Posted by rockyhillaaron | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on February 5, 2016
Rescue Dogs Compare Contrast
By: Aaron Matheny
Have you ever seen a dog herding sheep? How about saving countless lives of avalanche victims?
In the two articles “It’s a Dog’s Life” by Rebecca Upjohn Snyder and “Hide-and-Seek School” by Vivienne Lenk, they are writing about two different types of working dogs, herding dogs and avalanche rescue dogs. In this essay, I will comparing and contrasting these two types of dogs.
Herding dogs and Avalanche Rescue dogs have many differences, and I know because the two articles “It’s a Dog’s Life” by Rebecca Upjohn Snyder and “Hide-and-Seek School” by Vivienne Lenk, they have a lot of information showing that herding dogs and Avalanche Rescue Dogs are very different. One difference is the two dogs work in very different places. For example, herding dogs work on farms, but avalanche rescue dogs work on snowy mountaintops. Another difference is they have different calendars. According to the texts,”It’s a Dog’s Life” by Rebecca Upjohn Snyder and “Hide-and-Seek School” by Vivienne Lenk, herding dogs work year round, but avalanche rescue dogs only work in Winter. Yet another difference is avalanche rescue dogs are their owner’s personal pets, unlike herding dogs, who aren’t. One more difference is the breeds of dogs used for these two types of working dogs. Border Collies are used as herding dogs because of there instinct to gather stock, or farm animals, and bring them back to their masters, while avalanche rescue dogs are usually shepherds or retrievers because they have strong instincts to retrieve, or bring back. These are the many ways herding dogs and avalanche rescue dogs are different.
The two articles “It’s a Dog’s Life” by Rebecca Upjohn Snyder and “Hide-and-Seek School” by Vivienne Lenk give me a lot of examples of differences, but they give also give me a large amount of similarities between Border Collies and Avalanche Rescue Dogs. One similarity is they both have instincts that are why they got the job in the first place. “It’s a Dog’s Life” by Rebecca Upjohn Snyder states “They were chosen for their instinct…”, and “Hide and Seek School” by Vivienne Lenk also informs us “They have strong instincts to retrieve…”. Another way these herding and avalanche rescue dogs are alike is they both have to go through training. “It’s a Dog’s Life” by Rebecca Upjohn Snyder states “Years of practice has helped too.”, and “Hide and Seek School by Vivienne Lenk explains “The dogs are trained to find people buried in avalanches,”. One more reason is both dogs work in a team. “It’s a Dog’s Life” by Rebecca Upjohn Snyder states “David and his dogs work as a team.”, and “Hide and Seek School” by Vivienne Lenk states “The dogs are their personal pets and rescue partners.”. These are just some of the numerous examples of the two dogs’ similarities.
In conclusion, herding and avalanche rescue dogs are very similar, but also different in many ways. I have heard of many other working dogs, such as police and marine dogs, but these two types are the best I have seen. If I were caught in an avalanche, with numerous feet of snow above me and freezing to death, I would hope for an avalanche rescue dog team to save me, and if I were a shepherd, with many sheep to get back in the pen, I would definitely want a herding dog to assist me in my hard work.
