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Avalanche dogs: life savers on four paws

Avalanche dogs

Dogs are not only suitable as faithful companions or for the protection of house and yard. They can even save lives. As avalanche dogs, they help the mountain rescue service, for example, to track down and rescue missing persons in the snow.


What makes a good avalanche dog, why the four-legged friends still play an important role today despite modern technology and how the training takes place, you will learn in the following. We will also explain what is important when feeding avalanche dogs and how you can support their health with the right food.

Why avalanche dogs are indispensable

Dogs belong to the so-called macrosmats. This is the name given to animals for which their sense of smell plays a particularly important role. They possess up to 250 million olfactory cells and use around 10 percent of their brain to process the absorbed odours.


Humans, on the other hand, have only 25 million olfactory cells and use only one percent of their brain for their sense of smell. This enables dogs to perceive approximately one million different smells. In addition, they are able, for example, to perceive a track of a certain person several hours old and track it.


Their extraordinary sense of smell ensures that dogs are not only suitable for searching for explosives or narcotics, for example, but also as avalanche dogs for people buried under snow. 

What makes a good avalanche dog

Although in principle all dogs have an excellent sense of smell, not every breed is suitable for the demanding work as an avalanche dog. Particularly small animals, such as dachshunds, are eliminated, as are very large breeds


For example, contrary to widespread belief, the Saint Bernard is also very unsuitable to be used as an avalanche dog. Because the massive quadrupeds are simply too heavy and would break into the deep snow much too easily.


In practice, different herding and hunting dogs are used as avalanche dogs. Shepherd dogs, Hovawarte, Golden Retriever, Border Collies and Labradors have proven themselves here, as they usually have a good nose and the right size, as well as other important characteristics such as willingness to learn and nerve strength.

Training to become an avalanche dog

Training to become an avalanche dog

In order to be used as an avalanche dog, the animals must undergo extensive training. Usually the training begins when the four-legged friend is about one year old. However, only those dog owners can participate who have completed a training as a mountain rescuer. After all, it is not enough for the avalanche search if only the dog knows what to do.


During the avalanche dog training, the four-legged friend learns step by step how to search for missing persons in the snow. In order to arouse his interest in it, it is important that successes in the search are worthwhile for the four-legged friend. 


Usually the prospective avalanche dog therefore receives a reward after each finding, like for example a toy. Alternatively, a tasty dog snack such as Bellfor's healthy soft snacks can also serve this purpose.

Regular practice is mandatory for avalanche dogs

Since normally avalanche dogs are not used every day, regular practice is still mandatory even after training. This is the only way to ensure that the four-legged friends keep their learned abilities and in case of emergency really know what to do.

The transport of the avalanche dog

The transport to the scene of the accident represents a special challenge in the everyday life of avalanche dogs. The work involved in mountain rescue inevitably means that the sites are sometimes very remote and difficult to reach.


An avalanche dog must therefore not only learn to run here alongside its skier, but also, for example, to practice riding on a snow groomer or even to be roped down from a helicopter or a rock face.

Avalanche dogs have a hard working day


Since these tasks put even the most courageous four-legged friend to a hard test, a good fitness as well as a high nerve strength are indispensable with prospective avalanche dogs. In addition, the dog handler needs patience and a certain amount of empathy to get used to the different transport methods.

Avalanche dogs have a hard working day

The work as an avalanche dog is connected with a large responsibility and demands a lot from the four-legged friends both physically and mentally. After all, they have to cope with snow and cold and often face extremely adverse conditions during their missions.


For the health and performance of avalanche dogs, a diet tailored to their needs is therefore particularly important. Due to their use and training, the animals have special needs that you as the owner must take into account when feeding them.

The Bellfor nutrition concept for your avalanche dog

In the Bellfor range you will find everything you need for a healthy and species-appropriate diet for your avalanche dog. Our products contain only premium quality natural ingredients and are easily digestible for all breeds.

The perfect food for avalanche dogs

Like all physically active quadrupeds, avalanche dogs have an increased energy requirement. We recommend feeding them with Bellfor Premium Pur Active. The gluten-free dry food is characterised by a high meat and fish content and also provides your active four-legged friend with valuable energy in the form of well-tolerated carbohydrates from rice and corn.

Nutritional supplements support your diet

In addition to a good food like Bellfor Premium PUR Aktiv, it makes sense to support the daily diet of avalanche dogs with some dietary supplements and thus provide the four-legged friends with additional nutrients.

We recommend the following Bellfor food supplements for avalanche dogs:

  • Bellfor Fitness Powder provides your physically active dog with valuable amino acids to optimally cover its increased protein requirements.
  • Bellfor Immune supports the immune system of your avalanche dog with natural ingredients and thus contributes to the fact that your four-legged friend withstands the high loads optimally.
  • Bellfor Joints & Bones supplies your dog's joints with important nutrients and helps to effectively prevent joint problems.

Our tip for healthy paws despite ice and snow

As an avalanche dog, your four-legged friend inevitably comes into contact with ice and snow during training and missions. This also strains the skin on his paws considerably. 


With Bellfor Paw Protection Ointment you can counteract this and effectively protect the paws of your avalanche dog against the effects of moisture and cold, so that your four-legged friend will always have a secure footing in the future.

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