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. 

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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

A Little History of Family Disaster Dogs Training Your Dog to Rescue You

Training Your Dog to Rescue You

 A Little History of Family Disaster Dogs 

10 Year Anniversary

I started this site ten years ago when I began writing the first Family Disaster Dogs book on the night of the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami. As I sat under evacuation orders myself on the Oregon coast, I started to write these lessons with my bloodhound Daisy because it dawned on me that in major disasters and sometimes missing person cases, we have to take care of ourselves and loved ones until help arrives which can take days or weeks depending on the situation. 

As I watched the news I realized i wanted to get these valuable dog training lessons out to the public sooner than the time it takes to publish a book so I started this blog which grew into a website as I added more than 220 pages here at Family Disaster Dogs.

I kept the Family Disaster Dogs book, blog and lessons simple so the public would not feel overwhelmed having to know or learn everything Search and Rescue members must learn. Families do not have to learn as much because they are not going out to rescue others, they are learning from me and my books books how to rescue themselves and loved ones with a dog's help. 

As with most things in life, this site has grown to cover more than the Family Disaster Dogs book and lessons ideas I had ten years ago. The children's book teaches children and parents how to use the dog to find mom, dad and the child and the Evacuate with Your Dog's Help book gives everyone a long list of bug-out bag supplies, information on training a dog to help evacuate and what to expect if you have to evacuate. 

In the last ten years we have reached people all over the world and given out many Family Disaster Dog certificates for those who contact us and tell us their journey with us. Dogs of all ages, sizes and breeds are helping their families prepare for the worst.

Over the years, this all led to the newest book, Start Mantrailing, which takes me back to the beginning of my own emergency preparedness training and gives you the opportunity to learn even more about how to train a dog to find a missing person and how to advance into actual Search and Rescue work or the new sport of Mantrailing. 

Yes, now Mantrailing is gaining in popularity as a Sport too. When I started this site ten years ago Mantrailing was seldom heard of outside of K9SAR or Law Enforcement. Dog sport enthusiast  focused on Tracking events not Mantrailing which was exclusively a bloodhound discipline and much different than tracking in many ways. Now all dogs are learning what bloodhounds like my Daisy naturally do.

Mantrailing is becoming more and more common in the public dog world and on social media. With this growth I will be sharing more and more ways to train a dog to find people as well as how to prepare for disasters.

With covid19 hopefully behind us in the near future, next year 2022??? I hope to train more of you and your dogs in this useful natural nose work a dog can do to help us survive as dogs have done for thousands of years. 

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Check out the newest book here on my author page and don't forget a book is a perfect gift for the holidays. My books are Free on Kindle so everyone can read them. If you would like a signed copy let me know by emailing me or contact me on Facebook at the Family Disaster Dog page. 

Be sure to like, share and follow me on social media to help find missing persons and prepare for what I hope none of us ever have to endure..a disaster or a missing loved one.

I'm not only an author

Family Disaster Dogs is not only a book and site,, its a passion I share with you the knowledge I have gained.

a few of my dogs

I'm not one to brag, I'm more a teacher who wants readers to rest assured that this site is based on my own actual experience and not a copy of something off the internet lol ...experience I do have... 

I've been dedicated to dogs my whole life, and teaching people how to live happily with their pets since my first job in a large show and boarding kennel as a teenager. I went on to be a professional dog trainer and also a professional all breed pet and show groomer. I've owned award winning pet spas and worked with the best in the dog world. I spent over ten years volunteering in search and rescue. 15 years breeding working Bloodhounds, 30 years of German Shepherds and 10 years of rescuing as well as breeding registered Pit Bulls. I was rescuing dogs before rescuing was cool! haha I have worked at several veterinary clinics as well. 

I have personally handled thousands of dogs and cats in my long dog career, as well as owned 100's myself over the years. 

That's about it for me, how about you? Leave me comment below and tell us about your journey with dogs. 

Training my dog to find a person

At my pet spa

Reading the Dog-Variables a K9 Search Team Encounters on the Trail

 Variables a K9 Search Team Encounters on the Trail:

What are variables? 

Variables are the many different and constantly changing things a search dog comes across in the search for a person. Every kind of detection dog learns how to work in various conditions which is why we call these different conditions, "variables". Other trainer use different terms of course, but for an easy understanding I am sticking with variables. Here's why.

During training and in mock training searches. A handler has to learn how to read the dog when the various conditions (variables) and aspects of the search change or are encountered by the dog. The dog also must learn how to work the missing person's scent trail or location in the variables the dog will most likely encounter during a real search. 

For instance, a wilderness trained dog learns how to work in a natural settling while a urban search dog learns to work in pavement, cement and human made environments. Both environments affect scent very differently. 

Just think of all the different odors we humans smell in a big city compared to what we smell when we are out exploring a natural woodland or countryside. Imagine how much more our dogs smell and the different places where the odor changes. 

Watch your dogs and see how they react when they encounter a variable, a difference, when you're both out for a stroll. 

Learning and knowing how your dog behaves when they encounter variables is how you read a dog.

Here's the most common variables a K9 team will encounter on a search for a person.

Each variable is in bold print.

Surface: 

An example of surfaces are paved roadways, sidewalks, dirt, grass, woodland, water, snow, gravel, sand, indoors carpet, tile, floor, table, windowsill, etc. 

The K9 Team learns to search on different surfaces by introducing each type of surface one at a time because scent particles travel and collect differently on natural and human made surfaces. This is one reason training takes time.

Contamination: 

Every trail has contaminates and every contaminate changes with the type of surface and other variables.  Contaminants are all living beings, chemicals and natural scent particles that come in contact with the trail, trail layer or scent article. 

A few examples are animals or people who walk near and on a Trail Layer’s trail, gasoline odors, chemicals and traffic, other animal’s urine and feathers, buried bones or fur. 

Weather: 

The weather changes on a minute by minute, hour by hour, daily bases and this makes each and every step of a search for a person begin a new trail. When a slight breeze begins to blow, in the middle of training so does the scent particle begin to drift and change path. This is why Mantrailing dogs are a valuable resource for finding missing persons. 

Age of the Trail:  

Every trail ages with the passage of time, beginning at the time a person goes missing or the trail layer starts to make a “hot” or “fresh” training trail. As time passes, the person’s scent trail begins to dissipate and grow “aged” and “cold”.  If the person has been missing or hidden for under a hour the trail is considered, “hot” or fresh and as the trail ages the scent becomes “cold” and aged. 

Lost Person Behavior: 

Teams who wish to advance to active duty readiness and operational level to work actual missing person cases will benefit from studying how people behave when lost or taken against their will because the person’s behavior is a very important variable that changes and challenges a dog team’s search strategy.   

My dog and I on the trail to a hidden person

Learn to read a dog by paying attention to the dog's behavior when you encounter variables.

Learn more about training a dog to find people in my new book "Start Mantraining" Step by Step and in The "Family Disaster Dogs" book available my author page at Amazon worldwide or you can get a personally signed copy from me the author at my own store here. 

Welcome to the exciting world of Mantrailing and finding people with a dog!

Welcome to the exciting world of Mantrailing and finding people with a dog! 

Mantrailing is a K9 Search and Rescue specialty that is quickly becoming popular as a sport and recreation for all dogs to enjoy. 

Mantrailing dogs use the nose to scent discriminate one person from all other people to locate the one particular person.

A truly amazing fact about Mantrailing is how quickly most dogs’ take to this type of training and how quickly the dogs find people. Dogs love to use their nose to find people. The fun part of Mantrailing is that we follow the dog and allow the dog to lead the way! 

To Read how to Start Mantrailing, Step by Step..(click to the book's amazon page in all countries) 

You and your dog will be finding a person from the first day of training and beyond. 

The book is available worldwide and features dogs from Scotland and the USA . The link should change to your country, if not, email me to get a copy sent to you,,, contact@familydisasterdogs.com

Each training session uses a time tested and proven step by step method for solid reliable success on the trail. 

You will learn to read the dog and the dog will learn to tell you what they find. Both of you will have a great introduction to the exciting world of Mantrailing dogs.

Order Ebooks directly from me at my online book store, the author of Family Disaster Dogs book and Start Mantrailing book

Have fun with your dogs today!

A part of the book profits go to Response Rescue International to support their volunteer mission to find missing persons..

For much less than the cost of  one in-person class get the book and train to advance level !