Could Mantrailing be your “thing”. Ever wanted to do more with your dog, but not wanted to attend obedience or agility. You keep thinking you need to do something with your dog, but aren’t sure what. Mantrailing is the answer! Its high impact on the brain, and low impact on the joints. No running about for us! Which is a bonus and its super fun. There is no competition to be better than anyone else’s dogs either and its a super social, and fun sport. Its open to any breed, age and temperament. ASBO dogs are welcome!
I’m Kathryn Jones, I run Trailing K9s and Complicated Canines, I got hooked on Mantrailing after doing an introduction course and seeing how quickly my dogs loved it! I passed Mantrailing UK Instructors course in 2019, and then passed my Assessors course later in 2020. I trail with three of my dogs, and run trailing classes weekly through the year. Rain or shine!
It’s essentially Search and Rescue skills that we do with our pet dogs. For fun! We are not really teaching the dog anything new, but instead honing their natural super sniffer skills into a fun game. We teach our dogs to find a specific person the “Mis-per” and they get a super reward for doing it!
It is a sport for every dog!
This is really on of the few sport out there for both dog and owners which there is no restrictions. There is no minimum age or maximum age a dog can start. All breeds excel at it, as every dog has a nose! You do not need to be sporty to do it, and there is no homework! Reactive dogs are welcomed as each dog is trailed individually. It is an amazing confidence boost for so many dogs, as they get to use their natural instinct to achieve something, and it can help them face their fears.
You work as a team together and build your skills together. But there is no running involved as we work at a steady pace to follow the trail. Dogs are worked on a line throughout the training so even dogs with poor recall can join in. Its low impact on joints so ideal as a way to tire puppies out or give older dogs an outlet for their brain. Lots of people who retire their dogs from other sports turn to Mantrailing as its fun and keeps their dogs happy without impacting their joints.
It really is a sport for everyone as we do not care if you can’t run or have a dog who is a bit of a turd. We want you to join us, make friends and have fun with your dog no matter what! All you need to do is want to have fun with your dog and be happy to hide in weird places waiting for dogs to find you (Promise you we don’t do anything dodgy!).
It is an excellent way to tire out high energy dogs without throwing the ball ten thousand times or running up a hill. It uses so much brain power that by the end of the session, they are ready for bed. Its great to see them actually exhausted but in a calm way, it goes a long way to helping keep them calm in the long run.
How do you train a dog to find people?
Mantrailing is designed for everyone. You don’t need to have owned twenty dogs and selected a dog from the best lines, you can have breed and any experience. Mantrailing is about enjoying your dog and learning something new together. We start with our introduction workshop teaching you and your dog the way we train things. We use the Kocher method (Promise its still not a dating site!) which is all about the dogs getting a win at the end of every trail. This method means that even if you dog isn’t the fastest or most accurate they still get a win, and the game is always fun.
Each dog and handler team is progressed as pair, your don’t have to keep up with a group and its impossible to compare your progress to others as the dogs all sniff at their own pace. We build in different starts and more complex trails, and work in different types of environments to work up the levels or to just enjoy our dogs. The trailing combinations are infinite, and the great thing is because all the instructors train the same way you can train with anyone all over the country and have even more fun!
We use food, toys, and praise to teach the dog to find our mis-per. What ever suits your dog. Every dog is different and we recognise that. We want them to hunt for the person for something they want!
If you would like to get involved in this exciting new dog sport, we offer Introduction sessions followed up by weekly sessions and extra training weekends. We even host guest speakers from time to time so you can learn even more! Join our email list or check out the events page for the most up to date information on what mantrailing we’re doing.
Trailing within 20 miles of Oswestry, North Wales. But also covering the whole of the UK on request. Able to host introduction courses and progression days throughout the UK.
