So Cardrona can now officially say that we have some of the best search dogs in New Zealand! Rua & Ra have just achieved the advanced level qualification offered by LandSAR (Land Search & Rescue).

There are three tiers to the qualifications - novice, operational and a new advanced level and our clever wee pups are now at the top of their game.

This is only the second time that the advanced qualification has been awarded in NZ and Anna is believed to be the only civilian with two fully operational avalanche search dogs.

Above: Anna Easthope with Rua (left) & Ra (right)

Anna is Rua & Ra’s handler and has been patrolling at Cardrona since 2000. Anna has trained both Rua & Ra from pups. We first covered the story of Ra two seasons ago when she first started working at Cardrona and was learning to ride on skidoo’s and training was centred around playing in the snow and becoming familiar with her new environment.

Both Rua (9) & Ra (2) have been working at Cardrona since they were puppies and were both very young when they first certified.

“I originally got Rua specifically for search and rescue work. I got her operational at about 8 months old, which was pretty young. Then with Ra, I got her operational last year when she was just on a year old.”

Anna has done a fantastic job as not all cotton on as quickly as Rua and Ra and many do not reach their prime until 5 years old. We think it must be in the genes! Rua is Ra’s ‘aunty’ and several of their doggy relatives also work in search & rescue positions.

Above: Anna with Rua and an excited Ra

"Dogs are like people. There are some dogs that are more motivated than others. Some are more switched on . . . Ra has energy in bucket loads and can cover a site very, very quickly. Rua's always been the calm, methodical personality and Ra is the polar opposite really. She lets it all hang out," Anna said.

Training avalanche search dogs is time consuming, so HUGE thanks go to Anna and the rest of the Patrol crew for their time and dedication.