Lily  is a female Golden Retriever X, and along with handler Kirk Gutzman, is one of four Fernie Alpine Resort’s  Avalanche Rescue Dog Teams… attaining their first validation at the annual CARDA Search and Rescue Course, January 2006 in Golden B.C. Lily's long legs and large paws assist her well for powering through Fernie's snowy winters.

Lily was born on August 17, 2003.  From an early age, Lily learned her favourite game, tug of war.  With simple games of hide and seek, Kirk was instilling and practicing the foundations of the skills needed to make a great working dog.  Lily was always rewarded with an old shirt to play tug of war with.  Kirk also used some local mountain bike obstacles to practice and attain Lily`s amazing agility and power.  When they are practicing finding people under the snow, the buried assistants are instructed to hold on tight to the sweater reward because Lily`s four wheel drive reverse is well known to pull people right out of the hole they are buried in. 

She is in heaven when she's at work and with that strong drive to go to work, comes a very curious nature. Please respect this and ignore her if she approaches you with her working orange vest on. For avalanche rescue dogs, one of the most common injuries is a cut from skis or snowboards. These can put the dog out of action for an extended period of time and sometimes even end their career. Always ask the handler first before approaching.