Mantrailing Tuesday Tip answers a common dog training question

My Sam and Gus 

One of the most common questions dog trainers hear is  how much time and how often should a dog be worked during training? 

Here’s my answer and what most seasoned instructors will say…

Copyright Amber Higgins 

Washee and me mantrailing 

All photos copyright Amber Higgins

Professionally working with dogs since 1976

       Mantrailing since 1997

             Writing about dogs since 2011

                      First published in 1990 newspapers 

       Retired to write and spend time with my dogs 2019

                             Stay calm and carry on ! 

Mantrailing Bloodhound History

Bloodhound History

My Sammy 1 yr old Bloodhound Mantrailer
all rights reserved Amber Higgins

Not long ago, the bloodhound was the only breed in the USA that was a Mantrailing dog. Which is a trailing type of hunting dog that is used for find living human beings who are on the move and not animals.

A Mantrailing dog follows the person's scent as the person moves and leaves a trail of scent. The dogs will go anywhere the person or scent has gone until the end of the trail or they find the person. Many times the person may no longer be living but the bloodhound will find the body because of the scent trail the person created. If a recently deceased body is moved the bloodhound will continue to follow the scent.

Other breeds are and were known as tracking dogs. And, the bloodhound was the only breed of dog that was allowed to be used to prove a person’s identity in a court of law.

Photo by A. Higgins all rights reserved

The phrase Mantrailing was first used by bloodhound handlers because the breed was used to trail people. Over time training standards and methods developed to be used to train newcomers how-to handle the breed. In the past, the breed was rarely only a pet and not long ago there were not many breeders across the USA, we as breeders either worked to find missing persons or to preserve the breed in the show ring. The breed was then considered a rare breed.

Here in America, the breed was first used to find runaway criminals and yes, runaway slaves back when the breed came with our founding fathers to build the USA. When Search and Rescue became an organized volunteer effort, the bloodhound and other breeds were used as search dogs.

Today in the USA, the incredible nose and stamina of the bloodhound continues to be used for “Mantrailing” with police and trained volunteer Search and Rescue teams.

In the last decade the breed has become more popular as a pet, although they are difficult to train in obedience and manners, and often are called stubborn because of the determination that has been bred into the breed to continue on a trail to find a missing person.

They really are not stubborn but very willing to please when they are not following their nose which they often do constantly because a good mantrailing dog is bred to do just that.

Photo A. Higgins-all rights reserved

Pictured above is my bloodhound Gus who I rescued last year after him and brother Sam were abandoned during very cold weather. They are young and still growing in these pictures

The bloodhound will follow a scent off a high mountain rock wall, up a train track even with a train coming at them because they are so focused on the scent its as if they are wearing blinders blocking out the surroundings.

The breed gets lost easily which is rather ironic because they find person but will get lost themselves. For this reason it’s always recommended to keep them leashed because once they find a scent they like to follow, away they go and many do not back track and find their way home. They will run for miles and finally when they stop they do not know where they are.

The name bloodhound is often thought to be given to the breed because they track or follow a blood trail. This is not true. The dogs are actually named a bloodhound because they were one of the first breeds of dogs that had a pedigree, Therefore it was a blue blooded hound or purebred.

The bloodhound was originally bred in a monastery in Belgium for over 700 years and the monks kept a pedigree of the dogs they bred, those dogs were called Saint Herbert Hounds. Back then the dogs were solid white. 

When explorers and travelers found the monastery, the monks would often give a pair of hounds to the travelers to take back to their own countries.

Consequently, the white hounds were considered quite sacred coming from the monks. When the dogs arrived in the other countries they were bred with local hounds and they lost their white coats. Slowly over time the breed became black and tans, liver and red in color. They also became known as the Bloodhound because they were a pure blooded hound.

If you would like to learn more about mantrailing, have a look at my books on the book page, I hope you enjoyed this post.

Happy trails to you in the new year, 

Amber Higgins

Founder and author of Family Disaster Dogs

About Family Disaster Dogs

Click above to preview the Family Disaster Dogs book

The Family Disaster Dogs books,  website and social media give dog owners a way to learn how-to prepare for disasters with pets by offering online posts and lessons that encourage the training of family dogs to assist in disasters and how-to use a dog to find people who may go missing. 

Visitors worldwide browse over 260 blog posts of dog care and training at familydisasterdogs.com where books, courses and emergency resource lists are available and regularly updated with new content.

Family Disaster Dogs has a huge following of furbaby households and global emergency response teams who frequent the site for information on current natural disaster events, dog training and preparedness for floods, hurricanes, tornados, evacuation and wildfires.

Author, Amber Higgins' work was first published in the 1990's offline newspapers and magazines. She has over thirty years experience in the pet industry and dog breeding. With fifteen years devoted to volunteer K9 Search and Rescue with her Bloodhounds and German Shepherd dogs. The books are available on the Amazon's distributor network in paperback, kindle and audible everywhere. She lives with her wolf and two bloodhounds.

The Books

Family Disaster Dogs

Evacuate with Your Dog's Help (Includes Evacuation Supply List, Pet CPR)

My Puppy Can Find Me children's book

Start Mantrailing Step by Step

A Squirrel Planted an Acorn ( A short story about nature)

Click to visit Amber's author page

New Audible Book Coming Soon-Start Mantrailing Train a Dog to Find People

 Here's the News!

New Audible Book Release

December 2022  

A Great Gift in time for Christmas 2022 !

This book is training dogs around the world to find people and now everyone will be able to listen to the step by step lessons on a phone while in the field working the dog with the Audible book.

 If you have ever thought wanted to find a fun outdoor activity to do with your dogs or get involved in finding missing persons with a dog this book is for you! Already training and working scent dogs or Search dogs? This book will help you get started or possibly learn a few skills to hone your dog's skills.

This book is tailored to all breeds of dogs, all ages and sizes of pups can learn to find people. Amaze your friends and family with how fast and easy your dog can find them! You and your dog will be finding a hidden person the very first day when you follow the easy step by step instructions and pictures. 

You can learn about K9SAR and what it takes to be a Search and Rescue dog team that is called out to find lost and missing persons or you can just have a fun sport to do with your dogs.

The book Cover dog Amber with her handler are a members of RRI No. Scotland

The book features pictures of American and UK mantrailing teams 

Below is USA Mantrailing Team Bella working a hot trail after a person

Have a listen to the sample preview of the Family Disaster Dog book at audible for no cost to hear how the book will sound on your device at this link to the Family Disaster Dogs audio book. 

 Here's my author page where you can hear all my books  

 

 

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click to See and buy the paperback and e-books directly from me at the book shop page

Have a Great Dog Day!

Coming soon to Family Disaster Dogs Online-weekly posts to Train a Dog to Find People

 Hey everyone, 

Here's hoping your 2022 is off to a great start!

Over the next couple of  months I will be posting weekly about how to start training a dog to find people for the fun of it, for sport and for search dog work.

The upcoming posts will be a great way to have a fun activity to do with your dogs! 

Plus, friends and family will be amazed at how quickly your dog can find them !

Some dogs need an activity that helps them to destress and relax just like people do. The upcoming posts will give you and your dog a great way to do just that!

Reactive dog? Hyper Dog? The skills you'll learn are a great way to redirect that energy in a safer calm controlled situation. 

Here's my dog and I getting ready to track a hidden person down!

Copyright A.Higgins

Did you know there are dog sports that use the skills search and rescue dogs do? 

In the sport of K9SAR, dog and owner/handler teams practice and have fun finding hidden people with a dog. Here's a cool site to learn more about the sport which is slowly gaining interest in the USA and much more popular overseas. If you would like to get involved in the sport, feel free to contact me. I can help you train and participate. 

All breeds and age of dogs are welcome.  

Mainly though, I will be posting because with the increase in natural disasters we are seeing worldwide I want to help everyone learn an easy way to find family or friends in the event anyone was to go missing.  

Also I want to encourage and help anyone interested in learning how to volunteer for Search and Rescue get started. 

Although the posts will give everyone a fun way to spend time with dogs, family and friends additionally, those who wish to advance into dog sports and search dog work will learn how to get started. 

Let's have some fun this year, and follow our dogs!

Be sure to sign up for the newsletter and upcoming posts at the pop-up window. (reload page for pop up). Feel free to use the contact page above in the page menu to learn more. You can find Family Disaster Dogs on Facebook with a simple search to follow, like the page and join the group.

Stay safe out there,

Amber

Founder and author of Family Disaster Dogs

Water your dog for the Best Scenting Abilities

How does watering your dog affects the scenting abilities? 

JR is Daisy's son and he sure knows how to cool off!
Great Search Dog too! Thank you JR for saving lives.

A dog's nose is wet by nature and dogs can dehydrate just like us humans on very ht days. Dogs do overheat and have heatstroke so when the weather is hot the best thing to do for a dog that is working a scent is to wait until the cooler part of the day.

As the dog gets warm while working in the hot part of the day the nose gets drier inside which will naturally make taking in and absorbing the scent particles more difficult for a dog. 

Pay close attention to the dogs nose when working in hot or extremely cold weather and when the nose looks dry water the dog. 

Many dogs will put the whole muzzle down under the water, Bloodhounds always do this trick to wet the inside of the nose too. They do this as they lap up water. Wetting inside and outside of the mouth and nose so that they do not dehydrate.

Read more about how a dogs nose works at Family Disaster Dogs Home

Willie knows how to cool off! 

Have a great summer everyone!

Remember do not leave pets or children in cars this summer!

Starting a Bloodhound and any Dog on Scent-Trailing

Starting a Bloodhound on a Scent-Trailing Overview

Search and Rescue Dogs are trained to search for people three different ways; air scenting, tracking or trailing.

There is a big difference in the way the dogs work the scent which is why Bloodhounds are called "Mantrailers" and other breeds are not.

Read more about Scent Articles- How a Dog Follows Its Nose

In this article, we are going to begin with basic trailing, the easiest way  to learn with your family dog.

Trailing is what Bloodhounds do because they follow the scent as the scent moves around and with the person. Other breeds "track" not "trail" a person by following the footstep scent or direct path of the person.

When a dog is using a "Scent Article" to search for a missing person or item then the handler must give the scent to the dog or let the dog have a smell of it. There is more about scent articles on the scent article page.

Here are photos showing the steps of giving scent to a five month old Bloodhound puppy named Sambo.

First I put him in his tracking harness and leash, notice how good he sits there...(click for lessons page)

Then I ask him to take a smell of the inside of the bag that is holding the scent article.

I hold the bag with the article under his nose and saying "Smell" He investigates, of course.

I then say " go Find" and off we go! Only 5 months old and look at him go!
 I follow him.

Notice the long leash is thrown out behind the handler so the handler( me) does not get caught in the leash. This is very  Important ! Otherwise you and your dog can be injured.

The handler only holds the leash lightly and held high so the dog can be allowed to work without any pulling or directions or tension from the handler.

As the dog moves forward the handler lets the leash slip through the right hand and uses the left hand to move the leash forward or throw the leash behind and pull the leash in... if the dog comes backwards.

When the handler goes to the dog, the handler will throw the leash behind her with the left hand which pulls the leash through her right hand to avoid getting tangled in the long tracking lead.

Once a handler gets the idea then the dog is reeled in or out almost like fishing.

It helps to hook the long leash onto a child or person and have them pretend to be a dog while you learn to work the leash. This type of leash work can be tricky at first with a dog so it is best for you to get the hang of how to handle the leash before your dog learns how.

Click  Page BUTTONS  at the Bottom of Page or 
ON THE RIGHT for the more free Lessons
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Click here to go my Amazon author page and get free preview of the 

"Family Disaster Dogs" 
(print copy available via contact page above)
and 
"How-to Evacuate with Pets " 
books

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Coming soon

"My Puppy Can Find Me "
children picture book

by Amber Higgins
Based on the Family Disaster Dogs book and lessons

with 
UK  Cartoonist
Helen "Scotty" King

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twitter the author at @URDogCanRescueU

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Scent Articles for Dog to Find Missing Family Members

Prepare to find loved ones with your dog ahead of time 

by gathering scent articles.

Blue Boy Homer
by A.Higgins

One of the easiest ways to find a lost person is to give a dog the person's scent and watch him find the scent. 

The dog is only looking for the smell and not for the actual person. 

The dog dose not necessarily associate the scent with the person unless the person is somebody they know with that scent. 

To a dog, a scent is a scent.

Therefore, the fastest and surest way to teach or ask a dog to find a person is to use the person's scent to show them who we seek and no two people smell alike. Everybody smells different and we smell different at various times during the day or if we are sick.

To teach your dog to search for a lost or missing family member or friend you have to prepare first by gathering a "scent article".  Click to Read more about Scent and how a dog follows its nose.

It is wise to gather one sock from each person you love or do not want to lose before you start training your family pet and to store these as instructed below for later use in training sessions or if a loved one is lost.

Also you can collect a item from each family pet as well, a old collar or brush would do. Store this item as outlined below use it as a scent article for a dog to find the missing pet

  For now and for training;

       Place one dirty sock from each family member in a one freezer bag each sock. Do Not Mix or touch the sock to anything, only the bag, use a hanger or stick to pick it up.

Warning:

DO NOT touch the sock yourself, have the person drop the sock from their foot to a new brown paper bag (lunch bag size) or a plastic freezer bag ( zip lock natural non chemical bag is best).

You will learn more about scent article collection at a scene in other articles.

This is the most important part of using a search dog. 

Do Not Contaminate that sock.

Reminder, Do Not Put 2 socks from different people together, each sock gets its own bag.

Store sock in the freezer until a few minutes before use.

This is called the "Scent Article"

The “scent article” tells your dog who they are looking for.

Handle with Care.

Keep one for each family member for use if a disaster ever strikes.

Amber and Bo getting ready to train to find a Lost Person.

Bo was 5 months old at the time of this picture in 2001. 

He later went to volunteer in California and then Georgia with his half sister Sambo. 

Side note: 

As a parent I use to remind my teenagers if they stayed out to late or ran away from home, the dogs could find them...smile and ya know,,,it worked too,,, wink to other parents, mine are all grown now.

Get all the lessons in the Family Disaster Dogs Books

Click the book cover below for a Free Copy and preview

If you would like a signed printed copy from the author use the contact form or sign up for new lessons, articles and events at www.familydisasterdogs.com 

Learn to Train your Pet Dog to Rescue You!

Did you know a family dog can come to your aid during a disaster?


One of our biggest fears and chores during a disaster is losing or finding a loved one.


Every dog has the ability to find its family members or friends.


Dogs do this on their own everyday without us noticing.


So, let's pay attention and "Follow your Dog ! "

 Free lessons are posted here so you can practice 
with your family pet 

and 
learn how to save your family, neighbors 
and friends in a disaster.


You and your dog will learn How To

Find a Missing Person in rubble, woods or city settings

Prepare for Emergency

Dog Backpacking for Disaster

Other Dog Tricks for Assisting in Emergencies. 

Get the books

Click for Free Preview

Human Scent and Fear from a Dog's Point of View

The Scent of Fear or Panic

Human Scent and Fear from a Dog's Point of View

by Amber Higgins

An excellent working Bloodhound getting credit for his work in Florida, from my Incredible Sue and Homer Bloodlines

Search Dog Handlers have long known that each emotion in a person produces different scents or pheromones (detectable chemical substances) that our dogs are able to detect and follow. Prison Dogs are known to be able to detect a criminal who fears getting caught in a crowd of people who are not afraid and Area Search dogs are able to find lost subjects by smelling panic in the air because a person who is lost soon becomes disorientated, confused and panics, if they are trained for these panic pheromones.

Qualified K9 Trainers can purchase different synthetic scent or pheromones from chemical laboratories that manufacture scents and chemicals for perfume, medical drugs and research companies. Access to these chemicals is not allowed to the public because of the danger of some of the available chemicals.

A 2011 study published in Science magazine showed that tears act as a chemo signal or a chemical substance detectable by others. Not only did men who sniffed tears (which were brought on by negative emotions) find photographs of women’s faces less attractive, the men also reported that they were less sexually aroused, and the scientific data backed it up.

Not only are dogs able to detect different emotions and scents but also people can unconsciously detect whether someone is stressed or scared by smelling a chemical pheromone released in their sweat, according to researchers who have investigated the underarm secretions of petrified skydivers.

This is very interesting and explains why some dogs react to people who are afraid of them and also helps the dog handler to read the dog better through understanding how emotions affect scent.


Click here to read the article in The Guardian 

Pictured below is Bloodhound Search Dog Lilly and her owner/handler Tammy; about 2002

Lilly came to Family Disaster Dogs author's Arkansas kennel as a older dog
from Pam Andrew's well known Florida SAR BH Kennel, after a few years
Lilly went to live with Tammy so Lilly could teach Tammy mantrailing, our dogs do teach us.
Tammy also took home one of the author's Wrinkledpups Bloodhounds, Burt.
The three of them went on to be very successful team...

The newspaper article above is about how Burt and Lilly were Tammy's first Bloodhounds and on their first search after months of training the dogs trailed a missing elderly couple from a parked car in a wooded area to a vacant cabin in the woods. Nothing or nobody was found until the second try or restart when the dogs worked the trail right back to the cabin and refused to leave the cabin. Lilly laid on the old sofa then on the floor next to it, restless and pawing like to make herself a bed, circling to lay down then Burt would stare at a wall and lay there refusing to leave. Tammy called me for advice and I realized the dogs knew more then the eyes could see and advised her to look under the cabin floor and in the walls for evidence to the whereabouts of the missing couple.

The dogs were right, like they always are. The police upon opening up the floor and walls found the bodies of the couple who had been missing for months. It was an incredible and horrible discovery and closed a very well known case. Thanks to the dogs and Tammy dedication.

Never under estimate a dog's nose, especially a Bloodhound.

Below is great article I thought you might find interesting about a how a dog’s nose should be cared for and why the nose is so effective in tracking down odors.

On the Whole Dog Journal Page, Dr. Randy Kidd, DVM, PhD explains “The dog’s nose may be his most powerful organ and it is certainly one of the most dynamic of all animal systems, with activities that range from basic smell detection, to sensing fear, to memory, to emotions, to mate-and pack-selection, on to a genetic history carried from one generation to the next.

Fortunately, disease does not often way lay its functional capability, and fortunately again, most of the diseases of the nose are easily treated naturally.

You can read more of the article by clicking this Link 

Some of my dogs who are related to those in the pictures above; 3 Pictured below were certified SAR

A few of my Wrinkledpups Dogs from 1997-2013

Rea Valley's Incredible Sue 1996-2007
Foundation Dam of Wrinkledpups
Certified Expert Level Mantrailer
active duty 1998-2005

Wrinkledpups Daisy Mayham 2000-2013
She helped write the book

More reading

Teach your dog to find you in the

Family Disaster Dogs book

Tracking Dog: Theory & Methods K9 Scent Training: A Manual for Training Your Identification, 

Tracking and Detection Dog (K9 Professional Training Series)

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.