Staff Spotlight: Fred, Patrol Dog
Fred Wayne Shepherd: Diamond Peak Patrol Dog
I was born in Riverside, CA on 4/24/15 and thankfully my mom handpicked me and I moved in with her in Lake Arrowhead, CA at 8-weeks old. I started my first job that summer, well volunteer job, at the Children’s Forest Visitor Center in the San Bernardino National Forest. My first winter I started my favorite job as a ski patrol dog at Snow Valley Mountain Resort, where I stayed for two seasons. Through this job I realized my favorite sport was skiing. Mom and I worked hard on obedience and playing search by hiding my toys for me to find. I love playing search so much I even hide my own toys in blankets and towels if mom is too busy to play with me. I became a mountain bike patroller for 3 summers at SkyPark at Santa’s Village after 2 season on ski patrol. This job was great because I worked with my best friend Arrow, Santa’s dog!
When I’m not training or working my favorite activities are: backcountry skiing, mountain biking, trail running, hiking, rock scrambling, swimming in alpine lakes, and chasing a good ol’ fashioned tennis ball! If you see me at Diamond Peak come say hi and ask my mom if it is ok to pet me. If I’m training or searching I need to focus on my work before I get to socialize. When I get to take some laps with mom I know you’ll hear me! I let everyone know how excited I am to be skiing through excited barks! Mom always says I am the most excited employee to come to work every morning, but that excitement is because I love my job. At Diamond Peak I am most excited to be working at a ski hill that gets more snow so I can practice my avalanche rescue skills more.
This article originally appeared in the December 2019 IVGID Quarterly Magazine.