The Underdog Project

The Underdog Project Mantrailing, Tracking and Scent Work in West Yorkshire for dogs of all shapes, sizes and confidence levels. Confidence • Community • Connection 🧡

Helping underdogs (and their humans!) build skills, trust and adventure together. The Underdog Project is a dog training community in West Yorkshire specialising in scent-based activities such as mantrailing. Helping reactive, anxious and high-drive dogs — the true underdogs — build confidence, connection and adventure with their humans!

09/08/2026

One of the hardest things to learn as a dog owner is when to step in... and when to step back.

We naturally want to help. To point, to encourage, to show them the answer.

Some of the most rewarding moments happen when we simply give our dogs the time and space to work things out for themselves.

Whether they're following a trail, searching an area, or investigating an interesting scent, every decision they make builds confidence!

Confidence doesn't come from always being shown the answer, it comes from discovering that you can find it yourself!

And I think that's a lesson worth remembering... for dogs and people alike.

💚 Can you think of a time when your dog surprised you by figuring something out on their own?

🐾 Have you ever watched your dog lift their head during a trail and wondered..."Have they lost it?"Quite often the oppos...
08/08/2026

🐾 Have you ever watched your dog lift their head during a trail and wondered...

"Have they lost it?"

Quite often the opposite is true!

Dogs don't just use scent that's settled on the ground. They can also gather information from scent carried on the air.

That's why you might see them briefly lift their head before confidently continuing the trail.

It's not a mistake, it's another way of collecting information.

Some dogs naturally use more air scent than others, while many switch between ground scent and air scent throughout the same trail depending on what the environment is telling them.

One of the best things we can do as handlers is stop looking at where our dog's nose is.....and start looking at what their whole body is telling us.

Every trail is different and every dog is different.

And that's exactly what makes mantrailing so fascinating!

💬 Have you noticed your dog lifting their head during a trail? What happened next?

🐾 We headed over to Rothwell last Thursday, welcoming two new teams to the world of mantrailing alongside three fantasti...
07/08/2026

🐾 We headed over to Rothwell last Thursday, welcoming two new teams to the world of mantrailing alongside three fantastic progression teams. It was a brilliant evening full of thoughtful problem solving, confidence building and some really exciting trailing! 👃🌿

Juke worked two lovely trails, showing some great decision making and problem solving throughout. He carefully worked his way through a challenging scent pool before finding his hidden trail layer, then confidently tackled a surface change and finished his second trail with a brilliant burst of enthusiasm as he recognised he was in proximity! 💙

Kobe joined us for his introduction and what a promising start he had! He picked up the game quickly, following the trail confidently and showed a preference for hidden trail layers rather than visible ones. Rabbits proved a little too tempting on his second trail, but that's all part of learning. Building value in the game first will make those distractions much easier to work through, I can't wait to see how he progresses! 🐾

Alci impressed us all by working brilliantly with a different handler. She recovered well from a couple of wrong turns, showing lovely clear negatives before confidently committing to the correct trail. Once she got going there was no stopping her, and we could barely keep up as she charged uphill to her trail layer! 🚀

Ruby also had a fantastic evening, showing some lovely checking behaviours, clear decision making and brilliant commitment to the trail. She worked confidently through old odour, recovered from a couple of tricky moments and powered up the hill to her trail layer with so much enthusiasm. It was lovely to watch! 🌿

Maple also joined us for her introduction, and she absolutely threw herself into the game! She picked up the start cues incredibly quickly, naturally dropping her nose to work the trail and already showing some lovely casting and clear negatives. Another really exciting partnership to watch develop as she progresses 🧡

Confidence isn't always dramatic.Sometimes it's a nervous dog taking food outdoors for the first time.Sometimes it's wal...
07/08/2026

Confidence isn't always dramatic.

Sometimes it's a nervous dog taking food outdoors for the first time.

Sometimes it's walking past another dog.

Sometimes it's entering a new environment without hesitation.

The biggest wins often look small to everyone else.

But to the dog standing at the edge of their comfort zone?

They're enormous.

Never underestimate the power of one extra step. 🐾

What's a small win your dog has achieved recently?

🐾 Wednesday evening saw four teams join us in Castleford for another brilliant evening of trailing, with some lovely tec...
06/08/2026

🐾 Wednesday evening saw four teams join us in Castleford for another brilliant evening of trailing, with some lovely technical trails, distractions and plenty of confidence-building moments along the way! 🌿👃

Ruckus took on both of his trails wearing his muzzle as part of building an even more positive association with it. He wasn't bothered by it at all and worked both trails beautifully, showing lovely head checks, clear negatives and some really accurate trailing. It was also great to see him spending much less time investigating environmental odours before getting straight back to work. 👏

Ronnie returned for his first progression session after a fantastic introduction, and we moved him on quickly because he'd understood the game so well. He stayed calm and thoughtful throughout, working through a few environmental distractions before settling into some really confident trailing. Once he got going, he was brilliant! 💙

Ilka had two lovely trails and coped brilliantly with some challenging real-life distractions. She calmly passed other dogs and later ignored a man with three off-lead spaniels near her trail layer. Although she was still a little hesitant to approach her trail layer, she showed some lovely trailing throughout and finished with a brilliant game of rabbit ball as her reward! 🐰

Finn had to work through a lot of environmental distractions but still showed some fantastic trailing behaviours. He problem solved his way to a trail layer hidden in the bandstand before tackling a blind ending on his second trail, where he gave some lovely clear negatives and recognised the correct odour despite being in a much more distracted mindset than usual. A great example of trusting the dog and reading their body language. 🐾

🐾 Wednesday morning saw five teams join us for a lovely session, with plenty of decision points, aged trails and some br...
05/08/2026

🐾 Wednesday morning saw five teams join us for a lovely session, with plenty of decision points, aged trails and some brilliant problem solving from the dogs! 🌿👃

Otto joined us for one trail and made the most of it! He worked steadily through a long trail with several decisions to make, showing a lovely clear negative before trusting his nose and continuing to where his trail layer was brilliantly hidden. A fantastic example of why it's so important to trust your dog! 💙

Póg also completed one trail and was lovely to watch. She confidently ignored old odour leaving the car park before hesitating slightly at an overgrown junction. Once she'd committed, she worked confidently to her trail layer and gave a lovely clear indication at the end. 🧡

Odie was an absolute superstar. His first trail involved several tricky decisions before he confidently committed to the correct route. On his second trail he ignored a backtrail, worked confidently through the woods and then solved a brilliant car find, checking where his trail layer had previously been before returning to indicate on the correct vehicle. Fantastic work! 👏

Fleur tackled two thoughtful trails, working much more steadily in the rural environment and taking her time to process the competing environmental odours. She worked hard throughout, checking a decoy before being helped to her trail layer at the finish after some lovely problem solving around the vehicles. 🌳

Flynn rounded off the morning with two brilliant trails. He confidently worked to a hidden trail layer on his first trail before taking on an aged car find under a camo net. He ignored the backtrail, stayed accurate and carefully worked the scent pool before confidently indicating on his hidden trail layer. A brilliant piece of trailing! 🥷🐾

Another fantastic morning watching the dogs trust their noses, work through some technical trails and continue building confidence with every session!

🐾 Five teams joined us last Tuesday evening for a brilliant session, with a busy park providing plenty of real-life dist...
05/08/2026

🐾 Five teams joined us last Tuesday evening for a brilliant session, with a busy park providing plenty of real-life distractions and lots of opportunities for the dogs to show off their trailing skills! 🌳👃

Brock worked incredibly hard throughout both trails, staying focused despite bikes, dogs, children and plenty of environmental odours. His walking find at the bandstand was fascinating to watch as he methodically worked the scent pool, dismissed people on nearby benches and never gave up. A brilliant demonstration of perseverance and problem solving! 👏

Scout tackled a walking find really nicely, confidently intercepting her moving trail layer before going on to ignore a decoy completely on her second trail. She trusted her nose throughout and made some lovely decisions in a very busy park. 💙

Ben showed some fantastic determination. After getting distracted in the woods, he recognised he was off trail, gave a lovely clear negative and committed himself back onto the correct path. His second trail finished with a high find on the rocks, where he confidently indicated where his trail layer was despite football being played nearby! 🪨

Jet worked two lovely trails, showing some really nice checking behaviours and clear negatives as she problem solved her way around the park. She recovered brilliantly after overshooting one turn and later ignored everyone else around the playground to head straight to her trail layer. 🌿

Noodle had to work much harder than usual on her first trail, giving us some lovely examples of problem solving as she recovered the trail after overshooting in the woods. Her second trail finished with a decoy, where she initially checked Donna before confidently committing to Caroline. She wasn't entirely wrong though, as they'd been sitting together on the same bench until just before we arrived! 😂

Another fantastic evening watching the dogs adapt to busy surroundings, work through distractions and continue growing in confidence!

🐾 Saturday afternoon brought another fantastic session, with plenty of wind keeping the dogs thinking and some brilliant...
03/08/2026

🐾 Saturday afternoon brought another fantastic session, with plenty of wind keeping the dogs thinking and some brilliant problem solving throughout! 🌬️

Koby had a session to remember as he completed both his Ace of Trails Trail Layer and Team Assessments, passing both with full marks! 🥳 His biggest achievement came when a tractor drove past, something that has always been a huge trigger for him. Instead of reacting, he simply watched it, shook it off and carried on trailing. It was a huge moment for both Koby and Jo, and we couldn't have been prouder. 💙

Albus returned after a little break from trailing and quickly settled back into the game. The windy conditions made him work hard, switching between air scenting and ground scenting beautifully. It was lovely to see him working the environment so well, and his confidence will only continue to grow. 🌿

Odie was another superstar, confidently tackling open ground before producing a brilliantly accurate second trail. He ignored distractions, worked calmly around a passing tractor and stayed completely focused all the way to his trail layer. 👏

Penny showed some lovely thoughtful trailing, making sensible decisions across the open ground despite the strong wind. She even resisted the temptation of the pond and later dismissed a person on a bench before confidently continuing on to her trail layer. 🐾

Baz rounded off the afternoon with two brilliant trails. After working beautifully through the open ground, he took on a fascinating car find, air scenting his trail layer through the woods before carefully working back to the cars. Watching him dismiss the decoy and problem solve his way to the correct car was incredibly impressive! 🚗👃

Another brilliant afternoon watching the dogs adapt to challenging conditions, trust their noses and continue to grow in confidence!

🐾 Last Saturday morning saw four teams join us for another brilliant mantrailing session, with plenty of wind to keep ev...
03/08/2026

🐾 Last Saturday morning saw four teams join us for another brilliant mantrailing session, with plenty of wind to keep everyone on their toes! 🌬️ Despite the challenging conditions, the dogs worked brilliantly, showing some lovely problem solving and determination throughout.

Maisey continues to grow in confidence on open ground, choosing to work across the grass rather than sticking to the edges. She was briefly distracted when a lovely lady asked if she could give her a treat (how could we say no? 🥹), but she got straight back to work afterwards. Her second trail saw her working really nicely back onto the trail before speeding up as she came into proximity with Coco! 💙

Coco tackled two technical trails in the windy conditions, showing a fantastic gate indication on her first trail before working hard to recover from being pulled away by the wind on her second. She kept searching, trusted her nose and worked her way back to her trail layer from a completely different direction. Brilliant perseverance! 👏

Lyla had the extra challenge of a confusing car park exit to work through before both trails, but once she got going she was fantastic. She gave a lovely gate indication on her first trail and handled the windy conditions brilliantly on her second, making some really nice decisions despite plenty of contamination from people around the park. 🌿

Otis rounded off the morning by taking on both his Ace of Trails Dog and Team Assessments, and we're so pleased to say he and Lucy passed both with full marks! 🥳 He worked confidently and independently throughout, making clear decisions and showing lovely teamwork. I couldn't be prouder of them both!

Another fantastic morning of watching the dogs adapt to the conditions, trust their noses and continue building confidence with every trail! 🧡🐾

02/08/2026

Have you ever caught yourself saying, "Come on... stop sniffing!"

I think we've all said it at some point...

But what if we looked at it differently?

Dogs don't sniff because they're trying to slow us down, they sniff because that's how they gather information, make sense of their surroundings and experience the world.

Imagine walking through a beautiful art gallery... and someone kept pulling you away before you'd had chance to look at the paintings... that's a little bit like rushing a dog past every interesting scent.

I'm not saying every walk should become a three-hour sniffari! Sometimes we need to get from A to B.

But when we can, giving our dogs time to investigate the world with their noses can be one of the most enriching parts of their day.

💛 Is your dog the type to stop and investigate every blade of grass, or are they more interested in getting from one place to the next?

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Huddersfield

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Wednesday 10am - 9:30pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

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