All-Russian camp for mountain avalanche training of dog handlers is being held in North Ossetia

In North Ossetia, an all-Russian training camp of canine crews of the Ministry of Emergencies of Russia is taking place, within the framework of which certification tests in mountain-avalanche specialization will take place.

More than 30 canine crews raise the level of professional training. These are representatives not only of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, but also of the regional rescue units, as well as volunteer rescuers.

Certification tests on mountain and avalanche preparation include three stages: the search for victims in the conditions of an avalanche, the search for victims in the conditions of a rock fall (debris) and the search for victims in high-mountainous zones with various vegetation. During the tests, the crews will fulfill the standards for various specialized disciplines, and the best ones will receive permission to conduct search and rescue operations in mountainous and forest areas. Participants of the training camp work in conditions as close as possible to real ones.

“In all emergencies, it is extremely important to quickly find and provide assistance to victims. Human capabilities are limited, so rescue dogs come to help in rescuing people. And even today, in the age of modern technology, dogs are still the most reliable helpers in search work. They are able to find the victim under the rubble of buildings, find people lost in the forest, caught in an avalanche. Not a single device, even the most advanced one, can replace a dog's nose" the chief judge of certification tests, an international class rescuer from the West Siberian search and rescue detachment Sergey Pivkin said. 

This year, the canine service of the EMERCOM of Russia celebrates the 25th anniversary of its foundation. In 1996, an order was signed to create a search canine service of the Centrospas Unit. Since then, four-legged fighters have become permanent participants in rescue operations.

The dog handler and his pet are a single well-coordinated tandem, in which they understand each other perfectly. The effectiveness of the work depends on the mutual understanding of the dog and the person, the result of which is the saved lives. The animal's task is to find people, the dog handler's task is to adapt his pet to difficult and often extreme working conditions. After all, the dogs of the EMERCOM of Russia must be able to move in the mountains, fly in a helicopter and look for victims in places inaccessible to humans.

Dogs are qualified in various specialties: search and rescue, mountain avalanche, water rescue, search for the bodies of the dead, tracking service, mine search.

Today, the EMERCOM of Russia "serves" Labradors, Shepherds, Retrievers, Spaniels, Terriers, Ridgebacks, Rottweilers, Giant Schnauzers, huskies, dachshunds, Fox Terriers and even Spitz and Newfoundlands. These dogs are very hardy, capable of working in difficult weather conditions, and besides, these breeds have a natural desire to help a person in everything, especially in trouble.