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Show in the avalanche rescue service, provided they have a " good nose". If that is missing, all work and effort are in vain. Also, a- dog which lacks spirit will never become a proper avalanche searcher! Warning. Attention is called to the fact that the eyes of the avalanche dog are exposed often and intensively to the ultra- violet rays of the mountain sun and that there exists considerable danger of blindness. Observations have shown with some degree of certainty ( no guarantee) that long- haired shepherds, Belgian shepherds, giant schnauzers and in general dark- pigmentdd sheep dogs are unsusceptible or less susceptible than light- pigmented dogs. This fact should be kept in mind when acquiring an avalanche dog. Leading the dog. As a matter of principle, the avalanche dog is trained by his master and is led by him on his missions. So- called " loan dogs" are declined, because the necessary contact between dog and master does not exist. The relationship with the avalanche don. The avalanche dog i6 not just an animal, but a good, and even the best, comrade of the leader in particular, and of the other people in general. Be must therefore be treated as such and be cared for and trained accordingly. As a particular friend of people who are in need of help, the avalanche dog must not be developed to a state of vicious alertness. He must have pleasant associations with people and thus should be trained in police work only to a very limited extent or not at all. Keeping the dog. The avalanche dog must under all circumstances be kept and trained in such a way that from his youth on he is acclimatized to the difficult winter hardships of the rescue service. However, he must not be over- worked in this, as that would have the opposite effect. Therefore, the avalanche dog must be hardened as regards physical condition and resistance to weather and ability to endure hardships. ( Just as the man who remains in his quarters is no match for the trained athlete.) The avalanche dog as model. The avalanche dog should 6et an example, particularly in publio, in the way he obeys commands. - 3 - |