Kirkwood adds chocolate Lab to the mix of rescue dogs

KIRKWOOD - Kirkwood Mountain Resort's latest addition to its ski patrol team, Barley, weighs 28 pounds at 3 months old with plenty of room to grow into her role as the area's next avalanche dog. The chocolate Labrador joins Jade, an 8-year-old retriever, and Zach, the 1-year-old German shepherd. The latter has served as a mentor for Barley.

"They're getting along great," said Dave Paradyze, Kirkwood's assistant ski patrol director who's worked in the department for 15 years. Barley stumbled over Zach's snowshoe-type feet in the station where the Cornice Express chairlift empties out.

With her own oversized feet, extra hair and eyes that show the windows to the soul, Barley was bound to her handler, Russell Grant, during exercises.

For the most part, Barley is at a stage where she socializes with other people and dogs at the ski patrol station. Formal training comes later.

But on occasion, Grant - who is also new to the handler program, takes his puppy out to test her skills on the ridge.

Grant knows the drill having grown up on the South Shore with a golden-yellow labrador mix.

He worked methodically with the dog.

"Sit. You ready to go to work?" Grant asked his eager dog, handing her a food nugget.

Paradyze joined them to supervise the hide-and-seek scenario in which Grant leaves Barley with a glove in his hand. Barley smelled it, and Grant carried it away.

Paradyze flicked a Bic lighter to test the wind direction.

"We're letting her know that's what she's looking for," the veteran ski patroller said.

The idea is she'll find the glove as the buried victim.

"We try to make the dog succeed. They get frustrated like people. You just don't start out with the New York Times crossword puzzle. We work up to it," he said. "Essentially we're doing the tail end of the exercise."

With Grant hiding behind a small tree, Barley patiently waited with Paradyze about 40 feet away.

"You-who, Barley," Grant called out, jumping up to get Barley's attention.

"Search," Paradyze commanded.

Barley took off like a bullet, finding Grant and tugging on the glove.

He surrendered it to her with a smile, as curious onlookers getting off the lift gathered to watch.

Barley paraded the glove around like a prize.

The two ski patrollers were pleased, praising the budding team dog.

"I'm convinced any breed can do the work, but some are going to be better than others," Paradyze said.

Most often, handlers use shepherds, Labradors and golden retrievers.

Grant picked out Barley from a litter of 11 by using a protocol handlers use, which ranks the puppy by social attraction, following, restraint, social dominance, retrieving as well as touch, sound and sight sensitivity. For example, the latter involves an exercise in which the handler ties a string around a towel and jerks it a few feet to see the dog's reaction.

The handler tests each puppy in the litter and scores each one.

Grant said he liked Barley because she seemed "very motivated."

First things first - she was house trained in one week.

Barley, like the dogs before her, already rides the chairlift.

Avalanche dogs rely on their noses to pick up the scent of a buried victim. Ski resorts use them because they can often find the victim much faster than people - usually in less than three minutes.

The dogs are critical for Kirkwood, as Paradyze described much of the terrain as a potential avalanche hazard.

At all the resorts, the dogs tend to become ambassadors for the resorts.