Catterick K9 Mantrailing

13/10/2024

A lovely morning in Leyburn , where we could go into the town square. New challenges for the dogs , shorter line handling , and lots of environmental distractions. Torrin my whippet , got to trail too !

30/09/2024

Last Thursday we had our wettest session at Kiplin Hall. Definitely weather for ducks 😆, and we got the better half of the day .2 collies , a Tibetan terrier and a GSP braved the day. It didn’t put the dogs off at all , with some good skills shown.

30/09/2024

This looks a fantastic event, and for a great cause , taking place at Adrenalin North Yorkshire Ltd.

24/09/2024

Millbry Hill are having a Pet day on Saturday.

Unfortunately I can't be there, but look out for my leaflets, and get in touch if you'd like to find out more about Mantrailing !

24/09/2024

The Mantrailing app is often a useful tool as to showing why a dog was doing certain behaviours. Last weekend I was trailing with Gerry of Jay K9 Mantrailers.
The app does not show the discombobulation ( my word for the weekend ) going on in my head during this trail as Jack was leaping up at the large water fountain ( encircled in blue ) . The app shows me why !

29/08/2024

The end of summer is coming , and I have just invested in a new head torch - I use it daily in the in winter with my horses, and my last one was getting very tired with the rechargeable batteries not lasting long.

This year I feel I have really expanded my tool box in terms of mantrailing. Understanding why different organisations/groups etc do things a certain way is important to me.

As a sports mantrailing instructor, we have such a variety of dogs and people . From puppies to senior citizens, with all breeds in between. The more tools I have helps me set that dog up for success. Motivation is key, but how to create and keep that so they can have optimum thinking is most important.

A picture of the last trail at our local paintball site. Evenings are definitely drawing in!

27/08/2024

A good post describing the differences between tracking , trailing and air scenting dogs.
I find it useful to know how my dogs trail , and which modality they are using. My whippet will generally use any air scent over ground scent , whilst my collie will utilise ground scent much more. Knowing this , one can utilise the environment and direction of wind to “ work “ on practising all the component parts that make a good trailing dog.

Talking with various people and reading post on different groups I found a fair amount of confusion out there. There are some that use tracking and trailing interchangeably. They are not the same. A good tracking dog can trail and still be successful. A trailing dog will track with the correct conditions. An air scenting dog may track and trail when the conditions are conducive to do so. For clarification purposes, here are some brief definitions of the three as I see it. Remember that dogs use all three of these to complete a task. It is up to the handler to determine what modalities are appropriate to use in a given situation. At a tracking trial you do not want your dog to Air Scent, but a with Tracking Search Dog, the handler may find it more expedient or necessary to allow Trailing or Airscenting.
Air Scenting is a method that the dogs use to detect the presence of an odor/scent, usually with their head up, collecting or searching for odor/scent that is present. Understanding air currents and patterns is beneficial to working this type of dog. Air Scenting dogs search by quartering fields and woodlands, clear areas to limit a search, perform water searches or human remains. Other Air Scenting endeavors include explosives, arson detection, narcotics, and wildlife detection. Gun dogs after directed send, nose work, barn hunt, and medical detection dogs also fall under Air Scenting.
A Tracking Dog follows ground scent left by a person or animal. The dog follows the footsteps in a channel about the width of the tracklayer’s shoulders. How exacting the dog is relies on the training method used. A tracking dog will work anywhere from nose directly in footsteps, as in some stylized competitions, to nose down working within a narrow path, moving along briskly with purpose. Tracking dogs are used in competition, law enforcement, search and rescue, and wildlife tracking.
A Trailing Dog follows ground and wind blown scent. Depending on air currents this dog may be exactly where someone walked to many feet away, usually down wind of the actual subject’s travel. This dog utilizes tracking, trailing, and air scenting. A reasonable understanding of air currents is necessary to read these dogs and reinforce them being close to the path travelled without an excessive amount of casting. This type of dog is used in law enforcement, search and rescue (sometimes referred to as Man Trailing, or Man Tracking), and wildlife or lost pet detecting.
There are a lot of nuances and occupations that have been left out in these definitions. In the posts on this page I keep pushing knowing where your track is. Whether you track or trail it is essential to be able to read your dog. You should be able to easily tell how close you are to the actual track by body position, head carriage, speed and quality of movement.

22/08/2024

Last night was a Back to School session at Point Blank Paintball. A lovely evening , including split trails from upper pencil bag ( or often within) and break time - options of a fruit shoot bottle , apple , Jammie dodger , or doughnut ( or rather, a small portion of doughnut as the rest was keenly eaten by the trail layer ). everyone made such appropriate choices for their dogs. We ended trailing in the dark - can’t believe it’s heading that way already !

13/08/2024

A very quiet couple of months on this page, I will be better in the future!

The last 2 months have been fun and busy, enhancing my own skills, seeing and learning from different people , trailing my own dogs, as well as running sessions. This included a trip to Hungary to spectate at an international mantrailing seminar. It was fabulous to meet a great group of people from all over Europe, all with a passion for trailing, and training for police, search and rescue , and sport.

Different organisations approach trailing in slightly different ways- for example, how they approach and offer the scent article, and do the scent inventory, their approach to intensity trails etc. I love to understand the "why" behind these approaches, and then see if they will fit in my tool kit/may be useful in the future for certain dogs.

Teaching pet dogs to trail means we have such a wide variety of dogs, much more so( I believe) than those who are training specifically for search and rescue. And some tweaks to one's approach as a Mantrailing Global certified instructor, may suit certain dogs in certain situations.

I feel very grateful to be learning all about trailing with 2 very different dogs, my collie and my whippet. Torrin has taught me all about building motivation and resilience - and that this cannot be taken for granted. He has taught me to be my dog's advocate , taking small steps instead of a giant leap, and not comparing myself on my journey to anyone else. He has done some awesome trails recently, being so transparent in his behaviour when odour is not present, yet resilient in his problem solving.

Jack has been my dog with whom I can explore different avenues and approaches, doing some fabulous trails along the way. He has challenged me in different ways - as a dog who likes to please and loves to trail, he finds it easier to choose another odour ( particularly if I don't respond to subtle negatives!) - we are still learning !

Thanks to K9 RoxStars and Jane Dalton , to Gerry Moss and , to Anna Pleban of Follow Dogs, to Fiona Leel of Canines to Discovery Dogs Wales - Scent Work & Mantrailing for a great seminar with Mònica Díaz Trias and Chris Boyd ( who I also learnt so much from in Hungary), to Mantrailing Training Center- Képzési Központ for organising a great seminar ( and Hungary is a lovely country to explore), and to Andy Tippins for a days trailing with BMA head instructor Richard Lee. ( apologies if Ive missed someone!)

So I encourage you to learn from different sources - but always be an advocate for your dog ( you are allowed to be at times confused by different approaches so long as your dog is not!). Sometimes the learning will be "interesting, but not for me" - that is just as important - the human learning equivalent of flowing negatives!

One learns so much too, by going to spectate ( and occasionally a dog drops out so one gets a trailing place too !) - if you are not sure, I strongly recommend going without your dog, and seeing if the way of teaching would suit both you and your dog.

The pictures below shows an example of previous learning history. Swimming across to an island ( the trail layer had gone in a canoe). Jack is a strong swimmer, often swimming in the river behind my house. But the river can go in spate, and I am actually very relieved to realise he does not go in and actually swim unless I throw something in! Which is the behaviour he showed on the trail. I would not want to train through that, as it is more important in his daily life he only swims when something is thrown. So, a throw of a squeaky pink pig meant he got to his trail layer! Always remember previous learning history.

And a trail where his line pull across the road was so strong and confident, working all the time.

Enjoy, and have fun everyone.