Andrea McHugh and rescue dog Sango enjoy an afternoon of mantrailing.

Andrea and Sango.

TOP TIP!

Wear comfortable walking gear and shoes that can cope with different terrains.

My five-year-old rescue Border Collie, Sango, is a lovely, active boy, but unfortunately his hips are not quite strong enough to cope with the pressures of jumping full-height agility obstacles.

Nevertheless, he’s a very busy dog and loves to learn, so when I saw an opportunity to do an introductory mantrailing workshop, I jumped at the chance. Mantrailing is a relatively new recreational canine activity, which teaches dog and handler to locate a ‘lost’ person, using the dog’s sense of smell. Any activity that involved a) sniffing, b) people, and c) sausages (as rewards) seemed to tick all of the boxes for Sango, so I quickly signed up!

On arrival at the venue, which was hosted by Sarah Plant from Woodland Agility in Ratby, Leicestershire, we were introduced to the five other beginner handlers in the group and our Mantrailing UK coach, Jenny Edwards. Jenny, who is based at Canine Cadence in Ilkeston, began by explaining what the three-hour session would involve and the equipment we needed. We had already been advised to bring an item of clothing such as a glove or scarf that we had worn on the journey, and to place this in a sealed plastic bag, which would be used as a scent item for our dogs to sniff.