Dangers
The instructions of the safety supervisor or the instructor must be followed at all times during exercises and in an actual mission. All people who are off-piste (backcountry) should wear under their clothes a transmitting avalanche transceiver or avalanche beacon. No snow slope or mountain is completely without danger. Even inclines of less than thirty degrees can be dangerous in some situations. That’s why you should always walk back the same way, without taking shortcuts. Stay together as a group as much as possible. Even a laughably little slope with a thin snow surface is enough to bury someone. The amount of snow that falls from a roof can crush a person. A small sheet of snow measuring about sixty feet by eighty feet (20 m x 25 m) and only eight inches (20 cm) deep contains well over one hundred cubic yards (100 m3) of snow, which weighs twenty to thirty tons, which is about twenty truckloads. In other words, a risk of avalanche is a risk of death.
During training or missions, when someone calls, “Avalanche!” or “Alarm!” look for cover immediately or try to grab onto a tree. If possible, get out of the area. Leave all tools, such as shovels and so on, and run. Don’t worry about your dog, because it is usually already on its way to a safe place. Alarm and avalanche always mean great danger, and it’s absolutely forbidden to yell these words as a joke. Expulsion from training would be the result. Furthermore, you should never play dead for fun, but only on the orders of the instructor as part of a training exercise.
During training exercises, searchers should walk single file through the snow to the top of the mountain or to the area where they’re going to work. As they walk, the dogs have to walk behind their handlers and not at heel. Forcing the dogs to follow prevents them from arriving at the work field tired. To accomplish this, you have to use the command “Behind” or “Back.” At first, keep your dog on leash. Put the leash between your legs and keep the dog in its place behind you whenever it tries to walk beside you. The dog has to learn to walk behind you on command.
Figure 12.1 As a rule, the team should move to the work area in single file.
Figure 12.2 The dog should walk in the track of its handler, rather than at the side.
Dog Bivouac
On arriving at the work field for training, you should dig a bivouac for the dog. That means digging a cave until you reach the ground, because the temperature is highest there (generally close to freezing). This cave has to be big enough for the dog to lie in comfortably, but small enough to protect the dog against snow and wind. On the floor of the bivouac you should lay an insulation mat and a blanket on which the dog can sit or lie down. The dog has to stay in its bivouac and is not allowed to walk through the surrounding area. If possible, you should dig the bivouac near a tree so the dog can be fastened with the leash. If it gets very cold, and the dog has to stay for a longer time in the bivouac, you should walk the dog regularly to keep it warm and wrap it in a blanket or a dog bivouac sack against cold and wind. Handlers have to take care of their own dogs.
Figure 12.3 If the temperature is very low, it may be necessary to wrap the dog in a blanket or sleeping bag.