Trailblazers Activity Dogs

13/09/2025

On Wednesday the weather definitely turned, and we had wind and rain to contend with on the evening trailing session. 🌬️ 🌧️

The four teams did really well though, Team Goldie completed their first scent article start, Team Rommie was confident and driven and did really well with surface transitions and ignored the back trails, Team Labrador completed a 450m trail - her longest trail yet, and Team Springer completed their first delayed start. They all did so well 👏🏼

12/09/2025

On Sunday we had an unexpected mini heatwave that lasted for the duration of our trailing session before turning lovely and cool almost the minute we finished 🤷🏻‍♀️ so we had to adjust our plans and make the most of the shade rather than do any urban trails or longer trails.

It was an interesting session with a wide variety of abilities, from the first session after their intro for Team Labrador, and first session trailing “in the wild” for Team Cattle Dog, to very experienced Team Boxers with the other two teams sitting somewhere in between.

Split trails, first scent article starts, and junctions were all made to look very easy by the dogs, who had a great time working through the challenges and distractions that the venue offered, and did really well.

10/09/2025

We had chance to work on lots of gate indications on this session, with the dogs all nicely checking out the other options before indicating on the gate and waiting patiently to be let through to continue the trail.

We also worked on back trails and decoys on walking finds.

06/09/2025

It definitely feels like autumn 🍂 has arrived now, and on Thursday we had our first evening session of the season that required head torches 🔦 as we lost the light towards the and of the session.

Very nice work from all the teams though as we worked on longer trails and split trails. Well done everyone 😊

03/09/2025

On Friday morning we treated 5 teams to longer trails, trails across the open ground, and transitions from rural to urban. Lots of great decisions, and lots of progress made.

03/09/2025

Last night we introduced two new teams to trailing, and they were fabulous!

Both of them got the game on the first trail, and had a super time sniffing out their trail layer.

Both dogs can be anxious and unsure around certain things, but both of their owners have put such a lot of work in with them and worked with some brilliant trainers to build their confidence. We’re hoping that trailing is going to help build their confidence and resilience even more, as we know it can do.

Looking forward to seeing these little guys progress 🤩

02/09/2025

We had two great sessions at Normanby Hall Country Park last week with a variety of teams.

We’ve really enjoyed trailing there in the evenings this summer, and we’re looking forward to seeing it during the day during the winter for some special long trail sessions. It’s a venue that offers a lot in the way of junctions, surface transitions, and lots of scent movement, and really tests the dogs and the handlers.

Last week’s sessions were a lot of fun, with the dogs being at very different stages in their training. We worked on so much, and there were some really great trails completed.

26/08/2025

Happy

Unfortunately we cancelled our trailing session tonight due to the forecast for hot weather, only for it to cool down to perfect trailing conditions 🙄 It means we’ve got an evening off to spend relaxing with our own dogs, anyway.

Here’s a picture of our old boy, Fate, chilling out and looking very comfy! He’s nearly 14 years old now, and not in the best of health, so it’s nice to just hang out with him and make sure he’s happy and got everything he needs.

What have you been up to with your dogs today? Chilling out inside hiding from the sun? Or have you managed to make the most of the cooler, breezy evening?

Show us some photos of your dogs ⬇️

26/08/2025

At Trailblazers we don’t stereotype dogs, or breeds/types, and we would encourage everyone to come and have a go at a scent based activity and see for themselves how talented their dogs really are, regardless of size or breed.

With 30yrs of experience working in animal rescue, and 25yrs of being a dog trainer, there aren’t many breeds and types that I haven’t come across and worked with in some capacity over the years.

I’ll admit that I am also more than a little dog obsessed and love to find out everything I can about the different breeds, what they were originally made up from, what they were originally bred for, and what traits that might give them.

This knowledge helps me understand what they *might* like, dislike, potentially struggle with, and how we can work with them to get the best out of them, more importantly, so THEY get the best out of any training session/activity.

Although breed/type can give you a good idea of the dog and how they may behave, we will never stop seeing the dogs in front of us as the wonderful individuals that they are.

We change and tweak things accordingly to make sure that what we’re doing is appropriate for that particular dog. We ensure that all the dogs are highly motivated to participate in whatever we’re doing with them, and that they’re having the best fun doing it.

We understand that many dogs may have struggles in the life they’ve been born into as it’s often not really what they have been bred for over the years, and that for many dogs being given a “job” like trailing or scent detection can massively improve their quality of life - and therefore their behaviour and the way they react to the world.

We’re also big believers that EVERY dog massively benefits from the opportunity to use their nose and their brain. Dogs who have enriched lives, have the chance to behave more naturally, and are allowed to sniff and follow scent are more resilient and more content.

So whether you have a Dachshund, or a Dalmatian, a Shih Tzu or a Shepherd, a Cockerpoo or a Collie, a Rommie rescue or a Rottweiler, and any breed or type in between, we’d be happy to have you join our sessions. Pop us a message if you’d like to find out more.

We’d love to meet your dogs, really get to know them, and we’d love you to be able to see them really come into their own, thrive, and be fabulous!

23/08/2025

Yesterday morning we concentrated on transitions on the trails from rural to urban and enclosed into open ground.

Lots of lovely decisions made by the dogs, some great handling by the people, and we discovered a new quiet residential area to trail into from the venue.

22/08/2025

Another lovely evening spent trailing in beautiful surroundings, having fun with our dogs, working on junctions, open space, walking finds, and most of all enjoying how amazing the dogs really are.

22/08/2025

This lovely young lad is being kindly fostered with one of our trailers.

Unfortunately he’s had a diagnosis of hip and elbow dysplasia so will need a home where he’ll be carefully managed and given extra care.

He is, despite his diagnosis, still a young Labrador who will need lots of mental stimulation to keep him happy and fulfilled - especially as he may not be able to do an awful lot of exercise.

If he ends up going to anyone local to the North Lincs area I’m happy to give him a free introductory session to trailing, tracking, and scent detection to get him started, and discounted sessions after that to make sure he gets chance to do a job that’s appropriate to his fitness level.

He just really needs to find the perfect home with someone who can manage a 6 mth old Labrador, his ongoing care, and will give him an amazing life and make sure he’s mentally fulfilled.

Please tell anyone you know who may be the perfect home all about him. He deserves all the good things.

So it wasn’t the best news for PABLO 😢🖤 … his X-Rays confirmed the worries that Pablo does have hip dysplasia, but that he also has elbow dysplasia too 🖤

…. which ultimately means that his home options are narrowed down 🖤 …. But the positive is, we know what we are dealing with now, so we can make sure that he gets all that he needs to live a fantastic, fulfilled life, which he absolutely can 🖤

He has already started on pain relief, joint supplements, and will be starting physio and hydrotherapy (referred via his vet) 🖤

Pablo is very much a 6 month old Labrador whose main loves in life are FOOD 🤤 and WATER 💦 He is super social, adores other dogs, is super intelligent, has a lot of basic training already in place 🖤 he does need a confident, experienced owner in a child free home, as he can turn into a not so little land shark when he has his moments 🦈 and he would thrive with an activity/something to ‘do’ to keep his mind busy 🖤

We are looking for that needle in a haystack home for Pablo who ideally have previous relevant experience and have the time to give him what he needs 🖤 He’s a very special boy who’s already stolen a lot of hearts and we’re hopeful that there’s that special someone out there who can give him his dream life 🖤