Mantrailing, a dog led sport: the search for a hidden person following their unique scent with your dog.

Mantrailing is an exciting and fulfilling activity that takes advantage of one of the incredible abilities of our dogs: their sense of smell. This unique form of tracking allows dogs to follow the scent trail of a hidden person, making it an essential skill in search and rescue operations and dog sports.

More than just a serious task, Mantrailing offers a fun and engaging way for dog owners to bond with their pets while boosting their confidence, optimism and trailing skills.. In this blog post, you’ll discover what Mantrailing is, how it works, and why it’s the perfect way to connect with your dog while providing an outlet their natural instincts.

A dog led sport: What is Mantrailing?

Mantrailing is a specific type of tracking that involves a dog following the unique scent left behind by a person. Each individual has a unique scent profile influenced by factors such as skin type, diet, hair shampoo, perfume and even the environment they have been in. For instance, if someone walks through a lavender field, their scent will carry that floral note, which dogs can pick up on. Dogs can also smell your mood, they pick up on subtle hormonal changes that happen internally as your mood changes. So if you want to get your dog excited to go Mantrailing, you need to feel excited too!

This activity serves both fun and practical roles. In search and rescue operations, Mantrailing has been instrumental in providing information leading to the location of missing persons, such as lost hikers, toddlers, or individuals suffering from dementia. In fact, studies indicate that trained dogs can locate individuals within a radius of over 1 mile in favourable conditions, which can be critical in emergencies. However, Mantrailing must NOT be confused with search and rescue duties , it is essentially and wholly a fun sport for dogs and handlers, great for both parties mental health.

The Science Behind a Dog's Sense of Smell

Dogs possess an extraordinary sense of smell that is estimated to be between 10,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than that of humans. This remarkable ability comes from their noses, which contain about 300 million scent receptors, compared to a human's 10 million.

When dogs sniff, they are not merely detecting odours; they are sorting through a complex mix of scent molecules. Each odour comprises numerous compounds, and dogs are skilled at identifying specific individuals based on their unique scent which fall from them as they move to their hiding place.. This capability makes Mantrailing exceptionally effective, allowing dogs to track scents even in challenging environments, like busy parks or urban areas.

Getting Started with the dog led sport of Mantrailing.

If you’re eager to dive into Mantrailing and why would you not be?

Mantrailing is very much a dog led sport, it requires the dog handler to be skilled in handling a long line which is attached to a well fitted harness. The Mantrailing harness differs from a walking harness in that the D ring is positioned lower on the back seam than on walking harnesses.

The long line provides a method of communicating with the dog who works ahead of the handler with their nose to the ground or taking in air scent to locate the trail left behind by the hidden person.

Expert help in selecting a suitable harness and learning how to competently handle a long line is required and who better to support you with that then Jan, an accredited Mantrailing Global Instructor?

So why invest in equipment before you've tried Mantrailing?

I'm pretty certain that on trying Mantrailing you will become addicted to it, watching your dog using their superpower is pretty impressive, and experiencing their joy when they fond the hidden person and receive their favourite treat or toy in reward. It's such a beautiful moment!

So getting back to the point, why invest in equipment when you can borrow it to begin with? Come along to your Mantrailing Global Introduction session with Pups and Pooches Dog Training and join in the fun, be amazed by your dog.

Learn to read your dogs body language, recognise when they are searching for a scent trail, when they have lost the scent trail and when they are hot on the heels of the hidden person. Experience their joy when they find the hidden person and share in the celebration.

Your adventure doesn't have to end there, if you enjoy working towards goals, there are 7 levels to work through in Mantrailing Global, each one being assessed by an independent assessor. If that's not for you, just come along and enjoy the thrill of the hunt for the hidden person and the joy of the find!