Raising one of Winter Park Resort’s famous avalanche dogs is no small feat.

When Ty McManigle was tapped to be a dog handler last winter, he knew he would have his work cut out for him, but answered the call with a resounding “yes.”

“I was all in,” he said. 

As a member of the ski patrol, he already wears many hats and pitches in with different responsibilities around the resort. Now, he is part of a four-person, four-dog avalanche response team.

Avalanche dogs are trained to have life-saving capabilities to locate and rescue individuals buried under the snow in dangerous situations, and play a critical role in ensuring safe winter recreation. 

How are avalanche dogs trained?

McManigle’s work to prepare a dog for the slopes this winter started last summer, when he first met Obie. After speaking with several breeders, he traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah in June to take home the bright-eyed, 10-week-old golden retriever he is now shaping from a rambunctious puppy into a disciplined rescue dog.

Pending the completion of her training and obedience tests, Obie will be the youngest and only golden retriever to join the four-legged team founded by ski patrollers Rico LaRocca and Nate Bash.

The canines train on everything from communicating with their handler to interacting with the rest of the patrollers, and rigorous training is essential to the job. As Bash said in 2019, “You can’t be mediocre at finding people that need you to save their life.”

For McManigle, that meant sacrificing leisurely summer plans to get Obie ready for a long winter.

“I didn’t get to do much of what I wanted to do this summer, but that’s okay,” he said.

After getting the basic potty training and obedience down pat this summer, McManigle has spent his few weeks hiding items in holes, simulating avalanche scenarios for Obie while she sniffs them out. 

“I love golden retrievers because they’re excellent working dogs,” he said, and Obie has proven so far that she is cut out for the intense job. 

But another factor in selecting her breed, MacManigle said, was that goldens are also great house pets.

“They have a shut-off button, compared to border collies,” he said. “As a new dog handler, you have to be prepared if you or your dog isn’t cut out for the work, so they also have to make a good house dog.”

Obie’s next round of obedience tests come after months of consistent preparation on her end and McManigle’s. He acknowledged that if she successfully becomes certified to join him at work everyday this winter, they will have to work together as a tight-knit team.

While she will not become an avalanche dog until she passes her Colorado Rapid Avalanche Development Test at three years old, McManigle said that so far, her progress speaks volumes about her potential.

“My doubts are not very high in her, and I think she’s gonna do great,” he said. 

Obie’s breeder conducted an aptitude test on her when she was little, which evaluated certain behaviors to determine what kind of work she was cut out for. She was deemed fit to be a search and rescue dog, which McManigle said is evident in her execution of drills and exercises. 

“She is 100 percent in it,” he said. “She loves working.

The mentor becomes the student

As their bond and working relationship continue to strengthen, Obie has been a teacher for MacManigle as well.

“I just love having a dog,” he said. “They can tell us more about ourselves than we could ever know.”

However, as the rookie of the team, she will have to put in the time and dedication to match the level of Biskit, Gravy and Charlie, the older and more experienced canine rescuers. Last spring,

Gravy won first place in the “Bark Bracket,” a competition organized by Ikon Pass to determine the most popular four-legged patroller at an Ikon resort anywhere in the world.

While mostly obedient, McManigle knows Obie is still a puppy, and some stubbornness is inevitable, but he is excited to see her grow and learn to be an upstanding team member this winter, he said. 

“I am most excited to see how she progresses,” he said. “There are always going to be some doubts, though.”

A well-trained dog also needs a well-trained human when it comes to avalanches, he added, and Winter Park Resort patrollers are constantly topping up on safety knowledge and best practices. 

“To be a handler, you have to understand how snow changes in the air and on the ground,” he said. “It’s really important that you’re always looking for red flags, never green flags, especially when you’re trying to ski in the backcountry.”

This story is from SkyHiNews.com.