“The passion for rescues is a lifelong feeling”

Philipp began working with dogs 15 years ago as a patrol officer in Zermatt: “Working together with our four-legged friends on avalanches and rescue operations was just the obvious thing to do.”

The three-year-old Belgian Shepherd Chilly is Philipp’s third professional avalanche dog: “Getting started with my first dog was challenging, and I had a lot to learn.” Nevertheless, the cooperation with his canine companion ignited a passion for the 44-year-old. “I reduced my workload and focused more on training with dogs.”

Eventually, the point came when he needed to decide to either stay in his previous job or become self-employed. Today, he is a part-time rescue dog guide for avalanches and mantrailing, a course instructor for avalanche dogs in the Upper Valais, technical director for terrain search dogs and mantrailing instructor at the Valais Cantonal Rescue Organization (KWRO). He also runs his own dog school in St. Niklaus.

While terrain search dogs mainly search for missing persons, the mantrailing dogs pursue the individual smell of a particular person. To do this, you hold a piece of clothing from the missing person in front of the dog’s nose. They then follow the trail of that scent. It takes roughly three to four years to train a dog to develop the required skills.

The first emergency

Philipp still remembers his first avalanche operation well. At the time he was working with Nero, his first avalanche dog: “A rather nerve-wracking exercise, considering that both the human and the dog have to take on a great deal of responsibility and deliver results.”

With every operation, though, he gained not only more confidence, but also trust in the dog’s skills.

27 avalanche dog guides currently work in Upper Valais in the regions of Brig-Simplon, Leukerbad-Lötschental and Saastal-Mattertal. Each region has a team on call 24 hours a day for one week at a time. Emergency calls come via the emergency number 144.

“When I’m ready for action, I notify the KWRO of a landing site that I can reach within five minutes. Air Zermatt will then pick me and the dog up by helicopter.” The pilot and the rescue crew are a well-coordinated team: “We’re glad that this part of the operation always works perfectly and that we can rely on the pilot’s skills.”

As part of its training, the dog must complete a course on how to behave in and around helicopters. But flying per se is never a problem: “Most of the time they even enjoy the flight.”

 Once on the ground, things get serious. The dogs are trained to search the area on command. Certain information is decisive: How many people are we looking for? Do we have clues for where to look? The more precise this information is, the more targeted the search will be.

“At this moment, every minute counts. The guide and dog are highly concentrated.” Not every recovery operation ends happily; just because the guides can quickly locate someone does not mean that the person has survived. People are sometimes recovered alive, sometimes deceased. Especially in avalanche operations, the chances of survival are low because victims don’t have enough oxygen. “Time is our greatest enemy in avalanche operations.

Philipp has already had several successful missions with his dog Diva, who has tracked down a total of five people. The duo has found two people during avalanche missions and two missing persons during terrain searches. On one mantrailing mission, they made a breakthrough that led to the wanted person finally being found.

Chilly has been ready for future avalanche missions since last year – Diva is now retired after a job well done.

The high-performance organ of the quadrupeds

A dog’s nose – an impressive tool that amazes even Philipp time and time again: “These animals detect the target persons from long distances and even under meter-thick snow cover. So it’s not the human being who is the boss on a mission, but the dog – they’re the one with the nose.”

Young dogs are physically in better shape, but Philipp considers experience a clear virtue in this business. Training will last a dog’s whole life. Avalanche training therefore takes place every 14 days between mid-November and the end of March.

Philipp and Chilly have already been out on missions this year, as well. The snow conditions do not correlate with the number of operations; little snow does not necessarily mean fewer missions. The structure of the snow cover is decisive.

When Philipp looks back on the last decade, he sees great progress. The technology has advanced, avalanche blasting is more effective, and there is much more prevention. Nevertheless, there will always be avalanche missions; the dog guides of the Mattertal and Saastal average 10 to 12 missions.

Rescue dog guide – certainly not an everyday job. Philipp finds it very fulfilling, especially the teamwork between people and dogs. But also the thought of helping someone. “Once you start to develop a passion for rescues, it will always be there.”