A dog is a man's best friend, especially when you're buried under six feet of snow.

Before 1940 snow related rescue operations were described as chaotic at best. It wasn't until the late 1930s that the Swiss Army started training the Bernese Mountain Dog in avalanche search and rescue.

Trainers around the world have since refined their technique and now many avalanche victims owe their lives to dogs. If an avalanche victim isn't wearing a transceiver, their only hope of survival is the search and rescue dog.

For avalanche victims, the first glimpse of a rescue dog's nose is the most beautiful sight in the world. 

Avalanche dogs to the rescue videos:

Watch a search and rescue mission with dogs Hooter and Murphy at Jackson Hole:

Gary Richard "The Dog Father" explains how search dogs are trained in Telluride, Colorado:

From under the snow, watch Tigger the rescue dog digging out a man during a training session:

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