Ruby Notes

90 % of what we do is false alarms the other 10 is body recovery

if we find a live person we’ll do letterman

did one on Loveland pass, the guy was already out

“the season isn’t over yet

got her on the mountain when she was 10 weeks old, no permission backpack on backwards

got her used to noise

hang out on weekends

hide and seek

permission to train her

make it harder

hide behind snow drifts,

than open hole, then covered hole

beneath 5-10 feet of snow

really comfortable with it

I’ve always loved dogs

You get to bring your best friend to work

Unconditional love is an amazing thing

Heli flights

Usually get one training one every year

She got her 3^rd flight on her 3^rd birthday

She calms me down

He got in with the blades spinning noisy and shaking

1^st flight vail pass she hesitated 2^nd she jumped right in

took me 2.5 years to get her certified

70 burials

it’s not for anyone who is claustrophobic

shaft down and compartment

5-8 feet over the hole

catching the scent- develops a scent cone small point gets wider

you always go to the downwind point than work up

failed the test the first time-which is pretty normal

won’t do it before 18 months

have to be spayed or neutered

25 certified in the state

http://www.flightforlifecolorado.org/index.php?s=21&item=23

works with flight for life

A Basin is 1^st to open and last to close, so sometimes we can be the only ones open

4 certified dogs

the terrain all around us is avalanche terrain

Loveland slide

2 snowboarders

no brain no gear

terrain trap

triggered slide onto road

“its not a crime if you trigger a slide. We want you to call someone and let them know you’re ok

Brendan Duncan 12

We haven’t had a live find but there are more and more cell phones in the backcountry

People can alert quicker

We can be flying in 20 minutes

Always education factor

She looked around and was gave me the “there’s nothing here look”

She always want s to find something

Super motivated to work

Once she’s on a leash she knows it’s time to work

Trained to find human scents

Different dogs have different personality

Never had as many people volunteer to dog sit

I picked the name before I saw her ruby peak

Re-cert every 3 years

Find 2 people in a 250x250 area in 20 minutes

Love and affection for people

She doesn’t know she’s a dog.

She was 10 weeks old when he got her

Spring brought her up as a cute puppy

Got permission that fall

Hide and go seek let your friend go ahead

Bring out the instinct

In winter started working in snow

The riding the chairlift part she’s really comfortable with it she can unload

“Ski patrolling is a really special job and to be able to bring your dog and your best friend into it is really special,”

She’s 4

One of the perks of the job is that part of the training we do helicopter flight

3:30 ish

we do hot loads and unloads, we get in with the blades spinning

don’t leave a person in a hole for more than 1 hour

leave them ther for 20 minutes- to let their scent come up

she’s just catching the scent

look which way the wind is blowing

downwind then work your way back

she’ll get in the scent cone then zero in on the person

how much stronger is the dogs nose? CHECK THIS

Loveland keystone breck copper vail bc aspen highlands and snowmass

Search and rescue vail, summit clear creek

Accidents can happen early or late, sometimes we’re the only resource that’s why we’ve got such a strong program for such a small mountain

Loveland

Called no brain

Guy dug out with an ice scraper

The communication thing can be really hard

After 30 minutes the chance of survivability really goes down

The whole deal is that we’re setting ourselves up to make a rescue

The dogs are great ambassadors

Her alert is a digging, she’s trained to dig

Some dogs will bark

We’ll let her do a lot of the digging

We’ll let her have a reward, like a ball

She’ll tend to pick up a glove around the house and think she’s done something good

Golden retrieves definitely a little bit more relaxed

Ambassador thing-awareness

Ruby right off the backside of abasin

Had a good hike up there the summer before I got her

You don’t want too big of a dog-too much weight in the chopper isnt’ a good thing

Obedience training before avi training