Mantrailing
Mantrailing is a canine sport of tracking and air scenting in order to find a missing person.​
Every person gives off their own unique scent. As we go about our day, tiny particles - like skin cells, hormones, bacteria and sweat - constantly fall from our bodies. These scent particles drift through the air, move with the wind, sit on surfaces, and eventually settle onto the environment around us.
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In mantrailing, we start by giving the dog a scent article that belongs to the person they’ll be searching for. Once the dog has taken in that scent, they use the trail left behind to track and locate the specific individual.
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Although scent tracking is a vital skill used by search and rescue teams, police, and military forces, it’s also incredibly accessible as a hobby. Mantrailing offers a brilliant way to give dogs mental stimulation, build confidence and work as a team.
Getting Started:
Book onto one of our introductory workshops or foundation courses to start off - the intro workshops are 3 hours & we go through line skills, introduction to scent & start you and your dog off with some super fun, easy trails!
Following this, you can then join our WhatsApp group and come along to any of our trail sessions to build upon your skills. Session locations will vary with some woodland and some urban areas as we progress and want to challenge you and your dog more and more!
The 3 hour Beginners Workshop is £75
Mantrailing Foundation Course is £145
Mantrailing Masters Course is £185
Individual trail sessions following are 2 hours and £30 per session
What you will need to bring:
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A comfortable harness for your dog to pull (no Julius K9 harnesses or no pull harnesses please)
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A longline (5-10m is good)
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Your dogs flat collar
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A scent article in a zip locked bag (a t-shirt, glove, hat, sock, etc, that smells like you)
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4x Tupperware containers containing your dogs FAVOURITE food - usually wet food is good or cat food.
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Normal dog treats
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Water & a dog bowl for when your dog is resting in the car.
Upcoming Workshop Dates:
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Tuesday 30th June 6pm-8:30pm - Brede High Woods, Broad Oak, Rye​
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Summer Trail Club
Mantrailing Foundation Course
On our 4 week Introductory course at Bedgebury Pinetum & Forest, you will learn to trail in fields, woodlands and across tarmac and more urban environment all rolled into 1 course. We aim to introduce different surfaces and trailing experiences throughout this course so your dog learns how to interpret scent and work through challenges. From building up the game of trailing to finding confidence in the trail, this foundation course gives you a solid step into the world of mantrailing.
NEXT COURSE DATE: Tuesday 8th September at 11:30am - 1:30pm (4 week course)
(USE CODE "AUG26" and book before the 20th August to get a 15% discount)
Mantrailing Masters Course
With a solid understanding of the game, there are then many elements we need to start to proof to become mantrailing masters. These include trail age, contamination of scent, length & complexity of trail as well as decoys and non-obvious scent article starts. This is all build up so that your dog has reliability in the game and you are able to understand their body language to do double blind trails - where neither you nor your dog has seen or knows where the person has gone and therefor you (or I) cannot influence the dogs interpretation of scent and you are fully reliant on your training and your dogs nose to find the person.
(Please note, you must have either completed the mantrailing foundation course to be able to join the Masters course or have completed at leave 4 individual trail sessions & your dog must have a good understanding of the game)
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Our next course will start on Saturday 3rd October 2026 9am - 11am
(USE CODE "AUG26" and book before the 20th August to get a 15% discount)
Are you someone who loves dogs & loves to be out in nature but don't own a dog yourself? Well you can apply to hide for our mantrailing groups! We always need a variety of scents for our dogs to search for and if you're happy to be sniffed out by some very excited (and sometimes very large) dogs then please feel free to enquire.
(You must be 18 or older or have parental permission to partake)
Find out what your dog is capable of!
And join a lovely community of dog owners who want to do more with their dogs, spend days out in nature and have fun in the wonderful sport or mantrailing. Join our WhatsApp group & come trail with us
