Oracle Dogs

10/08/2025

There's a couple of spaces available due to cancellations. The next one probably won't be until October.

The next Mantrailing Introduction will take place on Saturday 16th August and is available to book now at bookwhen.com/oracledogs

Come and try the fastest growing dog sport in Ireland with an experienced, dual certified instructor. I was the first qualified instructor in Connacht and have been trailing my own dogs since 2021.

I currently have over 40 dogs trailing regularly with me and their handlers come from not just Co Mayo but also Galway, Sligo, Roscommon and even further afield. Some have been Mantrailing with me for over 2 years.

What is Mantrailing? It is a Scentwork activity and is sometimes described as search and rescue for pet dogs or hide and seek. Your dog will learn how to use it's nose to find a hidden person by following their unique scent trail to find them. It is the perfect outlet for active or working breeds and even builds confidence in timid dogs. Dogs work one at a time and don't need any previous training or obedience to be able to take part

Unlike some other Mantrailing providers I always do full days with components and progression every time. Once you have completed an Introduction you will have the ability to set up basic trails for your own dog or as most people do you can join us to progress through Level 1 (rural) and Level 2 (urban) to Advanced (dates for these are advertised internally through our private Facebook Group and WhatsApp). While the Intro and Levels are done locally we sometimes venture a bit further afield for Advanced.

Mantrailing with Oracle Dogs is fun not just for the dogs but also for their people with many making new friends along the way. We had our first social night recently and are planning on making this a regular feature.

Book now at bookwhen.com/OracleDogs and start your Mantrailing journey the Oracle Dogs way!

08/08/2025

Here's something interesting that I stumbled across today.

In a 2024 study, researchers exposed dogs to scents from stressed vs. relaxed humans while testing their optimism levels.

Dogs smelling stress odours became more pessimistic, expecting disappointment rather than rewards.

This only happened with stress scents, not relaxed ones.

This shows us that stress can be airborne.

The saying "stress travels down the lead" is only half true, our dogs actually smell chemical signals when we are stressed.

In the test, stressed human scents made dogs less confident about approaching new situations, potentially impacting their learning.

Therefore self care is dog care.

It would be much better to sit and do a 10 minute self reflection, calming our own nervous system than it would be to push on through the day, when we are disregulated.

Managing our own stress directly helps our dog's emotional state and ability to learn.

When we are relaxed, we're creating a better training environment.

We must consider not only what our dogs can see and hear, but also what they can smell.

Stress is part of life, but now we know that we not only need to take care of ourselves for our own sake, but also for the sake of our beautiful dogs.

I explained this in much more detail in my reader support group, you can join that by purchasing from my bookstore.

07/08/2025

01/08/2025

The next Mantrailing Introduction will take place on Saturday 16th August and is available to book now at bookwhen.com/oracledogs

Come and try the fastest growing dog sport in Ireland with an experienced, dual certified instructor. I was the first qualified instructor in Connacht and have been trailing my own dogs since 2021.

I currently have over 40 dogs trailing regularly with me and their handlers come from not just Co Mayo but also Galway, Sligo, Roscommon and even further afield. Some have been Mantrailing with me for over 2 years.

What is Mantrailing? It is a Scentwork activity and is sometimes described as search and rescue for pet dogs or hide and seek. Your dog will learn how to use it's nose to find a hidden person by following their unique scent trail to find them. It is the perfect outlet for active or working breeds and even builds confidence in timid dogs. Dogs work one at a time and don't need any previous training or obedience to be able to take part

Unlike some other Mantrailing providers I always do full days with components and progression every time. Once you have completed an Introduction you will have the ability to set up basic trails for your own dog or as most people do you can join us to progress through Level 1 (rural) and Level 2 (urban) to Advanced (dates for these are advertised internally through our private Facebook Group and WhatsApp). While the Intro and Levels are done locally we sometimes venture a bit further afield for Advanced.

Mantrailing with Oracle Dogs is fun not just for the dogs but also for their people with many making new friends along the way. We had our first social night recently and are planning on making this a regular feature.

Book now at bookwhen.com/OracleDogs and start your Mantrailing journey the Oracle Dogs way!

25/07/2025

Today I had a 1:1 with the lovely Teddy teaching her the foundations for a good recall as well as some sniffly games and "touch'. She took a while to warm to me but I got kisses in the end before she left so I think she enjoyed it. She definitely had fun exploring the training field chasing butterflies, rolling on who knows what (nothing that we could see) and even doing zoomies. She has a great nose and lots of sniffly potential and is a very pretty girl so I just had to take a photo.

20/07/2025

Congratulations to Vinnie and his dogs Kyra and Brunel who completed Level 1 Mantrailing today.