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Man Trailing

3K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  ECIN 
#1 ·
Does anyone do man trailing with their doberdog?

Zeus is taking beginner's agility classes once a week with an awesome trainer here in the Albuquerque area, and she does a lot of different classes both in person and online. I've taken/am taking her online Brain Games and Tricks courses, and recently signed up for Outdoor Focus and her newest class, Loose Leash Walking (piggybacking on what I learned from the Fenzi Webinar!)

Today during our in person class, I mentioned working on Zeus's focus when outdoors (hence Outdoor Focus course) and she asked if we'd be interested in trying Man Trailing. I've seen what it was previously on her webpage, and she informed me that it'd help Zeus practice focusing on a scent outside, and he'd learn that if he gets distracted by the any and everything that tends to distract him, he'll lose the scent. So over time, he should be able to focus more on his task at hand. It seems like fun, and we'd be doing so out in the Sandia Mountains and other outdoorsy areas.

Any insight? Do your dogs enjoy man trailing, if they've ever tried?

Website for those interested: Man Trailing with Spirit Dog Training
 
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#2 ·
That looks super fun!

It's a type of scentwork - tracking people :) I'd totally sign up for that if it was offered around here. Scentwork is incredibly tiring for dogs (WIN!), and I adore scentwork. I say try it! Why not? If you don't enjoy it, you can always stop. But I find that allowing my dogs to use their noses has been SOOOOO beneficial to them and is, by far, the sport I enjoy most!
 
#7 ·
@LadyDi, lol!

I signed Zeus up. Classes start in September and I can't wait! He needs a harness so I'm on the lookout for one. One of the other ladies who's taken the class said she has one that her dog outgrew that might fit Zeus, so we're going to try it on at our next agility class on Saturday. (Her dog is in the Intermediate Agility class that's right before mine). I'm excited! I swear, between agility, obedience class, therapy training, tricks, brain games, outdoor focus classes, and now man trailing, Zeus is the busiest dog I know. .. Which is probably why he sleeps so well, woohoo!
 
#11 ·
Today was our first man trailing class! First lesson I learned: WEAR BUG REPELLANT! Ugh ... I can't stand bugs of any type, and for whatever reason I didn't think to spray repellant on before we went out there. Oh well! Other than the various buzzing creatures all up in my face, I had a great time. Zeus had an AWESOME time! It was his first time in the woods, and he was excited to smell all the woodland creature smells. But even so, when it was time to find either me or my husband (granted, "hiding" was a term used loosely on this very first lesson. The first times we were pretty much in plain sight!) he was ready to work! He loooooves playing hide and seek with us in the house, and this I'm sure was a superior version of that for him. After a few easy "in sight" hides, we tried out using treats (hot dogs in our case) to make a trail to our out-of-view location. Our trainer was impressed with how much Zeus actually used his nose. She commented a lot of dogs, on their first try, usually don't get it. But Zeus is a smarty pants doberman! I can't wait to see how he progresses with this. So glad I signed him up! I didn't get any pictures of the actual trailing part (since either one of us were either hiding or holding his lead) but I snapped a few when it was the other dogs' turns to find their people.

Zeus, Mr. Photogenic-When-He-Wants-To-Be
20190906_185302 by Crystal Robinson, on Flickr

Mantrailing1 by Crystal Robinson, on Flickr

20190906_185356 by Crystal Robinson, on Flickr

20190906_185259 by Crystal Robinson, on Flickr
 
#15 ·
Really nice photos! I love all the stuff you're doing with him.
 
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