Workshops

Would you love to do some mantrailing with your dog but don't have time to commit to weekly classes. 

Done for fun, this is sometimes referred to as Sport trailing. 

These 2 hour workshops will teach you the basics of getting your dog to search for and  track a person. 

You will need a harness and a longline ( I can loan a longline if you don't have one for the workshop) 

These can be booked as a one off or you can book as many as you want. Once you have done the complete beginners workshop you can then book onto the improvers workshops. Doing just one workshop will give you a snapshot of what it is like to have your dog search for a ‘lost” person. It takes 2 years to train a fully operational Search and Rescue dog. 

I run my courses slightly differently to some, but the outcome is the same, the dogs learn to search for a ‘lost’ person using reward based training to motivate them into searching. 

I do not ask for dogs to be left in the car whilst the others work, as some dogs find this really distressing, and not everyone has their car set up for leaving dogs in it. especially in the summer months. Instead, you will all stay together in a shady area. 

Only one dog will ever search at a time. 

There are only ever a maximum of 4 dogs in each workshop.

I want this to be as accessible to as many people as possible as it’s hugely fun and rewarding for the dogs. Dogs of all shapes and sizes can take part. 

Why not come and give it a go? 

Each 2 hour workshop costs £35 per dog 

On the beginners workshop I will go over how your dogs nose works, how incredible it is and how we start to pair using their nose to searching for a specific scent. 

 We teach the dogs how to search , building it up  by layering the trails. We create confidence in both the dog and the handler. Once you have mastered linear( straight line )  searches we start to add in turns. 

If you continue to the Improvers workshops, we build in will become longer and more complex searches, using different terrain and eventually I will go into a deep hides. I also teach crowd searches, utilising crowds (with their permission)  and walking searches. Walking searches could involve someone who has dementia or a head injury and is just wandering.  For these we teach an indication. All of the searching is done at walking pace., although the dogs will often speed up as they get near to finding me, which is a natural thing to do. 

Mantrailing workshops run monthly throughout the year in various locations normally Cheam, Banstead, Oxshott and Headley and cost £35.

Booking is easy just click on the date you wish to attend. 

This is a 2 hour workshop focussing entirely on recall. 

Recall is key to having an off lead dog and there is nothing worse than letting your dog go and then not knowing where they are or what they are up to. It's not only stressful for you but could be very dangerous for your dog.

Good training foundations are the secret to good recall, starting with focus. and engagement

We will work on several techniques to get your dog wanting to engage with you and not spend their time doing what they like in the environment. 

I also  teach the beginnings of  a STOP as part of this workshop. If you would like to train it using a whistle (recommended) please bring your whistle with you.  

Whistles that I recommend are either a 210.5 or 211.5 pitch as these will stay the same whoever blows them and can be easily replaced with exactly the same pitched whistle should you lose it. If you use another whistle and change it you would need to go through pairing the new pitch over again. 

You will be required to put some time in at home , as with any training repetition is the key to learning. All exercises will be done on a longline so your dog can't rehearse the behaviour of running off. 

Our training is reward based and designed to be fun for both you and your dog as we want you to succeed . We use both food, toys and play  to motivate your dog. 

Everything you learn in class will be sent to you as recorded videos via WhatsApp for you to refer to whenever you need to as you continue your training.. There may be times when you need to go back and top up your training especially if you have a young dog.

Each 2 hour workshop costs £35 

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