LK9 Services

12/12/2024

Getting lots of Christmas goody bags ready for our lovely dog walking clients 😋 🐾
Thanks Sweetpea's Doggy Deli & Pop-up Shop for accommodating our requirements 👍🏻

10/12/2024

Tuesday was Lisa’s turn to work with teams in Broadway—a particularly magical spot with all the Christmas lights twinkling 🎅🏼💡

🐕‍🦺 Team Fozzie completed his first progression trail and absolutely smashed it! Such a confident, excited little chap—he took everything in his stride.

🐕‍🦺 Team Jarvis worked brilliantly through the busier areas. Although he was tempted to investigate people enjoying their chippy tea, he managed to stay focused and work past them like a pro!

🐕‍🦺 Nox and Kaos shared their session: Nox worked in a quieter area because she can be a little anxious, while Kaos, on only her third session, worked through some busy crowds at times and stayed impressively focused. Their owner has worked so hard to build their confidence, and it really shines through each time they come mantrailing.

Super work from everyone this evening—well done all! 🙌🏼

(Sorry the photos are blurry 😔)

10/12/2024

On Monday evening, Jennifer ran our monthly Mini Skills Clinic, focusing on obvious trail layers and walking trail layers.

Each team had worked at this venue before, but Monday evening brought added challenges—gusty winds and some unusual noises.

For the first trail, teams worked with a trail layer standing out in the open. It’s fascinating how dogs can become accustomed to someone hiding, so changing the context often throws them. Despite this, every team was successful!

The second trail featured a walking trail layer, adding complexity with the wind in play. Again, all teams rose to the challenge and completed their trails brilliantly.

Fantastic work, everyone

06/12/2024

On the booking page I described today’s mantrailing venue as hilly and muddy—and it certainly lived up to the description! 😂

We had four teams tackling longer trails, with most of them working on distances over 500m (& upto 800m) for the very first time and using the mantrailing app to track their progress.

While the practicalities of the day didn’t always go to plan, the dogs did some fantastic work. The longer trails provided a great opportunity for handlers to really observe and interpret their dogs’ body language. Plenty of path options as well as wide open spaces, provided some good challenges.

It was an enjoyable (if tiring!) session, and I’m looking forward to running it again soon! 😀🐕‍🦺

(Sorry I didn’t get overlap plans for every trail. The blue line is the trail layers route and the red line is where the dog went to find them).

06/12/2024

👀🐕‍🦺 Mantrailing dates for January are now live for booking

There’s a mix of venues and days so hopefully there’s something for everyone.

Grab a spot by clicking this link:

https://bookwhen.com/lk9mantrailing

03/12/2024

**SOLD**

😱🐕‍🦺👀
A poorly dog means that a last minute space has become available with the wonderful mantrailing guru Kathryn Jones Trailing K9s on Monday 9th near Pershore.
Booking available here

https://lk9mantrailing.bookwhen.com/schedules/ufdtks83sq0e

03/12/2024

Is it sad that I get a little bit excited when I come across a new fallen tree on a walk?!
So much fun for ‘my’ (clients) dogs to go under, jump over, do some balancing 😀🐕‍🦺

03/12/2024

Absolutely 👌🏻

THE PERILS OF PUNISHMENT

It’s easy to stop or suppress a behaviour by using punishment, force or pain and say that it really works, so why even bother to do it differently?

Punishment based methods may well “fix” the behaviour quickly, are far easier, require far less effort, less knowledge, less education, or even just be based on traditional belief, but these methods come at a great cost - destroying trust, creating insecurity, fear, anxiety, provoking aggression, causing dogs to shut down or feel helpless and prevent dogs from learning an alternative, more acceptable behaviour.

There is so much modern, scientific evidence to support force free, positive reinforcement methods as being the most effective and successful way to modify behaviour.

There is nothing admirable, ethical or intelligent in physically or emotionally forcing any sentient being to comply.

Take the time and make a commitment to understand and learn about positive, force free, science-based methods.

01/12/2024

Friday Night Fun with Jennifer Hawkins Jen in Droitwich

What a great evening of training! The teams had the opportunity to work on junctions and turns, as well as trailing across different surfaces. We wrapped up the session with scent transfer starts, and every dog smashed it with ease! 🤩

We also had some interesting discussions about how trailing at night differs from daytime sessions, and how the rain changes the scent picture, influencing the way the dogs work.

A fantastic session with lots of learning for both dogs and handlers!

01/12/2024

After a fantastic introductory session in the morning, Saturday afternoon was spent with five dedicated teams working towards their Level One assessments.

We focused on a variety of skills, including tackling some sticky starts for a few of the dogs—homework was assigned! Handlers also worked hard on their own techniques, especially recognizing when to move the dog on versus waiting for them to commit to a direction of travel.

It’s a pleasure to spend time with such a lovely group of ladies and their amazing dogs. A big thank you, too, for keeping an eye on my two while they had a day in the van! 🙏

30/11/2024

Saturday morning was all about introducing four new teams to the exciting world of mantrailing (plus welcoming back a team for some progression!).

We had a mix of dogs join us : an anxious collie, a collie cross, a husky, and a pomski. After practicing some line handling and teaching the dogs how to take scent, we were off! The hunting trails gave the dogs a chance to learn the game, and as always, we tailored the trails to suit each dog’s needs.

Some dogs picked it up quickly, while others needed a bit more support, which is completely normal. For some, like Woody, the focus was on building confidence—approaching people and staying relaxed in a new environment . We also experimented with rewards to find what worked best for each dog.

By the final trail, every dog had grasped the concept and was working more confidently, following the scent away from their handlers.

A fantastic morning with some brilliant progress from all the teams—and we topped it off with delicious cakes and lunch at Bonnie's Tea Room and Visitor's Centre at Wildgoose.

29/11/2024

What a bright and sunny day for our mantrailing session in Evesham town today! 🌞🐕‍🦺

We had a lovely mix of experience levels, with some dogs who’ve done several urban trails and others tackling only their second ever trail. Trails as always, were tailored to suit, and every dog rose to the challenge of working in a busy, contaminated environment full of distractions.

A special shoutout to Fern, whose mum was a bit worried about her tendency to chase cars (a classic collie trait!). But while working, even with cars passing close by, Fern didn’t bat an eyelid. 👏🏻 She also completely ignored a very persistent cat that kept following the trail layer and stayed focused right to her person. What a superstar! 👌🏼

Another fantastic session with brilliant dogs and handlers. Well done, ladies! 🐕‍🦺😀

28/11/2024

Do you use a longline for mantrailing, tracking or just to help with recall? Do you find it gets tangled? Here’s a neat little way to help

I will soon have more of these ever popular line tidies in stock in a variety of snazzy colours🤩 Let me know if you fancy one or even borrow one and try it first if you’re on a session with me🐕‍🦺

If you want it personalised, drop Oksana of K9 trail slayers a message

26/11/2024

Did you know that every dogs nose print is unique, like a humans fingerprint?
No two dogs have the same intricate pattern of ridges and creases 🤩🐕‍🦺

24/11/2024

Photos from the afternoon session today:

24/11/2024

Every month, LK9 runs Skills Workshops, focusing on specific aspects of mantrailing. November’s theme was indications and today, two groups braved the British weather to work on this. An indication can be any behaviour that the dog offers (for all of these dogs it was a sit) that tells the owner/handler that the dog has found the person that matches the scent article (rather than just any person).

For some dogs, it was all about getting to grips with the basics of establishing an indication (yes you have to sit even on the wet ground 🤦‍♀️😆). For others, we challenged them by proofing their indications with trail layers in different positions and/or introducing decoys.

Throughout the day, every team worked hard, showed fabulous progress, and identified areas that we can improve on in future sessions. Well done, everyone!

Lots of photos, so these are from the morning group and I will do a separate post from the afternoon group.