Ski Patrol/Rescue Canine Trainers Provide POV of What It's Like Being Rescued by an Avalanche Dog versus an Avalanche Cat

The dog physically rescues you, the cat rescues you… well, in another special way.

Posted by Elna McHilderson

Gary and Drift are a feline and canine sibling duo that love the snowy slopes. Gary, the cat is more of a hiker and Drift is a working dog, trained for avalanche rescue. The ski patrol take Gary and Drift out together on the slopes so they can enough nature together. During real emergencies, Gary gets left home while Drift goes out to do his job with the rest of the rescue team.

u/greatgramsofgary

However, that doesn't stop the ski patrols from sometimes deciding to do a quick rescue drill with Drift while Gary happens to be with them along the hike. Recently, they shared a video showing the two of them and how their rescue techniques are… well, very different.

Drift, you see, immediately jumps into action. He's sniffing all along the mountain top are until he picks up the scent and then finds the human buried in the snow. With that he digs and he finds the person and drags them out with, in this case, a towel. He is excited by cool and collected and the person gets rescued with a wagging tail and licks back to life.

Now Gary, on the other hand, is given a rescue drill. He is not trained to do this in any capacity, but he's seen his brother train multiple times, so maybe he could have picked up on some things? Nope. He is taken directly to the person in the snow. Plopped right in front of the opening, so he doesn't need to sniff them out or dig, all he needs to do is go in there and tell the person to come out. But instead, he does what cats do best, and sat there judging them. The cat really said, “oh wow, you got caught in an avalanche? How embarrassing for you…”