Tracking, Trailing & Mantrailing
Different ways of following human scent... but are they really that different?
Tracking, trailing and mantrailing all involve a dog working out where a person has gone. The differences are how the exercise is structured, what we place emphasis on and what we are ultimately asking the dog to achieve. As humans, we naturally want to put things into boxes, but dogs are not like us, and they are the experts when it comes to scent.
With this in mind, at Shire Scentwork we don't follow one particular format or training system. We draw from different tracking and trailing strategies depending on the dog, the handler and what their goals are.
Dogs are encouraged to use their natural abilities, while we shape the exercise to build the skills that particular team needs.
What's the difference?
The boundaries aren't always as neat as the names suggest. These terms are useful for describing different ways of structuring the task, but dogs don't stick to one style of scenting while they are problem solving, so it all comes down to how we ask the question.
More emphasis on the route and accuracy.
Tracking generally asks the dog to work the route a person has travelled more closely. We can break the task down and work on individual elements such as starts, lines, turns, articles, surface changes, junctions, and other individual elements developing accuracy and concentration as the work progresses.
Mantrailing
Follow an individual's scent to locate them.
Mantrailing centres around following the scent of a specific person and locating that person at the end of the trail. The dog can use the scent information available to them as they work, while the length, age, environment and complexity of the trail can develop with the team.
Trailing
A flexible approach.
Trailing gives us room to combine different tracking and trailing strategies rather than following one fixed format. We can change how an exercise is structured, what happens along the route or at the end, adjusting the balance to suit the team and their goals.Â
These aren't three boxes your dog has to fit into. They're different tools we can draw from as your training develops.
Getting Started
New to tracking and trailing?
Start here.
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Our Introduction to Trailing sessions give you the practical skills and understanding you need before joining our regular sessions.
We'll introduce how trailing works, equipment and line handling, your role as the handler, and how to read and support your dog while allowing them to work the scent picture.
The introduction is for you as the handler, rather than something every dog you train needs to complete. Your dog will have the opportunity to try a couple of trails, but the main focus of the session is the human part of the team: making sure you understand the theory, how the exercises are set up and what your role is before you clip your dog onto a longline.
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Dogs already know how to use scent. We're the ones putting parameters around the task, so it's important that we understand what we're asking them to do and set it up clearly.Â
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The good news is that you only need to complete the introduction once. If you have several dogs you'd like to get involved, you can then book regular sessions with any of them as we always tailor the individual trails to the dog.Â
After your introduction, you can book in to any of our trailing club sessions.Â
Club Sessions
Tracking or mantrailing.
Different focus. One developing toolkit.
Once you've completed an Introduction to Trailing, with us or elsewhere, you can join any of our regular Tracking or Mantrailing Club sessions with any of your dogs.
Sessions are labelled Tracking or Mantrailing so you know what the main focus will be. Mantrailing sessions centre around the more traditional mantrailing task of following an individual's scent trail and locating the person at the end. Tracking sessions place greater emphasis on building value in the trail itself, developing accuracy and helping dogs learn where they need to work to find productive sources of scent.
But the two don't exist in isolation - even at club sessions.Â
We don't follow one fixed format or expect every dog to work in the same way. We draw from different tracking and trailing strategies depending on the team in front of us and what we're trying to develop. Tracking can be particularly useful for building clarity and confidence, developing more detailed work and adding another set of skills to a mantrailing dog's repertoire.Â
As those skills develop, the boundaries become less important. We can, and often do, incorporate tracking elements into Mantrailing sessions, and vice versa, giving dogs opportunities to draw on their whole toolkit as the scent problem changes.
The session label tells you the focus so you know what to expect, but we will always work with and adjust for the team in front of us.
One-to-One Tracking
Individual training,
built around what you want to work on.
One-to-one sessions give us the freedom to focus entirely on you and your dog, choosing the exercises, location and environment around what you want to develop.
We can work on anything from getting started with a new dog to particular elements such as starts, turns, articles, surface changes, junctions, ageing, line handling, accuracy or how your dog approaches a particular scent problem. We can focus closely on one thing or work across several different skills within the same session.
One-to-one sessions focus on tracking exercises rather than traditional mantrailing. That allows us to focus on skills that strengthen your dog's trailing abilities and confidence.
If you have more than one dog, you're welcome to work multiple dogs within the session, with the training adapted to each.
Not sure where to start?
If you're completely new to tracking and trailing, an Introduction to Trailing is your starting point.
If you already have experience but aren't sure which session would be most useful, tell us a little about what you and your dog have done so far and what you'd like to work on. We'll help you decide where to start.