You've heard of Clifford The Big Red Dog (if you have pre-teens that is), well, now we have Clifford the Big White Dog. As you can see, that's not really correct either because he's jet black. The thing is – Clifford lives up here at Big White with his owner/handler/companion Katerine Guenette, and they both have very special jobs that could one day save your life. Clifford, a black lab, is more than half way through a two-year course to become an avalanche rescue dog certified through CARDA (Canadian Avalanche Rescue Dog Association). Today's rescue dogs have come a long way from the classic whisky-toting St. Bernards that usually come to mind when combining snow and dogs.

Kate, was born in Montreal Quebec, but she has been working at Big White for 9 years. For the last three years, she has been living full time year round, and shortly after Clifford was born 17 months ago she decided to provide him with a post puppy education. Last winter, while Clifford's life still revolved around chewing on

slippers and tripping over his over-sized paws, Kate attended the first in a series of 1 week training sessions. These training sessions held in Whistler BC included being buried alive (on purpose) and having other people's dogs locate her. Now, more than a year and many training sessions later, Clifford is out of kindergarten and heading to university. Later this week Clifford and Kate will be attending the last week of training before he gets his official "Beginner Avalanche Rescue Dog" certification.

As you can imagine, all this training comes at a significant cost, and Clifford is keeping his nose to the ground in search of funding for his education. Although Kate has the support of Big White, the cost of putting a puppy through school is high. Clifford consumes a mountain of food when he's out in the cold digging in the snow, and there is lots of special equipment needed, not to mention veterinary bills.

If you would like to help Kate out financially, or if you would like to take part in her training sessions (beware, they could include you being intentionally buried in a snowbank), you can contact her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

This season you will likely see Kate and Clifford riding the chairlift or out on the hill, and Kate has asked that we pass on some "professional dog handler etiquette" to help keep Cliff on the straight and narrow:

• if you see us on the hill, please ignore Clifford. You can talk to me though! I'd love to answer your questions.
• please ask me before touching or addressing Clifford (this goes for any dog- ask the owner for permission to touch)
• never call to Clifford or use his name.
• never use the "S" word. That word is "Search" – Oops!