Mantrailing

[stormox]

Anyone on here do it? What breeds do you have? I have just done my 2nd session with my GSD.

 

[Morwenna]

I do with my lab. I’ve seen all sorts of breeds in our sessions from scruffy terriers to coonhounds and everything in between.

 

[Mynstrel]

I've done 3 sessions with our rescue BC and as a nervy dog, the confidence it gives him is just awesome. It's fascinating watching a dog work in a totally different way too, and I suspect may be quite addictive...

 

[Morwenna]

I've done 3 sessions with our rescue BC and as a nervy dog, the confidence it gives him is just awesome. It's fascinating watching a dog work in a totally different way too, and I suspect may be quite addictive...

It is definitely addictive! We haven’t done much, we have our 6th session at the weekend and I am definitely hooked. My dog isn’t the most confident and it’s so nice doing this where there isn’t the same pressure of getting it ‘right’ that there is in other training and watching her confidence grow is lovely. We tend to follow the other dogs working if we’re not the one hiding or staying with the cars and other dogs and it’s fascinating seeing the different styles of working among the other dogs.

 

[Indy]

Me and Bandit have been doing it since 2020 when it was just getting on it's feet. Bandit is a KelpiexCollie, We went on Saturday and did a scent article start, split trail. He smashed it, I was very proud of him.

 

[Morwenna]

My sister did it with her old dog before he got ill and so it was high on my list of things to do when I got a dog. My sister did a displaced article start last week to slow her (new) dog down as she does everything at a million miles an hour and it was amazing to watch the dog figuring out the puzzle.

 

[TRECtastic]

I'm a big fan of man trailing
I first did it a few years ago with my beagle, who was absolutely superb at it , it was great fun for him , really played to his strengths of nose work
I've started doing it with my young dog , we've been 3 times so far and she's been great at it
She's not the most confident dog so it's really helped her , she's been able to make choices on the trails and has always got it right so has really boosted her
I keep thinking I'll have to borrow my husbands gopro and video her doing it so I can watch back and see her indications, as its easy to miss things when they are working
There has been all sorts of breeds on the clinics I've been to , a really good mix

 

[stormox]

How lovely to hear all these positive replies I am hoping my EXTREMELY enthusiastic GSD will get a bit less manic with the start article, she grabs it and rushes around before she gets her brain in gear bur I'm hoping she will calm down a bit with more experience.

 

[Morwenna]

It really is an amazing thing to do and our instructor is an absolute genius at reading the dogs and handlers and tailoring the searches to them. @TRECtastic I have managed to get a second hand GoPro to record my runs so I can learn my dogs indications as I find it so hard to do that and not trip over, tie myself in knots with the longline etc. etc.
@stormox mine carries the scent article the whole way round with her and then proudly swaps it for her treats when she finds the person at the end.

 

[ArklePig]

I've done the intro with my dog, she is a springer x pointer. She was exceptional at it, bearing in mind that until two months before that she'd barely even seen a lead, but there were all sorts of dogs and they all 'got it'. We hadn't had her very long at all when we went and it did wonders for her confidence. It's a great sport I don't regret giving it a go!

We kind of forgot about it while establishing other things with our dog's training, and the only providers are a bit of a trek from us, but we're going again on Sunday!

 

[tda]

How far do you walk doing this?

 

[Morwenna]

How far do you walk doing this?

Depends on the age and experience of the dog. My searches are usually fairly short (take about 5 minutes) as my dog is still quite young and new to it but I have seen a much more experience dog do a 1km+ search. It really is amazing how much a couple of 5 minute runs tires out my dog as she has to use her brain.

 

[tda]

Depends on the age and experience of the dog. My searches are usually fairly short (take about 5 minutes) as my dog is still quite young and new to it but I have seen a much more experience dog do a 1km+ search. It really is amazing how much a couple of 5 minute runs tires out my dog as she has to use her brain.

Thanks for that, considering trying with my youngest terrier, but I can't walk too far, or very fast might give a local instructor a call

 

[Morwenna]

A friend of mine has mobility issues and loves mantrailing as it is a thing her and her dog can enjoy despite that. Slow is the key to it. Mine has a tendency to go too fast and ghost trail. It’s very easy to miss a turn if you’re going too fast so if people or dogs are getting a bit speedy my trainer will slow them down by setting their trail in the woods with lots of twists and turns etc. It is very easy to make it harder for the dogs as you progress without just making the trails longer.

 

[Indy]

How far do you walk doing this?

Our trails are usually between 250 and 400 metres