How did I get started in mantrailing?

My name is Rhi and I am one of the instructors with Taff Trailers.

I am a Head Instructor for Mantrailing Global and I spend most of my time teaching pet dogs and their owners how to mantrail - which is the sport of teaching a dog to follow a scent trail to find a hidden person!

However I started in the sport myself as an owner of a little dog named Flossy.

Flossy is a rescue dog, and came to me from the RSPCA kennels .

I was a new dog owner, and had visions of long walks in the park with Flossy and other dog owners, trips to the pub and the market and playing on the beach, and even getting involved with the dog sports like Agility, Flyball and Rally that I had seen at Crufts.

But after a few months living with Flossy, I realised there was a problem. Flossy was highly reactive towards other dogs, and nervous of some new people.

We couldn't do those walls in busy parks. We couldn't do those runs on the beach.

We couldn't do agility or Flyball classes, because Flossy couldn't cope with being around the other dogs.

We tried a few classes, but either ended up being asked to leave , or quitting because the environment was just too stressful.

I won't lie, I found life with Flossy challenging at times.

We were working on her issues 1 to 1, but It was lonely and isolating, and I felt excluded from a lot of the things "normal" dog owners take for granted.

But then, we saw an advert for Mantrailing.

I knew Flossy loved to follow trails with her nose, and I knew that sniffing activities were good for dogs struggling with reactivity.

Assured by Lisa our instructor, that Flossy would be the only dog trailing at any one time, and that her particular needs would be accommodated for, I tentatively booked on.

At my first session, I immediately made connections with other people in the group that were struggling with more complex dogs.

I felt like I was in a safe space, with other people that "got" what owning a complex dog was like.

Flossy herself, had a wonderful time. The dogs were worked 1 at a time so she never had to get too close to another dog, and It was so great to see her learning to do something that she clearly loved.

From that point, I was totally hooked on Mantrailing.

Over the next few months I would regularly attend mantrailing sessions all over the local area, and built a friendship group with the other mantrailers.

I finally didn't feel so isolated!

Flossy flourished, and became really confident approaching new people - and even trailed past other dogs in the environment - while she was working, her reactivity was so much better!

I finally felt like I had the relationship and bond with my dog that I had hoped for when I first adopted her, and she was happier and more fulfilled having an outlet for her natural instincts.

We were finally a real team.

I loved mantrailing so much that I decided to train as an instructor.

And now, 7 years later, I teach dozens of dogs and their owners a week, many with more complex needs, how to become awesome trailing teams.

Interested in joining us? We are always welcoming new people and dogs : find an introduction session here!:

(Make sure you select an introduction first - once you've attended an intro you can book on to any other session you want!)