Welcome to Mantrailing Lancashire
Led by Alex Berry, our team brings over two decades of professional experience in canine instruction and behaviour, ensuring your dog receives expert and highly committed guidance.
Our core mission is dedicated to providing bespoke, effective, and profoundly enriching training solutions through specialised Scentwork and Mantrailing.
The Inspiration: Adaptive Training
Our dedication to resilient and adaptive training is constantly tested and refined by our own pack of four dogs, predominantly Terriers and Terrier crosses. Their inherent drive and enthusiastic, occasionally opinionated, nature serve as the ultimate proving ground for our training and practices. They require a flexible approach; what works for one may not work for the next. Their enthusiasm, their tendency toward selective deafness, and their sheer attitude necessitate a constant need to think outside the box, a critical skill that directly benefits all of our clients and their dogs!
A Bespoke Solution for Every Dog
The foundation of our specialisation in Scentwork and Mantrailing stems from navigating the complexities of owning a reactive dog. We understand the isolating challenges that arise when conventional training classes are unsuitable and the landscape of advice can feel overwhelming.
We quickly identified Scentwork as an exceptional activity for enhancing a dog's confidence and focus. It offers a quiet, accessible form of high value enrichment, perfectly suited for sensitive, anxious, or reactive canines, as all work is conducted individually and requires little, to no equipment. This portability and self-paced progress makes it a truly therapeutic tool. Following our qualification as a Scentwork Instructor in 2018, we then embraced Mantrailing.
Mantrailing builds upon these principles by forging a profound working partnership between dog and handler. It is an inclusive sport, adaptable for any age, breed, or physical ability (human or canine) and can be conducted in diverse locations and weather conditions. This makes it an ideal, low-impact, high-engagement activity for virtually any dog. Our achievement as a Mantrailing UK Instructor in 2019 solidified our commitment to bringing these extraordinary activities to the wider dog community.
Our Professional Methodology
Our methodology is strictly force-free and exclusively reward-based, utilising a diverse spectrum of effective motivators, including high-value food and play.
We maintain a relentless pursuit of excellence through rigorous professional development. We have travelled extensively to offer workshops, completed numerous qualifications and assessments, and regularly undertake extensive Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to ensure our instruction is founded on the most current behavioural science.
Professional Qualifications
IMDT Learning, Motivation and Reinforcement - Level 3 - 2017
UK Sniffer Dogs Bronze Instructor - October 2018
Mantrailing UK Instructor - July 2019
Scentwork UK Instructor - August 2020
Mantrailing UK Assessor - November 2020
Canine Principles - Settling Through Scentwork For Highly Aroused Dogs - July 2022
Canine Principles - Noses For Nature - February 2023
Kennel Club Obedience Judge - October 2023
School Of Canine Science - Scent For Six - January 2024
Advanced Canine First Aid - September 2020 & September 2024
Further qualifications in Canine Hoopers, First Aid, and Canine Coaching Foundations also held.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Highlights
International Bloodhound Training Institute Mantrailing Seminar - November 2021
Canine Principles - Predation Substitute Training - February 2023
Canine Principles - Clicking For Resilience - February 2023
Regular Obedience workshops (Jo Hill, Jessica Lewis) from 2019 to Present
Canine Principles - Emotional Intelligence and Mindfulness - November 2023
Extensive CPD is also completed annually.
We invite you to follow Mantrailing Lancashire on Facebook and Instagram to stay up-to-date on our latest training sessions, offers, and workshops!