All about Mantrailing UK

What is Mantrailing UK?

Mantrailing UK is the first and only accredited Mantrailing International Training Centre in the UK, teaching dogs and owners an action packed dog sport and search & rescue skill - to hunt down a missing person.

Just a few of the many positives:

Build the relationship and bond with your dog

Increase dog's confidence

Spend time together in the great outdoors

Fun, social aspect with fellow dog enthusiasts

Gives an excellent outlet for high drive, working breeds 

Can be easily adapted to suit all dogs including reactive dogs and those with physical limitations

Regardless of the breed/type, age, behaviour, physical ability, Mantrailing UK strives to be accessible to everybody.

Maddie's mantrailing experience, as an old reactive rescue dog

This is the first activity/dog sport that our rescue Bull Terrier Maddie has been able to join in with. Maddie didn't have the best start to life and came to us with severe fear reactivity towards other dogs, she could be nervous in some settings and noise sensitive too. She was over 10 years old when she started mantrailing, not so much dog reactive by then, but still nervous of unknown dogs and a dog who needs reasonable space from others. Because dogs are worked one at a time, reactivity/nerves are not an issue at training. Initially we chose only private training venues where we definitely wouldn't encounter random dogs but we have recently trailed at a public venue too. It's often found that reactive dogs are actually so focused on their job once they've 'got the game' that they can, with time, trail past other dogs and even on normal walks their reactivity can be reduced. Maddie is now over 11 years old, she has recently been diagnosed with Canine Cognitive Dysfunction (CCD) which is a bit like doggy dementia, she also has a little bit of arthritis setting in and can't do anywhere near as much physical activity as she used to. Mantrailing however is a low impact sport which means there isn't too much pressure/stress on joints and bones. The length of each trail is decided upon the individual dog's needs and capabilities and it provides so much mental stimulation, using their amazing olfactory senses, that even with shorter trails they get a great mental workout. Another flexible factor is the reward - whatever works best for your individual dog. You may have seen our food pots but due to kidney issues, Maddie has always been on a strict renal diet and can't have many treats. She's not very food motivated so she works for her ball. Some dogs work simply for the fun of the game or for a free run at the end. It makes me so happy to see Maddie joining in with something, having fun and being absolutely awesome. It's the best feeling.

Tess' mantrailing experience, as an anxious rescue dog

Tess is our 8 year old Terrier (working lakeland mix). She came to us at around a year old with little to no training, no recall, not house trained, nothing. She had never really been given any mental stimulation and was left alone for long periods, as a high drive working type dog this wasn't great for her and she was very anxious when she came to us. Like Maddie, Tess was also an older dog when we discovered mantrailing and although she's the same breed type as Noddy, they're very very different. Tess isn't massively food or toy motivated and due to her more shy/nervous personality she had absolutely no incentive to approach the 'misper' (missing person). She trailed beautifully from the start but would find her misper and then not go near them. This is another time where the fabulous instructors will step in to make sure the dog's are happy and tailored to. We started with the misper just throwing the food out to Tess (after some trial and error to see what she really loved), it only took a couple of runs for her to 'get the game', gain confidence and approach her missing person for a clearer indication. Scent work in general has boosted Tess' confidence so so much and again, it's so rewarding to see her enjoying herself, loving having a job to do and growing in confidence. All dogs have so much potential, you've just got the help them shine.

Noddy's mantrailing experience, as a high drive, excitable working breed

As Noddy's the first dog we've had as a puppy and being the newest family member, he got in to mantrailing at a much younger age and he also had the foundations of general puppy training, confidence building etc on his side. As with everything, Noddy through himself in to his mantrailing introduction workshop and did absolutely amazing. He was interesting to train with as a working Terrier he worked very much with his eyes and would watch the misper disappear, charge after them and then quickly get lost as he wasn't using his nose, just trying to remember where he saw them go. Because of this, we progressed very quickly to scent article starts where he doesn't see the person leave at all, he has to pick up their scent from a dropped article and then use his nose to follow that scent to the final destination. He very quickly started to use his nose more in all situations, whether we're mantrailing or not he always uses his nose more now  - not always helpful when you're trying to genuinely hide a toy out of reach for example as he'll always know where things are hidden - but overall it's a great skill to have and he really enjoys his scent work. Again, as a working bred dog he loves having a job to do and mantrailing is such a good outlet for his natural drive. Since starting, Noddy has filled his first booklet and is now working through his new progression booklet (this is totally optional). He was booked in to do his Level 1 assessment in November 2020 but this was cancelled due to lockdown, we hope to achieve this at some point this year. He has absolutely blown me away with the progress he's made and the challenging trails he's done. A whole range of scent articles, long distance trails, working in difficult conditions, high finds, walking finds, split trails, decoys to this week trailing in to and through water it's just incredible what dog's are capable of when given the opportunity. 

Want to learn more or find an instructor near you?

Head over to mantrailinguk.com or there is also a facebook and instagram page. From the website though, you can select the 'find an instructor' tab which will show you a map with all qualified instructors plus their contact details. 

If there isn't anyone near you at the moment, don't panic. When we started out we had to drive at least an hour each way to a session, now however we have at least 6 instructors within that travel time, if not more, and even one in our little village. There are new instructors qualifying all the time, the mantrailing obsession is growing rapidly so keep checking the page for people near you. Some instructors will travel further afield if you have a group of people interested in your area so that's another option to look in to and

also, once you've done an introduction workshop, you can trail with ANY instructor so if you can plan some short breaks away, mantrailing holidays are a great option too!

Our DM's are always open if you have any questions or need a hand with anything. I'm more than happy to share honest opinions and experiences and want to help as many people discover this amazing sport as possible because it really has been amazing for our dogs.