Man's best friend can be a key ally when natural forces overwhelm him.

Such is the thinking behind training selected canines in negotiating various transportation methods at ski areas to help locate humans buried by avalanches. Taos Ski Valley's website warns that Taos is a "Class A Avalanche resort" and that "avalanches may occur at any time and any place." But several avalanche dogs, with more currently in training, are there to assist the Taos Ski Patrol.

Ski patroller Michael Mitchell's 4-and-a-half-year-old Labrador retriever, Tigger, has been trained for avalanche duty since a young age. Mitchell said he had asked to be in the ski patrol's dog department from the time he started work in Taos. He got Tigger when she was a puppy and soon started training her, doing 15 minutes of obedience training every morning and afternoon.

The dog owners purchase their own dogs, which Mitchell says works well for finding dogs with the right temperaments and qualities. He said he looks for dogs that are friendly but not clingy.

"What I really like is independence," he said.

Mitchell said a dog's breed isn't necessarily a major consideration, though some breeds — such as Weimaraners, with their low fat content — may not be cut out for duty on the mountain.

"It's not the dog," he said. "A well-trained dog is a well-trained dog."

Though Labradors tend to make good avalanche dogs, Mitchell said other retrievers also work well because of their personalities and ability to work together. Several other breeds have been proven to do well in snow conditions.

"Goldens are great dogs," he said. "Aspen used to use poodles."

Mitchell said Tigger is the first female Labrador he's owned, and he had to adjust to her personality somewhat. He said Tigger mopes if she gets yelled at, and that he tends to get a little spirited in his training because of one's "natural desire to have your dog succeed."

"She's very emotional," he said. "She was getting freaked by my intensity."

Rachel Moscarella, a ski patroller and owner of Hattie, a Labrador who is about the same age as Tigger, said she likes this specific dog breed for the job. To help her chances of finding a suitable avalanche dog, Moscarella said she found a breeder who does temperament testing on Labradors.

"I got her when she was seven weeks old," Moscarella said of Hattie. "I had a Lab before that that was (also) an avalanche dog."

She said Labradors are hearty, easy to train and "eager to please." They also have some physical characteristics that help in the snow: Snowballs don't collect in the short hair of their paws and their fur keeps them warm in the cold and wind.

"They do have a double coat," she said. "It seems to be a pretty good fit."

Moscarella also said skiers don't tend to get intimidated by Labradors, as they might be by larger breeds or breeds with a meaner reputation.

Obedience training is essential, however. Avalanche dogs have to be able to sit and stay so they are not in the same avalanche-prone areas as their owners. A good avalanche dog must follow basic commands closely, in addition to learning to ride chair lifts, snowmobiles and toboggans. Moscarella said owners have their dogs ride sleds, instead of having them run downhill.

"It's tough on their joints," she said.

Mitchell said he had trouble getting Tigger to ride chair lifts.

"She had a couple early accidents (that spooked her)," he said.

Moscarella said avalanche training involves getting dogs to recognize and respond to long-distance hand signals, as well as using a progressive series of steps to help the dogs find people buried in snow. First, the owner will disappear into a shallow trench while burying themselves in snow, so the dog has to use scent to locate the person.

"Each step will be a little variation on that theme," she said.

Once the dogs have been trained, Moscarella said they do live burial trainings at least once a week. Moscarella said she and Hattie went into the Wasatch, Utah, backcountry for a five-day rescue seminar that included a helicopter-rescue scenario.

But she said the ski patrol does its best to ensure there are no in-bound avalanches, so everything she's done with Hattie so far has just been practice and waiting "on standby" until she is needed. Mitchell said Tigger hasn't helped with a live emergency yet, either, but he stays at the ready.

"It's pretty much all been training," he said.

Once someone is located under the snow, owners encourage their dogs with rewards when they instinctively dig at the right site.

"When they start digging, we know somebody's buried there," Moscarella said. "We really encourage the dog to show strongly where the person is buried. That's our main duty."