The Sport of Mantrailing Train a Dog to Find People

Welcome to 

The Sport of Mantrailing

Train a Dog to Find People

Hey everyone, 

How about a fun activity and sport to do with your dog?

Have you thought of learning how to find people with a dog? 

Pictured is my dog being rewarded for finding the boy 

Does your dog need a way to use to burn off extra energy or something to do? 

Would you like to give your dog a job to do? 

The sport of Mantrailing may be a perfect match for you.

Mantrailing ...is a search and rescue skill set that is quickly becoming popular with all dogs as a really fantastic sport to be involved in.

You and your dog learn to work together as a team .. to find a "missing person" who is well hidden from you!

Friends and family will be amazed with how fast your dog can find them.

Mantrailing is a great fun rewarding sport where dogs love showing us how well they can use their nose.

Here's my dog Mantrailing to find a hidden person

I have been writing about mantrailing for many years on this site although I have seldom mentioned the actual term of Man Trailing because I was writing to families and the public about training family dogs to find family in disasters, along with other dog skills. 

The dog training lessons in Family Disaster Dogs book train family dogs to find friends and family using Mantrailing skills and the lesson in My Puppy Can Find Me children's book uses the same principle of training a dog to find people.  

I will be posting upcoming training opportunities, workshops and seminars from different organizations and dog clubs that are welcoming the public to train with them.

Follow Family Disaster Dogs on Facebook or come back often to stay updated on events you may want to attend. 

Sign up for updates to this site using the pop up window.

Contact me at contact@familydisasterdogs.com if you want help to train your dog. I train in person, over the phone or internet

The book features actual working search and rescue dogs from North Scotland Response Rescue International and a multi-talented USA Sport Dog Champion, plus dogs I have trained. A share of sales is donated to help RRI North Scotland aid in the search for missing persons.

Click the book to see a preview

Things To Consider Before Bringing A Dog Into Your Home

If you are your family have been thinking about bringing a dog into your home, you need to have gone through everything on this list first. All of these considerations need to be taken into account before you can bring a four legged little friend into your home. If you don’t do this, you are going to end up with issues that you can’t fix, and then you are going to have to say goodbye to your dog. You aren’t going to want this to happen, and as such, you need to consider all of these things before you go and search for a puppy.

Is Your Home Ready?

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The first thing that we are going to look at is whether or not your home is ready to accommodate a dog. There needs to be enough space for it to walk around, with somewhere for it to sleep if you aren’t going to allow it to sleep on the bed. As well as this, your dog is going to need to be able to play whether it is inside the house or outside so there needs to be enough room for them to get a bit silly.

You’ve got to have enough room for them to play with their favorite toys, or else they are not going to be happy in the home. Yes, you need to take your dog on a walk, but that doesn’t mean that they are just going to head to sleep for the entire rest of the day.

Do You Have Young Children?

A lot of dogs are fine with young children, but some seem to take a disliking to them. We are not saying that if you have a young child, then you shouldn’t get a dog because this is absolutely not the case, but it does mean that you should think about it before you commit. You should also think about the size of the dog if you do decide to get one. Larger dogs tend to be more protective, but it is going to be easier for them to knock your small one over by accident. This is not 100% going to happen, and there are plenty of families with large dogs and young children, it is just something to think about.

Buy Or Rescue?

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You are then going to need to think about whether you want to buy or rescue the dog that you are getting. If you are looking for puppies for sale, then you could take a look at Chocolatelabradorretriever.ca's site.Go through these, find the one that looks like it could be the perfect addition to your new family, and then head to the location to meet it. A lot of the time, these are still going to be puppies, so make sure you remember this when they are jumping at you and full of enthusiasm.

Do You Have A Garden or Fenced Yard?

Above, we said that your dog is going to need somewhere inside to play, and while this is true, they are also going to need an outside area to play in. You cannot just count on that one hour walk that you go on every day to be enough exercise. They are going to need to run around, chase after balls and so on to make sure that they are staying fit. For this reason, you need to think about whether or not you have a garden, and if not, is the puppy going to get to run free often enough?

Who Is Going To Walk It?

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As well as this, you need to know who is going to walk it every day. Having a puppy is a big responsibility, and you need to be able to take the best care of it possible. Part of this is making sure that there is always someone around to walk the dog, once in the morning and then once again before it is time to go to bed. This will tire them out so that they have a good night of sleep, and then they will be fully rested for a new day of mischief tomorrow.

If you don’t think that there is going to be anyone who is able to look after your dog, then we do not recommend getting one. The simple reason for this is that without their daily walk, your dog's muscles can start to seize up, and then they are going to cause them pain. Seeing your dog in pain is going to be the last thing that you want, so ensure that you are taking every possible measure to get them at least one walk per day.

Can You Afford It?

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The big question is, are you going to be able to afford a puppy? Now, the reason that we are asking this is that it is not as simple as to pay a one off payment to the owner, become the owner and that’s that, no more money on the dog. Your dog is going to need food, and depending on what brand you get, this can be expensive. You then need to think about getting pet insurance in case they hurt themselves at any point. You don’t want to be standing there with a 900 bill that you can’t pay because the dog is not insured.

Further than this, you have all of the nappy sacks that you are going to need to pick up their poo. You are also going to need to think about whether or not you are going to be able to pay all of the other bills that come with having a dog. This is going to include taking them to the vet to have their immunizations done, buying them food, buying them toys and treats, and so on. There is so much stuff that you are going to have to buy and pay our for, so you need to be sure that you can afford this before you commit.

Is There Someone To Look After It?

Finally, is there going to be someone around to look after the dog all the time? Obviously, is you are going to leave the dog alone for one hour every now, and then this won’t be a huge problem, but if you are planning on going out for like three or four hours per day and not taking the dog with you, then you are going to have a big problem. Your dog will then start acting out for attention by causing havoc across your home and destroying things. To combat this, you just need to make sure that there is someone at home to look after your friend when you go out.

This doesn’t need to be someone with tonnes of experience either. If your kids are old enough, then they are going to be able to do this while they are not at school, and someone else can take over when they are. Like we said, it doesn’t necessarily matter who you leave at home, as long as the dog knows that they have not been abandoned and they are not on their own. This is going to be especially important if you have a rescue.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now know what some of the things to consider are before you bring a dog into your home. Good luck, and we hope that your new friend is everything  you hoped and more.

Book Release Family Disaster Dogs

Get the book! 

Pre-Release Special

Click Here to buy a Limited Number and Signed Copy from the Author for only $9.99

Please allow 4 weeks for shipping from the publisher to author to you! Thank you! Be Safe!

 (2018) Available on Amazon see a free preview below

visit Family Disaster Dogs   for more lessons and articles

Interesting Search Dog Facts

Did you know 1 dog equals 100 humans ?

Interesting Search Dog Facts

Did you know 1 trained search dog equals 100 trained human rescuers?

That's right one well trained search dog can cover more ground in less time then one hundred highly trained and skilled human searchers.

Plus we humans cannot use our nose to help  :)




Did you know a dog can learn to find a person who has enter a car and driven down a highway for many miles ?

Here's how,

*I am writing this in simple terms for an easier understanding as this subject is very complex.

When a person is in a car, the person's scent particles are in the air inside the car.

All cars have air vent systems that recirculate fresh air from outside of the car to the inside of the car.

When the air is recirculated the scent particles are carried out of the car and come to rest along the roadway.

A dog can find the scent particles and follow the trail of the car as easily as if the person was walking

Another Interesting Fact

My "Rea Valley's Incredible Sue" Bloodhound

Search dogs and Bloodhounds in particular will take the shortest route to a person and the way the dog goes may not be anywhere near where the subject actually walked.

How is this possible?

Here's how,

Air currents can carry a person's scent over valleys and hollows, through openings in brush or into impressions in the earth's surface as well as indoors or around a house. Wherever the wind currents can reach so can the scent particles.

A person might walk all the way around a valley or a low spot in the country side because they do not want to climb down and back up the other side and if a dog is sent to find them, the dog might cut across the valley or low spot making a straight bee line for the subject.

Or, a short cut because the person is on the other side, much closer actually to the dog as the fresh scent is coming to the dog across the way or as the crow flies.

One More Great Fact

The fresher the scent the faster a dog will work when trailing or tracking ( yes there is a difference read about it on the tracking page). The closer they get the more excited the dogs are because the scent is fresher, closer and more enticing.


Happy Trails, Amber & Family Disaster Dogs  

Sign up for more interesting search dog facts and information at the new site where I will be posting search dog stories and dog training tips ! 


Click to go to Familydisasterdogs.net

Area Search Basics : Lesson 24

Air Scenting

Area Search and Detection Dogs

Area search, air scenting and detection dogs all have the same job. The dog smells the air for any trace of the scent they are seeking instead of following the scent foot steps or trail like a tracking or trailing dog.

When a dog is doing an area search for human scent and they are not given a scent article or individual scent to follow they will find every and any human scent in the area.

Air scenting detection dogs work by elimination of the discovery of scent in that area. Most air scenting dogs are trained to find one scent and a few are crossed trained in two or more scents.

Air scenting dogs who find people are detecting any live human scent in the area and not any one individual scent while a cadaver dog finds a person’s body after the person has passed away.

Drug dogs, bomb dogs and bug detection dogs are dogs that are trained to find that specific scent or odor. All these dogs are air scenting or scanning the area with their nose to find the scent they specialize in.

Avalanche dogs are trained to work in snow and harsh conditions. A good avalanche dog is cross trained to find both live and expired human scent. The training is basically the same, only the scent and location changes.

Airport dogs are trained to deal with the noise and activity in an airport while seeking the scent they specialize in while a rural tracking dog trains in a country setting and an urban dog trains in the city.

The family dog does not need to find bombs or drugs and in the event of a disaster, your dog will most likely be working at your house. Therefore, family disaster dog training will be done using live person scent and most lessons can be done at your house or location.

If you wish to cross train your dog to find live and cadaver scent, each on a separate command then you will follow the area search lesson to train both. First train for one scent and after that specialty is mastered, train for the next scent.

Do not train for 2 scents at once or your dog will become confused.


I highly recommend reading the pervious lessons for the best understanding of search dog fundamentals and to learn how to read your dog before you attempt to train a dog as a detection dog or area search dog.

Reading your dog’s indications and clues during a search are vital to finding a person quickly and safely.

When your dog is doing an area search and air scenting, your dog is usually working off a leash and may be a distance away from you in order to cover more ground in less amount of time.

Let’s face it, we humans cannot keep up with our four legged friend off a leash when they are hot on a trail or scent.

A dog can cover more ground and area in minutes then we can in days.

100 men doing a line search equal 1 Bloodhound or area search dog working the same amount of area.

Air scenting and tracking are a whole science of themselves that can be a very interesting study for those who want to learn more.

Certified Search Dog Akiela and her son, Chaos 2005

Bulls Shoals Lake Arkansas

The lessons here at Family Disaster Dogs are tailored for the family dog and owner so they can save themselves in the event that rescuers cannot reach them.

In other words, these online lessons are prepared with the novice in mind. The lessons would be much more technical if I were teaching you to be a call out ready SAR team.

Those of you who would like to learn more can use the contact page to receive more information.

The lessons here are for pets and owners to know how to save themselves and loved ones.

The lessons are simple without being set in stone for perfection because I trust your dog will love to help you in an emergency.

These lessons are effective if used like any other emergency exercise or drill and preparation.

These lessons are similar to learning what to do in an earthquake, fire or tornado but you will be practicing the exercise with your dog by your side.

All you do is incorporate these dog training lessons into the emergency plan you have for home, car and work.

Coming up: Step by Step How to train your dog to air scent.

Advancing in Training-Lesson 22

Advancing in Training

After you have reached the point in training where your dog is able to find a person (helper) or trail layer as outlined in lessons 3 and up then you are ready to advance in training by planning courses as outlined in the pervious lessons and aging the course in the next lesson. 

If you can play hide and seek with your dog then it is time to plan a course, either inside or outside and let the course age without interference and then work your dog to learn how your dog acts in the event of a person being missing for hours or in a scene of a lot of contamination after a building collapse. 

At this point of training your dog has been finding a helper who has walked away and hid from you and your dog. You can give your dog the person’s scent and your dog goes looking for them on or off a leash with you following your dog to the person for a happy time.

You are working on learning to read and teach indicating and alerts. You have learned how to read your dog to the point of understanding there is much more to read and learn from your dog.

You know your dog is always right.

Willie is right!

You are working with your dog once to three times a week on how to find a lost person and adding new skills as you go along. You are thinking ahead to when your dog will be doing more skills. You look forward to learning and working with your dog on these skills.

Now you are ready to advance and will do so by making the person harder to find using planning the courses, aging the course as you learn other skills, such as teaching your dog to return to you after making a find or bringing you the first aid kit in case you are trapped. These lessons or skills will be added into your sessions when you work on these courses now that you are ready to advance.

Some of you have been working with your family dogs off leash and others have been working with their dogs on a leash. This is what makes family dogs multi purpose and you can take a look at the standards for search dogs that I am posting next to see which classification or type of search dog your training your family dog to be. 

The main difference between a Tracking Dog in comparison to an Area Search or Air Scenting Dog is that the tracking dog works on a leash and the air scenting area search dog works off a leash. 

If you are working with your dog off leash then you will set up courses indoors or outdoors the same as you do for working a tracking dog. The only difference is you turn one dog loose and not the other dog loose. One dog you have to stay with on the leash while the other dog you can follow further away. 

The size of the area can be a room or fenced yard; you can use boxes, furniture and anything as course to make a puzzle for your dog to work out. Children can hide under blankets in another room while your dog goes out to potty and when your dog comes in you can ask your dog to find your children, make it fun and you just did a lesson in search dog skills. 

Get creative building and planning your course but never make it so difficult you yourself are not safe traveling it.

Now that your dog have the general idea, you can run and hide from your dog any time the opportunity presents itself.  

Make it fun!

Remember most disasters and missing person events happen at home or nearby which makes your family dog the best resource for helping you and your home and neighborhood the best training grounds.

Roadside parks make good training areas
if you make sure your
dog can not reach the highway

Feel free to ask questions by emailing Amber if you need any help.