Always follow your nose: Mantrailer

Hanover. Dogs are not only people's best friends, they can often also help us in special ways in everyday life, both emotionally and practically. With a series on various assistance and rescue dogs, Agila Pet Insurance would like to honor these special animals and the services they provide. The third part of this series deals with so-called mantrailing, one of the most difficult and demanding methods of searching for people with dogs. Mantrailers always look for a very specific person based only on their individual smell. Agila was training for the rescue dog team (RHS) Main-Kinzig of the Federal Association of Rescue Dogs eV.

Saturday morning, 10 a.m. The meeting point for RHS Main-Kinzig training is the forest car park behind the sports grounds in Hanau-Steinheim. It is dry, relatively warm and occasionally the sun even peeks through the clouds. Today 'Ivy' is starting her first mantrailing exercise. The Old German Shepherd dog looks curiously from her box in the car at the preparations for the exercise. Diana, also a member of RHS Main-Kinzig, plays the “missing person”. She rubs a cloth on her neck to get as many odor particles from herself into it as possible. But it is also enough to simply touch the odorous object briefly, it could also be a stone or a pair of glasses. The cloth is sealed in a jar to prevent it from being contaminated by other people, and dog handler Leonie is given it as a scent item for 'Ivy'. Diana runs into the forest and hides.

BRH rescue dog squad Main-KinzigFinally 'Ivy' is allowed out of her box. The dog will be taken to where the missing person was last seen. The odor article is held out to the dog to sniff and the search begins. “At the beginning of the operation, the Mantrailer has to master one of the most difficult tasks in this type of person search,” explains Doris Schröder, trainer at RHS Main-Kinzig. “He must make it clear in which direction the missing person ran. If she wasn't at the viewing point at all, the four-legged friend has to report it to the handler with a so-called negative. Most animals do this by sitting down.”

Another difficulty right at the start of the search is people who have contaminated the odorous article, for example investigating police officers or nursing staff in a retirement home. Very often, older people are sought out of care facilities. If the odorous article has already been contaminated, the police officer or carer in question must stand nearby when they smell the dog so that the four-legged friend can immediately rule them out as a missing person.

'Ivy' hasn't been given such tasks yet; she only started her training with her owner Leonie last year. Today, the three-year-old dog impressively proves that she is suitable as a mantrailer. Dog handler Leonie puts the trail harness on 'Ivy' at the starting point of the search, putting the dog into work mode. 'Ivy' briefly sniffs the scent article in the jar containing Diana's scent, shakes herself and immediately lowers her nose to the ground. She follows the trail without any problems. At intersections, it also briefly checks other junctions, but then corrects itself every time after a few meters and chooses the correct one. In no time, Diana is found and 'Ivy' gets her reward. Leonie is extremely proud of her four-legged friend: “She did really well. A lot of people walk their dogs here and so there are lots of exciting smells along the way, but 'Ivy' searched with concentration and didn't allow herself to be distracted.” Distractions are lurking practically everywhere for the dogs. Ignoring them is one of the most difficult tasks for animals. The exercises during training are designed accordingly.

BRH rescue dog squad Main-KinzigNow it's 'Pegasus' turn. The six-year-old Magyar Vizsla has been in the squadron for four years. The exercise routine for 'Pegasus' is the same as for 'Ivy', but this time there is a so-called temptation that is right on the trail. Her name is Sabrina and she is also a member of the squadron. When searching, 'Pegasus' has to pass her. He must not allow himself to be tempted to report her and stop the search. And he doesn't do that either: he just sniffs her briefly, rules her out as a missing person and continues following the trail to his destination.

For theBRH rescue dog squad Main-Kinzig In the second part of today's training session, the group moves from the forest to the city, i.e. from green to gray in the technical jargon of mantrailing training. The level of difficulty is increased because the dogs now have to follow the trail through doors and elevators, for example. In addition, there are of course numerous temptations in the city in the form of people, other dogs or traffic. All three dogs, 'Arya', a German Wirehaired Pointer, 'Marley', a mixed breed who has previously worked as an area search dog, and 'Diego', a Vizslador, complete the task brilliantly. Instructor Doris Schröder: “The three all have a strong hunting sense, German Wirehaired Pointer and Vizslador are originally hunting dogs and 'Marley' is also likely to have one in the family tree. They also need the hunting instinct, because mantrailing is nothing more than a hunt, but not for game, but for people.

BRH rescue dog squad Main-Kinzig“The term “mantrailing” is made up of the words “man” for “human” and “trail” for “pursue”. The search method, which comes from the USA, was originally used to track down runaway slaves. Later, dogs were used to track down criminals or missing people. However, the hunting instinct alone is not enough to become a good mantrailer. The dog should also have stamina, be mentally resilient and friendly to people, and generally enjoy working. But the most important condition is the sense of smell. Dogs with very short noses are therefore less suitable, although they naturally smell much better than humans. A dog has well over 200 million olfactory cells, while humans only have around five million. This superior olfactory ability of quadrupeds allows them to detect and track tiny odor particles, even over long distances and under difficult conditions. In addition, human detection dogs can sniff out a scent trail days later.

If the basic requirements are met, the animals and their handlers still have a long way to go to become a trained mantrailer. The training lasts around three to five years, is very diverse and at the end there are three difficult practical tests and screening by the police. “The training takes place three times a week, summer and winter. Above all, dog handlers must learn to interpret the signals of their four-legged friends and react accordingly. They observe the dogs' tails, ears and posture and learn to read what they want to tell us. In addition, all dog handlers must complete training as search team assistants with the Federal Association of Rescue Dogs. This includes the use of maps, compass, GPS and radio as well as first aid courses, debris knowledge and operational tactics. We finance all of this ourselves, it's all voluntary. But it’s definitely worth it,” says Doris Schröder, describing her motivation for mantrailing. “It’s a wonderful feeling when the dog finds a missing person and possibly saves them.”

Series on assistance and rescue dogs: