Becoming a fully validated NRAC dog is an intensive, multi-year process. There are three levels along the way: Candidate, Operational, and Backcountry.

Candidate

A candidate dog is a puppy who has been selected by their member mountain’s leadership to become an avalanche rescue dog. Candidate dogs work on obedience and socialization to handle living and working in a busy ski area environment. They also learn how to ride lifts and snowmobiles and other resort specific jobs.

Operational

The operational test is a benchmark on the road to becoming an NRAC Dog. Operational level dogs are able to quickly find a single subject buried in a typical sized avalanche search area. Operational dogs are fully capable of responding to incidents in or near the ski area, but are not yet ready for deployment as part of an NRAC canine team.

Backcountry

A dog/handler team which achieves the Backcountry level is a deployable resource either in or out of the ski area. To achieve the NRAC Backcountry validation, a dog and handler team must quickly find and extricate multiple subjects buried in a search area the size of a large avalanche. Dog and handler must also demonstrate backcountry travel techniques to reach the search site.