Hereford Mantrailing

09/09/2024

My turn! Clever Jumbo!
L2 in the bag! Thank you Cotswold DOGS ❤️

07/09/2024

Woohoo! Congratulations to Soph & Maverick on passing their Level 2 Assessment this morning! 🤩

500m, 43 minute aged trail with only the hunted knowing their whereabouts.

Cool and damp with a light wind we were blessed with a bit of sniff and were able to make some great observations afterwards including the likely pull of scent downstream with the Frome where our trail layer had crossed and the impact of the wind, more obvious on the higher and exposed ground.
For anyone unfamiliar, the map shows the dog work in red and the line the trail layer took in blue. Coupled with videos and what we know about the environment we can take some educated guesses about what we saw along the way.

Finished of with a cuppa and a gossip! Thanks for the coffee Soph and super well done! 🫶🏼☺️

26/08/2024

We had a lovely session exploring the common on the outskirts of Malvern yesterday. The bracken, undulating ground and livestock coupled with a strong prevailing wind provided an interesting scent picture for the dogs, and trailing behaviour to boot.

👍 This was Pip's first session and she picked up the game beautifully. We are looking forward to seeing how Pip progresses and predict that she will be awesome!
👍 Nancy absolutely smashed her spilt trail with quite a few distractions on the way! Her handler also observed Nancy's trailing behaviour on old vs. new scent, and we are sure that this will be useful info on future trails. Top job!
👍Keelah was super motivated on her trails and found the trail layer despite being in the most distracting environment for her. Clever girl!
👍 Lucy was also very motivated today! She managed to trail past a sheep, which is no mean feat for a sheep dog! That's dedication for you! 💪
👍 Luna (one of Oksana's dogs) was trailed by Charlie. Charlie usually takes up the important role of 'support crew' in our trailing community, but yesterday got the chance to trail himself. He and Luna worked very well together as a team...perhaps a new trailing partnership is born?! 🤩

See you at the next one 😊

25/08/2024

Long trails were the order of the day at yesterday's session in Malvern with Oksana. The dogs, handlers and trail layers had to contend with persistent downpours, which certainly tested everybody's motivation. Well done to Lucy, Clifford, Ivy and Skye who managed to successfully find their trail layers on 800m trails.

Highlights:
🏆 The trail was so long that Ivy had to stop off for blackberry snacks along the way to the trail layer 🤣
🏆 Skye aced her water crossing 🌊
🏆 Clifford worked through the discomfort of prickly grass to follow his trail and find his chicken and egg reward 😋
🏆 Lucy overcame her herding instinct at the start of her trail to finish strongly in over the last 400m 💪
🏆 The muffins and hot beverages provided by Charlie were a much needed morale boost ☕🧁

In these sessions, we saw that the human part of the dog/hander team was a more significant component of the successful find. Brilliant work guys!

See you at the next one 😊

24/08/2024

Great day Clifford Dog Training home of Puppy School Gloucester!
Great to be able to deliver initial Progressions for some teams and follow ups for others.
The weather was crazy but we had a fab venue and some lovely teams to work with!
See you soon guys!

22/08/2024

⭐️ Interactive Play Workshop with Craig Olgivie! ⭐️

We have just 1 space available for on our 2 - 4pm session in Canon Frome.

Check out the link for details and snap up a space!
All welcome, you do not have to trail with us to attend. ☺️

⭐️ Learn how to create structured, consistent, positive interactive play sessions with your dog.
⭐️ Develop the ability to adjust interactive play to suit your dog as an individual.
⭐️ Understand how to implement the joy of play to fulfil your dog’s natural desires, improve relationships, build confidence and increase motivational focus.
⭐️ Build an understanding of how to avoid and overcome problems during play ie over-arousal and problematic behaviours.
⭐️ Incorporate the power of play into both behavioural and training settings.
⭐️ Learn how to problem solve when working with a variety of dogs (trail layers!)
⭐️ Take away a simple step by step system that will benefit you and your dog.

🤔 Do we truly know how to effectively play with our dogs as individuals? 🤔 How much more motivation and focus could we build in our trailing dogs by improving this skill? 🤔 As a trail layer how much could improving your play skill and evaluation of behaviour benefit the trailing dog? 🤔 A...

20/08/2024

Due to car gremlins, we were down to three for this evening's session with Oksana... but what a smashing trio they were 🤩

A quiet, semi-rural Herefordshire location was the backdrop for our trails and the mixture of surfaces and landscapes allowed us to challenge the dogs in a positive way.

🌟 Jess had a complex start, thanks to the strong wind that moved the scent around the open space. She worked through it steadily and narrowed down the direction of travel, and as she did so, her pull became stronger, which let her handler know that they were on the right track. Clever girl!
🌟 Kean bean Pepper was very motivated this evening. The strong winds didn't stop her from finding her trail layers and she coped really well with the change in surfaces in her trails. What a superstar!
🌟 Sprout darted under a gate to show his handler that the trail layer had gone in that direction and also displayed lovely proximity behaviour. He is making lovely progress in his trailing!

Brilliant trailing from the dogs and handler teams this evening! Well done, guys!

See you at the next one 😊

18/08/2024

Every trail layer knows that it’s perfectly normal to be sat on the floor against a lamppost in the middle of a car park on a Sunday evening!………goodness knows what they’re all looking at! 🙈🤣

Thanks to Oksana, my wingman, for a great session this evening! 🥰

15/08/2024

This time we found her on the loo!

14/08/2024

Trails that had transitions between soft and hard surfaces was the focus of yesterday's session at Priory Park in Malvern. The dry conditions of late meant that the dogs were seeking information from scent-rich areas and this, coupled with a strong predominant wind, made for interesting trailing behaviour.

⭐ We observed that making the scent inventory larger, to include potentially important sources of odour information, made it much easier for Willow to determine the direction of travel when starting the trail on a hard surface. She had lots of potential exits, but nailed it first time. Well done!
⭐ Echo's head knocks during her scent inventory were giving away the direction of travel of the trail layer! We also learned that when the environmental conditions are challenging, it is Echo's relative change in behaviour that allows her handler to gain confidence in the direction she is trailing. She correctly identified a road crossing to find her trail layer in a sheltered location. Awesome job team!
⭐ Oscar had no problem transitioning from grass to wood to tarmac surfaces, and sneaked up on his trail layer from behind🤣. Lovely!
⭐ This was Marta's first time trailing in a semi-rural environment and she did very well from a delayed start to find her trail layer. Later she took scent from an article that was placed on a wall and, under tough conditions, used air scent to pinpoint the location of the trail layer. Nice work!

Super interesting venue and brilliant teams on this session!

See you at the next one 😊

12/08/2024

Our littlest trail layer was mad keen to give Nancy a high find this morning!
Up early to beat the heat by meeting at 7:30. Such a great woodland session with a fab bunch of trailers!

07/08/2024

Our dogs' training is only as good as the variety of pictures that we present to them. Yet, it's not unusual for trail layers, instructors and handlers to stick to obvious paths both on and off the trails - we are creatures of habit after all. However, consistently following only obvious paths in trailing can provide a visual draw for dogs to follow, which may conflict with the scent picture. Therefore, working 'off the beaten path' provided a focus for yesterday's morning session, where the dogs and handlers practiced coming off an obvious visual path and following the scent trail into tall grass or a stand of trees.

🐾 Relative newbie Bernie had absolutely no problem finding his trail layer who was obscured by tall grass. He even surprised his handler who couldn't even see the trail layer until the last moment.
🐾 Initially, Ivy was unsure about working away from the obvious path even though her body language told us that she knew where the trail was. But with help from her handler, Ivy soon realised that it was OK to follow her nose and cross this boundary. By the end of the session, Ivy was hunting through tall and short grass to find her trail layer. Well done!
🐾 Marta was a fire cracker today and gave some lovely sit indications. She has no issues working into tall grass, but the wind threw a bit of a curve ball into the scent picture, which complicated the trail somewhat. With a small amount of help from her handler, Marta was able to pick up the trail again and home in on the trail layer who was hidden deep in the undergrowth. Clever girl!
🐾 Bailey loves to work into tall grass! She gave a brilliant demonstration of both NSI and 'on scent' trailing behaviour, which meant that her handler was able to compare and contrast this body language for future reference. Top job, Bailey!

It was a lovely session today with lots of technical elements to work through!

See you at the next one 😊

06/08/2024

⭐ Mission accomplished! ⭐ We had tired and happy dogs by the end of yesterday's session in Worcester. The venue provided many distractions and the blustery wind certainly added an extra dimension of consideration for the dogs and handlers.

⭐ Wild child Roo had her introduction to the game of Mantrailing. She absolutely loved it and by the end of the session was ignoring distractions and hunting for her trail layer! As you can see from the photographic evidence... Mantrailing 1 : Roo 😴 😆😆
⭐ Boris demonstrated that he didn't need to watch the trail layer all the way to their hiding spot. All he needed was the power of his nose. We saw some great head swings and, at times, more confident trailing behaviour. Lovely job!
⭐ Thor showed some excellent flowing negatives, which told us that he was working the scent trail left by the trail layer. In his second trail, he was also super motivated and raring to go after his intensity start. This was lovely to watch 😍
⭐ Maisie had to contend with several doggie encounters on her trails, but that didn't distract her from finding her trail layer. She worked consistently through her trails, checking areas of blown scent, eliminating potential directions of travel and honing in on her pate prize! Her handler read Maisie's trailing behaviour beautifully, too!

This was a really fun session with a great bunch of dogs and handlers!

See you at the next one 😊

04/08/2024

Cloudy skies at this morning's session were a welcome reprieve from the recent hot spell of weather. The Herefordshire countryside made for a lovely rural setting for our trails, in which we focused on building motivation for the game and having fun. The dogs certainly enjoyed themselves and were on absolutely on top form today 🔥🔥🔥

🌟 Lotta was introduced to the game. At only 7 months old, she proved herself to be a natural and was even able to work a junction! What a superstar!
🌟 Birthday boy Gus showed us that he could find his trail layer if they were hiding in a hedge, near a tree or laying down in the long grass. We observed clear and confident trailing behaviour from him today. Well done!
🌟 Lucy managed to keep working to find her trail layer even though she faced one of her biggest nemeses - the dog whistle! We are very proud of how much more resilient Lucy has become through Mantrailing.
🌟 Nelly clicked with her trail layer and was able to find him hidden deep in the ferns. She also demonstrated very confident trailing behaviour; checking and eliminating direction of travel with ease, casting herself to regain the trail in open spaces and giving her handler lovely proximity alerts!

Top job, guys!

See you at the next one 😊

01/08/2024

As we prepare ourselves for another scorcher let’s have a think about a topic which is always hot, hot, hot (no pun intended!) at this time of year. ☀️

This week we have postponed trailing sessions with it simply being far too hot to work our dogs. Trailing our dogs in the temperatures of recent days puts them at risk and it’s never worth it.

Below is dog walking temperature guide. We know it’s often frustrating when sessions are postponed but rest assured this is because we are putting dog welfare first, not because we’d rather be sunbathing……although a swimming pool and a cocktail does seem rather appealing!

There are plenty of things we can do to help keep our dogs cool, just follow the link in the comments for a few hints and tips. You’ll also find some useful info on heatstroke, the clinical signs and first aid administration in the comments too but the long and the short of it is - GET THEM WET AND GET THEM TO THE VET. 💧 🚗

Enjoy the British summer while it lasts.
Let’s keep our dogs cool & safe ❤️ 🧊 🐶

26/07/2024

There’s magic in the air!
These were delivered by owl this morning!
Anyone else had one?! 🤔

25/07/2024

Here she is again! The trail layer discovers an alfresco toilet! 😳🙈🤣

24/07/2024

Yesterday morning, Oksana was back on the Malvern common for a lovely session with two new and two experienced teams. The morning rain gave way to bright and warm sunshine, which meant that the dogs had quite different scent pictures between their first and second trails. For the newbies, the aim of the session was to consolidate understanding of the game. Whilst for the more experienced dogs, we increased the complexity of the trails by changing components at the start and during the trail.

🌟 We loved how Bernie used his nose right up until his trail layer and gave a lovely negative at a junction. Really nice work!
🌟 Rufus was a powerhouse and so, so motivated. His head swings gave away the position of the trail layer... even if they were hidden deep in the hedging and undergrowth 😆
🌟 After taking scent from a car seat, Toska gave us some beautiful demonstrations of proximity alerts to let her handler know the trail layer was near by. We also loved how Toska and her handler continued the party back to the car by playing with her rabbit toy 🐇
🌟 Poko also took scent from a car seat and followed the trail over a hard surface, across a road and over a foot bridge to find his trail layer sitting on a bench enjoying the sunshine. He even topped off the trail with a super sit indication. What a clever lad! 🏆

This was a really fun session with both established Mantrailing addicts and those in the making... 😆😆

See you at the next one 😊

23/07/2024

Let’s take a minute to say a huge thank you to Gerry Moss of Jay K9 Mantrailing for a great couple of days up with us here at Hereford Mantrailing.
As always we’ve had the best time, always lots of learning and definitely lots of smiling faces!

We’re looking forward to August 😄

22/07/2024

🤩 We had absolutely top notch trailing going on yesterday evening in Malvern🤩

Oksana was with a group of experienced dogs and handlers who had to contend with a tricky urban venue. The buildings, roads and alleyways generated interesting wind currents and this complicated the scent picture along the trail. This was coupled with a very dry hard surface to work from. Yet, these conditions provided an awesome opportunity for our handlers to really study their dogs and to practice safe line handling.

🐾 Bailey had no problem with her road crossing, but the way that her trail layer's scent pooled in a narrow alleyway meant that she had to work very hard to pinpoint the exact source. She used her nose all the way... clever girl!
🐾 Tia was on form tonight on her first true urban trail. She expertly discriminated old scent from new to make a successful find! Top job!
🐾 Foggy checked out blown scent very thoroughly at a couple of very tricky junctions. He didn't lose focus and made his finds confidently. What a good lad!
🐾 Jas was super motivated to find her trail layer!! At her starts she made sure to check all possible directions of travel before committing to the correct direction, of course! Well done, pupper!

The nature of the terrain at this venue made even the shortest trails complex...but we highly recommend it for handlers who really want to see and understand their dog's trailing behaviour when working blown scent or working into head and tail winds.

This was a great session where the dogs (and handlers) worked so hard to earn their reward! We would not be surprised if the dogs were a little sleepy when they got home 😆

See you at the next one 😊

20/07/2024

Today's session with Oksana was kindly hosted by Finchmore For Dogs and provided an opportunity for handlers to work their dogs in both woodland and exposed trails. Whether their quarry was human or canine, all the dogs were extremely motivated in the woodland and worked hard through muggy conditions. For the more experienced dogs, we also set up trails with a casting start and walking trail layers. This presented the dogs with different scent pictures - in some cases for the first time - and gave the handlers a chance to read their dog in these conditions and also learn how to help them.

⭐ Lucy had a cracking woodland trail and worked so confidently. We also found that sheep are a big distraction - even if they in the next field! It's time to make the trail layer more alluring than sheep 😂
⭐ After a gap of about a year since his introduction, Kai came on very strongly over the course of the session after we switch up his reward. He grew more and more confident and it was lovely to see.
⭐ Loki was in his element in the woodland trail and eliminated possible directions of travel with ease. A walking trail layer...no problem at all for Loki! Nettles, however, were his nemesis.
⭐ Skye gave a textbook demonstration on how to 'sit' indicate on a walking trail layer. Awesome job!
⭐ Damson and Myrtle had the hard task of following the scent of a dog over a significant distance in quite challenging terrain at times. Needless to say, both smashed their respective trails.
⭐ In his first progression session, Sprout didn't lack in motivation to find the trail layer! In his first trail, he had to find his trail layer off the beaten track...and he did it in style!

All in all, this was a really varied session in many respects. The dogs were at different stages of their trailing journey; they all had quite different styles of trailing and they all had different challenges that they needed to work through. This kept Oksana on her toes for sure!

See you at the next one for more fascinating trailing 😊

20/07/2024

Someone worked mega hard this morning! We’ve broken Bertie 😴 ❤️

16/07/2024

It’s always a pleasure to spend the morning trailing at thenestlittleverzonsfarm with delicious coffee and cake to keep us going!

We managed to dodge the rain and spent the morning building confidence and cementing foundations with some newer teams - Pepper, Story & Monty were fantastic! All highly motivated by the rewards they seek to find, it was a delight to watch these dogs and handlers grow in confidence over the session!

We worked on decoys with Ivy by planting an ‘extra’ at strategic points along her trails and we saw Cae work through some tricky areas with swirling winds to piece together the way to her trail layer.

We finished on a mixture of mini trails - some split starts, a split trail with decoy present and one super confidence building quick trail - everyone doing what was right for their dogs.

Top work! ❤️

……..and Vic got her carrot cake! 😄

13/07/2024

Trailing into the weekend on a high with pizza and a pint at The Hop Shed today! Thanks so much for having us guys! 🍻

We haven’t trailed here for a little while so it was nice to be back with 5 teams who hadn’t trailed here with us before.

Aside from the pizza, longer trails and car pick ups were on the menu today. It’s a great little spot that enables us to have an extra bit of social time at the end when the instructor can put her boots up and consume the calories she’s spent the morning burning off! 🤣

Thanks for a lovely day everyone!

Vic ✌️

12/07/2024

Did you know?

Dogs LOVE Mantrailing! They’ll even trail passed the incredibly tempting aromas of The Beefy Boys!

Here’s the evidence! A Labrador, famed for their insatiable love of food, maintaining work focus outside the world’s greatest burger joint! 😄🤣

11/07/2024

Welcome to our 4 fab new teams!
Boris, Thor, Bernie & Daff were joined by rising trailing star little Oscar to make 5 at the weekend for their Introduction to Mantrailing!

We kicked off our session by chatting through some Mantrailing theory including the fascinating and mysterious subject of scent.

Next up, it was long lines at the ready as we got to grips with line handling techniques shortly before hooking up some dogs and getting our noses down!

At this stage, one of our main objectives is to teach our dogs ‘the game’.
This means - ‘I sniff an item, I follow the trail of scent matching it and when I find that person I get a super awesome reward!
This makes me (and my owner!) want to do it again, and again, AND AGAIN!!! 🤩 The addiction is real folks! 😄

Super well done to our new teams, top job! We can’t wait to see you all again soon.

And as for little Oscar, well! We changed up his starting positions, gave him surface transitions and asked him to work a split start. He showed us some super trailing!

⭐️ Have fun with your dog & meet new friends
⭐️ Unleash their incredible nose power
⭐️ Provide an opportunity to satisfy inbuilt drives
⭐️ Why? Because a dog with a job is a happy dog ❤️

Link 🔗 in comments below to join us for a Introduction Course or drop us a DM ☺️