready to join a search team in a wider area.
Backcountry dogs find multiple subjects in large avalanches, and they have the skills to travel in the backcountry. They are comfortable riding in helicopters, traversing complex mountain terrain outside of developed ski areas, and working with search teams.
The backcountry certification is particularly rigorous. Dogs and handlers must travel away from their home ski area to test for this certification. The test is set up entirely by patrollers from the destination ski area, in terrain unfamiliar to both the testing dog and its handler. They don’t even know how many people are buried.
Three of Schweitzer’s four active dogs—Abbey, Murphy, and Maisie—have received all three certifications. Reba, the baby of the group, has passed the requirements for the first two certifications and is set to pass the third this winter. “She’s amazing,” said her handler Thompson, who said she has picked up a lot just by watching the other dogs. (See ‘Dogs’ below)
And he gives credit to Annie, the dog who arrived with him and who was featured in this magazine in 2021. Annie has retired, but she continues to live with him and Reba. “Annie has trained Reba as much as I have,” he said.
All three of Silver Mountain’s dogs are also fully certified. So are two of Whitefish’s dogs, while the third, like Reba, will continue to complete certification this winter.
Some of the working dogs pose for the camera on a chairlift. Schweitzer photo
Several breeds make good avalanche dogs. Whitefish’s dogs are border collies, and Schweitzer’s are Labradors. Two of Silver Mountain’s dogs are lab mixes. The third, Loki, is a Weimaraner, which is unusual among avalanche canines. Loki started out in other search-and-rescue environments and has cross-trained to join the avalanche team at Silver.
NRAC members (human and canine) meet at least twice each winter season. The first meeting is in November at the annual Northern Rockies Snow and Avalanche Workshop, a training session for avalanche professionals that is held every year at Whitefish. The second, called Dog Days, is usually held in March and rotates among the three resorts. This gives the dogs an opportunity to work with the varying sights, sounds, terrain and people of a ski area different from their home area. “Anything that’s unfamiliar is useful to extend their training and experience,” said Thompson.
The dogs Annie and Abbey wait to hear what ski patroller Steve Parsons has to say. Photo courtesy Schweitzer
“We want our dogs to be available not just to ski areas.” he continued. He hopes that sheriff’s offices and other search and rescue organizations will become more aware of NRAC and the work these dogs can do. Sheriff’s personnel may not know how to travel safely in the backcountry in winter, Thompson points out, and NRAC dogs and their handlers can help.
Winter backcountry travelers do their best to stay out of avalanches—and the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center can help with that (www.ipac.org). But if they make the wrong call, Annie and her colleagues might give them a second chance.
Learn more about Northern Rockies Avalanche Canines at www.nrac.dog
Schweitzer’s Canine Rescue Pals
Annie
Annie, now retired from active duty, is Schweitzer’s avalanche dog emeritus. She is a yellow lab with fabulous social skills, making her an effective ambassador for avalanche awareness.
Abbey
Abbey, another yellow lab, is Schweitzer’s senior active avalanche dog. She gets to go flying in the summer with her handler Steve Parsons, who works as a pilot in the off season.
Murphy
Murphy, also a yellow lab, lives with handler Leigh Bercaw, owner of Blue Finger Farms. She has been at Schweitzer six years and spends her summers on the farm.
Maisie
Maisie is a black lab who lives with patroller Galen May. Galen is a river guide in summer; when she’s rowing the gear boat, Maisie—who loves water—gets to come along.
Reba
Reba, a black lab, is Schweitzer’s newest and youngest avalanche dog. She has already completed her first two certifications and is ready for her third. She lives with handler Jeff Thompson and mentor Annie.
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