Curious to find out more about mantrailing with your dog? Check out our FAQ - or view as PDF

Dogs learn to track trails made by humans in both natural and urban settings. This sport uses dogs' natural instincts to sniff and track. The dog leads the human with a long leash.

Mantrailing is an enriching and challenging exercise for dogs which is both physical and mentally tiring. While trailing, the dogs are in charge of figuring out the puzzle and making decisions, these kinds of sports are great to increase confidence and problem-solving skills.

When you’re trying something new you don’t want to buy all the new gear right off the bat so here is the bare minimum you will need. For mantrailing you do also need a long leash (10-30ft) but you can always borrow one.

• Dog

  • Harness

  • Multiple high value rewards

• Yourself

  • Boots and weather appropriate clothing (open footwear, shorts, etc not recommended)

  • Anything for your dog to wait in the car safely

  • Scent article (CLEAN handkerchief, socks, hair band, glove, whatever) 

High value for YOUR dog- something they LOVE and go CRAZY for. Make sure you have multiple rewards you can give for each trail your dog will run, they are working hard and deserve to be paid! 

Examples

• Small pieces of hot dog, cheese, steak, lunch meats, meat balls

• Something to lick like peanut butter, dog wet food, yogurt combined with some delicious smelling things

• The Very Best Ball Ever

• Tug toys

New dogs are started off with short “fire” trails where they see a person run away who “hides” in plain view. Every time the dog finds the person they will be rewarded. As they start to understand the game the trails become more difficult. 

This is a team effort, can’t do mantrailing by yourself! We take turns handling our own dogs and being the runner for a different dog-handler team. While dogs are not trailing they should be kept in the car safely. 

• Harness (Y-harness preferred) that you only use for mantrailing (context cues for dogs)

• Long leash (30ft)

• Gloves if your dog is a puller  (e.g. garden gloves)

• Multiple high value rewards

Sniffing and solving odor-puzzles is a natural activity for dogs. Most- if not all- dogs of all breeds and mixes can learn to mantrail. Some may need accommodations based on physical or behavioral traits. If that is the case please reach out to discuss info@nosewise-training.com 

No one can force a dog to trail- They are the ones in charge! At Nosewise we value welfare over obedience so if a dog shows they can’t/don’t want to we will always err on the side of caution and ask to not continue.

Making changes to the environment (private sessions or a location they are familiar with) or experimenting with different rewards can go a long way to help dogs.

No, at Nosewise we are not credentialed for SAR and we do not train SAR teams. If you are interested in SAR we are happy to refer you. Our focus is mantrailing for fun- going out and doing fun stuff with our dogs. 

All dogs are welcome! Mantrailing especially tends to be a great activity for these dogs as it is a combination of using their natural instincts and they are in the lead which helps with confidence and problem solving. 

We do need to make sure all dogs are still able to have a good time and we give the dogs that need it the space they need. For some dogs it may be better to start with private sessions. Please reach out and we can chat!  info@nosewise-training.com 

Depends on the individual circumstances, so please reach out for advice beforehand. info@nosewise-training.com 

Recommend to start with private sessions and modifying the regular trails to what the dog is comfortable with.

When mantrailing dogs are in the lead! You’ll need a good long leash to be able to give them the space to figure out the trail puzzle. There are many different types of materials for these leashes, here’s a rundown with some pros and cons.

• Leather

  • Expensive

  • Needs regular maintenance

  • Good grippy-ness - Our personal favorite even though it’s a pain :P 

• Biothane

  • Gets slippery when wet

  • Easy to clean

• Fabric like nylon, rope, etc

  • Possible rope burn

  • Gets heavy when wet

• Fabric with rubber webbing

  • Non-slip

  • Gets heavy when wet

Mantrailing

• Looking for humans by whatever means works for the dog

Scent Article

• An object with your scent on it– Like a clean handkerchief that you’ve had in your pocket for a while. Dogs will sniff this object before they start.

Runner

• Also called the “trail layer” they are the human who has gone “missing” and your dog will have to find.