Passive Help in Mantrailing

In Mantrailing, one of the hardest skills to learn as a handler is knowing when to help your dog and when to stay out of the way.

We want to support our dogs when they're struggling. After all, we don't want them to become frustrated, lose confidence or lose motivation.

This is where passive help can be a valuable tool for your Mantrailing toolbox.

Used correctly, it can support your dog through a difficult moment and help them recover the trail. But if you're using it too often, it could be a sign that there's a problem with your training.

What Is Passive Help in Mantrailing?

Passive help is a form of support we can offer to a dog while trailing.

It involves the handler walking backwards along the trail, in the direction of travel taken by the Trail Layer, with the dog.

By moving back along the trail, the dog has the opportunity to access the scent information again and potentially recover the trail without you actively telling them where to go.

Instead, you're giving your dog the opportunity to access the information they need and make the decision for themselves.

Why Would You Use Passive Help?

Passive help can be useful when a dog is genuinely struggling and needs a little support.

For example, you might use it:

• To prevent the dog from becoming stuck for too long and losing confidence or motivation.

• To help the dog recover the trail.

• To encourage the dog to move past distractions and re-engage with the trail.

• To build confidence by showing the dog that they can recover the trail, even after struggling.
  

That last point is particularly important.

Dogs need opportunities to learn that struggling doesn't mean the trail is over. Sometimes they lose the trail, sometimes they make the wrong decision, sometimes they need to go back and gather more information.

When they're given the opportunity to recover and continue successfully, they can learn something really valuable: 'Even if I struggle, I can find the trail again.'

How to Use Passive Help

Passive help should be carried out with intention and can only be performed if you know where the trail goes.

If you decide your dog genuinely needs this support, the process looks like this:

Don't Rush Into Passive Help

This is where handlers can easily get caught out. Your dog hesitates, they stop and appear unsure or distracted, and immediately, you want to help.

But hesitation doesn't always mean your dog needs help, sometimes they simply need time to think.

Before stepping in, give your dog the opportunity to process the information available to them and make a decision first.

They may check one direction, come back, investigate another area, pause, then suddenly make a decision and continue. That's completely normal while they are making decisions on a trail.

If we rush in with passive help every time a dog appears uncertain, they may never get the opportunity to develop their own problem-solving skills.

Don't confuse struggling with thinking, because sometimes, what looks like a dog getting struggling, is actually a dog working.

Passive Help Is a Tool, Not a Training exercise

Passive help has an important place in Mantrailing training. Used at the right time, it can give a struggling dog the support they need to recover, continue and build confidence. It should not be something you use regularly. It's a tool to get out of your Mantrailing toolbox when you need it and should not be a standard part of every trail.

If you're finding that you need to use passive help frequently, it's worth taking a step back and asking why...

• Are the trails too difficult for your dog's current level of experience?

• Have they been given enough opportunities to develop independent problem-solving skills?

• What is it that the dog is struggling with?

• Are you progressing too quickly?

Because repeatedly using passive help doesn't solve a training problem, it can simply help you recover a trail, and those are two very different things.

If you regularly need to use passive help, there's a good chance you're setting the trails too hard for your dog. The answer isn't to keep helping your dog, it may be to revisit your training plan.

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