Mock rescue by avalanche dog hangs on a toy rope

Queenstown reporter Christina McDonald was dog bait this week and survived to tell the tale. She tells what it is like to be buried alive in snow on the Remarkables skifield and then found.

It is not every day you are buried alive, straining your ears to pick up the approaching sounds of paws pounding through snow.

And it is not every day an avalanche occurs, but when they do, teams of specially trained dogs need to be prepared for the job ahead.

Earlier this week, I agreed to the "dog-baiting" experience and was escorted into a snow cave and essentially locked in, all in aid of helping train 2-year-old Border collie cross Rocket, a trainee avalanche dog.

It was hard to get a sense of what it would be like to be caught in an avalanche-induced snow cave, since while enclosed in my purpose-built one I was equipped with a radio transceiver and an "Avalung" breathing tube if needed and the cave's floor was lined with a camping mat.

Nonetheless, with a giant sleeping bag-style jacket, borrowed from Blair Whitaker of snow cave fame, limiting upper body movements, I did feel a sense of helplessness and reliance on my rescue team.

When Rocket did arrive, he immediately began digging a small hole in the snow wall between myself and the rest of the world.

Once he had broken through, a long nose appeared and furiously inhaled the scent of what he was looking for, which surprisingly, was not a human body.

Before I had contorted myself into the cave I was given Rocket's toy rope.

Rocket, like the other avalanche dogs, has been trained to think his beloved toy has been submerged in snow and his mission is to locate it, after which he will be treated to a tug-of-war.

Aspiring Avalanche Dogs handler Matt Gunn said the dogs were trained "to think that the toy is in the hole".

"We try to have at least three sessions a week. It just depends on other work commitments and volunteers," Mr Gunn said.

Friends and family were "roped" in as dog bait, but people were often interested in taking part in the training once they heard what Aspiring Avalanche Dogs was doing.

During a real avalanche situation the dogs would be searching for "any old human scent" and handlers kept the dogs' toys hidden in their jackets.

"We do what we call 'subbing of the toy', which means that we throw in the toy [once the dog has located someone or confirmed there is no-one trapped] so it just magically appears."

In the Southern Lakes area, along with Aspiring Avalanche Dogs, there were volunteer dog teams at Cardrona and the Remarkables and another trained dog in Glenorchy.

In an avalanche situation New Zealand Police would deploy dog teams to specific locations.

Once Rocket had alerted Mr Gunn and the others to my location, he was showered with attention and given his tug-of-war.

And after I emerged from the mountain's icy grip, I was free to return to work.