Alaska avalanche dog found alive after 50 hours thanks to an AirTag

When an avalanche in Alaska's Chugach State Park swept two experienced climbers about 500 feet down a ridge, their four year old dog LouLou was left alone on the mountain. The badly injured men were taken to hospital, and for two days nobody knew what had happened to her. The story of this Alaska avalanche dog shows how volunteers found her after about 50 hours, with the help of a small device on her collar.

An avalanche near Eklutna Lake

According to FOX Weather and Scripps News, LouLou, a husky and poodle mix, was with her owner Brian and his friend in Chugach State Park near Eklutna Lake, outside Anchorage. The avalanche hit during their climb and carried the men roughly 500 feet, about 150 metres, off a mountain ridge. Both survived but suffered serious injuries, including broken bones, and were taken to hospital without the dog.

A search organised online

Lauren Padawer, Brian's partner and LouLou's other owner, was travelling overseas at the time. She learned about the accident from a Facebook post and then posted her own appeals for help in local outdoor and pet groups. The response was huge: volunteers offered helicopters, drones and help searching on the ground.

The first search parties came back empty handed. The key clue was the Apple AirTag on LouLou's collar, which kept sending signals from the same general area during aerial searches.

How the Alaska avalanche dog was found

After about 50 hours, Amanda Barker and Dave Beckett, who had joined the search, flew out again by helicopter when they received an AirTag ping with her location. They landed as close as they could and spotted LouLou standing in the snow. It took them about 20 minutes to reach her through deep snow, using their hands to climb. LouLou barked at them as Barker called out, "Come on, sweetheart." They clipped on a leash and slid down the slope back to the helicopter. Scripps News reported that she was found alive and largely uninjured.

In a Facebook post, Padawer thanked the rescuers, the ground search teams and military pararescue personnel. "I will never forget what you did for LouLou, for Brian, his hiking partner, and for me," she wrote, adding: "Sometimes it takes a mountain to remind you how extraordinary people can be."

What it means for dog owners in Serbia

Winter on Kopaonik, Stara Planina or Tara draws more and more people who hike with their dogs. Avalanches are not an everyday risk in Serbian mountains the way they are in Alaska, but a dog can get lost in fog, a snowstorm or simply when it gets frightened. A few practical tips:

• A microchip is compulsory, but it is not a tracker. Dogs in Serbia must be microchipped, which helps a found dog get back home. But a chip cannot tell you where your dog is.
• Know your tracker. AirTags and similar devices rely on nearby phones, so in the wilderness the signal arrives rarely or late, as this search showed. In the mountains, a GPS tracker with its own connection is more reliable. Any device is better than none.
• A reliable recall saves lives. A dog that comes when called, even when excited or scared, has a far better chance of staying with you. Build recall gradually, first somewhere quiet and only then out on the trail.
• Check conditions before you go. Follow mountain rescue warnings and the weather forecast, and do not take your dog onto terrain you are not prepared for yourself.
• Protect paws and body. Snow, ice and road salt can hurt paw pads, and short coated dogs lose heat quickly.

If your dog ignores you when called outdoors, it is worth working on that with a trainer before your next trip to the mountains.

Small technology, big community

LouLou was lucky, but luck was not the only reason she survived. She was saved by a combination of three things: a device on her collar, an owner who would not give up, and dozens of people who gave their time to help strangers. That message holds true in Serbia too, where lost dogs are often found thanks to social media posts and the solidarity of the community.

Sources: FOX Weather, Dog miraculously found alive 2 days after being separated from owner in Alaska avalanche (English), Scripps News, Dog found alive after 50 hours alone in Alaska wilderness following avalanche (English)

Photo: Sebastian Baciu, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons