Rewarding our Mantrailing Dog

The runner rewarding a small dog after being found

When our dogs reach the hidden person, the runner, they are rewarded for their efforts. It's part of the reason they love the 'game'. With most dogs, this is a food reward and is shared by hand with the dog, feeding directly from the reward pot.

With so many different dogs trying mantrailing for the first time, it's no surprise that one of the most common questions asked is 'how much food and what type should be used as a reward.

With time, people trailing their dogs find the balance between reward, motivation, and not over-feeding.

It's Not Just Food when Mantrailing!

Whilst many dogs are food-motivated, this isn't always the case. For this reason, it's important to reward the trailing dog with whatever motivates them. For play-motivated dogs, this might mean game time with their handler — it's all about the dog. That said, even a typically toy-motivated breed such as a Border Collie still often loves their food as well. The expert view is that, due to dogs' natural survival instincts, the majority are food-motivated, so there may be other factors at play for dogs that have low interest in food. For this reason, our reward is mostly a high-value food reward.

High-Value Rewards

So if we are rewarding our dogs with high-value food, what should we look for?

• Allergies — as a handler, you should know your dog. So, you should clearly be sympathetic to any known allergies. In practice, this means you should not try out new foods with allergen potential for your first time trailing.

• Your dog's taste — it varies, and whilst high protein food types are likely to appeal to most dogs, your own dog might be more inclined towards one than another. This may simply be the result of their ready access to particular food groups.

• Scarcity — relatively standard treats that are rare may be higher in value to a dog. Think of how many times someone else's treats are more exciting than your own, even if yours are 'better'. For this reason, it can be good to reserve a treat type exclusively for trailing so they only get this amazing reward when they are finding people. It's a great motivator!

• Smelly foods! — It may seem obvious, but something smelly can be appealing to our dogs, too. They love using their noses, and smelly food can be exciting for them, too. Such things as fresh but smelly tinned fish (eg tinned mackerel) make great rewards, especially if used only as rewards.

• Protein-rich foods — these are the easiest to metabolise, as their physiology as descendants of carnivores makes it a vital nutrient for energy, muscle repair, growth, and a healthy immune system. This naturally makes them likely to find protein-rich foods appealing. That's not to say that all dogs are the same, and a great example is one trailing team that works with mashed sweet potato (albeit 'laced' with meats too).

• Consistency — that brings us to the consistency of the food. This one is quite important and covered further below. A soft food type will create a licking effect, whereas small pieces of solid reward, such as chicken pieces, which may be great for regular training, will get 'vacuumed' up by our dogs, so the reward is over in an instant, instead of lasting. A longer-lasting reward is better for many reasons.

Licking!

The finder dog 'licking' their reward from a pot

Following on from this, a smelly, mushy, high-protein reward can be perfect! My own reward of choice is human tinned fish in tomato sauce — the only time my dog gets to enjoy this is when trailing. It's just one of many reasons he loves mantrailing so much!

Something 'messy' like this is great because it encourages a licking action to get all that wonderful reward from all the corners of the reward pot!

But why is licking in dogs so beneficial?

When dogs lick — whether it’s themselves, their littermates, humans or their reward pot — they gain several hormonal and neurochemical benefits:

Endorphins (Feel-Good Hormones)

Licking triggers the release of endorphins in dogs’ brains. These are natural opioids that promote calmness, pleasure, and stress relief. It's akin to a soothing, self-reinforcing activity for them — essentially a form of natural self-soothing. Similarly, evidence shows that endorphins help dogs feel calmer and more relaxed, and can even lead to dopamine release — an indicator of pleasure and motivation.

Oxytocin (The Bonding Hormone)

While much of the strong evidence for oxytocin release comes from human-dog interactions, there's good reason to believe dogs, too, experience a bond-strengthening oxytocin boost when licking. This aligns with broader findings from social grooming studies across species, where grooming behaviours trigger oxytocin release to promote social bonding and relaxation. Engaging in licking can help dogs shift their focus and calm their emotional state, especially in heightened situations like reactivity or anxiety.

Licking serves multiple hormonal functions in dogs:

1. Releases endorphins, providing pleasurable, calming effects.

2. Likely spikes oxytocin, deepening bonds with humans.

3. Acts as a calming tool in the face of stress or uncertainty.

   
   

All in all, licking is deeply rooted in a dog’s physiology and emotional well-being and encouraging this further enhances the benefits from mantrailing.

Quantities

So you've chosen the best reward to motivate your dog, but the next question is 'how much?'.

The answer, of course, depends on the individual dog, their size, relative food motivation being the main factors to consider.

Make it worthwhile!

We want our dogs to arrive having done a great job, working to find the runner and to get a suitable reward for doing so. In regular training situations, we are rewarding small behaviours with perhaps a single, small reward. With mantrailing, our dogs usually complete no more than a couple of trails. Each of those needs to be worthy of the effort, so make it worthwhile.

But, maybe not a '3-course meal'!

Whilst the reward should be worthwhile, it's not 'dinner time' when the runner is found, so there's no need to provide your dog with a large portion of their daily food. And this is the best guide of what is right for your dog... It's a proportion of their daily food allowance, even though you may be replacing some of their daily allowance with a higher-value alternative. This will also avoid overfeeding.

Simply reduce your dog's daily food allowance by what you provide at trailing and you can't go wrong.

As an example of the 'right' amount as a reward, my dog is approximately 21kg, a medium-sized dog. His reward is a human-grade tin of mackerel or sardines in tomato sauce. A tin has a net weight of around 90 grams, and this divides between two good rewards. A smaller dog would likely be fine with less, while a larger dog would likely require more. You should easily be able to work this out during your early sessions trailing though.

Reward Pots

Many types of pots are suitable, but ideally, they will be leak-proof.

What makes a good reward pot?

Leak-proof containers

Based on what you need to contain, decide if you need a leak-proof container. Almost all the time, this will help, as you might want to have your reward in your pocket or somewhere convenient and may not be able to keep it flat easily. This may be the case when you are rewarding your dog, rather than the runner. This is always the case on a pet trail, for example. The handler rewards their dog, so you will greatly appreciate a leak-proof container, especially if it contains something oily or smelly (or both) like tinned fish!

Size and design

Once you know the amount and type of food reward, consider ease of opening and pot size. If it's to go in a pocket, smaller is better, but balance the smaller size with ease of feeding your dog. A deep container may be tricky for your dog to reach into and feed from (as adept as they are), so consider this.

Ease of opening, especially in cold or wet conditions, should also be assessed when making your choice. We want to reward our dogs quickly after finding their runner, so something that unclips or unscrews with ease, including with wet fingers or cold hands, should be considered.

Safety

Based on the above, there are a variety of options available to buy, as well as the opportunity to recycle. Check for sharp edges, particularly on reused pots that may have been produced without recycling in mind and have poor finishes that might cut a dog's tongue and create a negative reaction.

Squeezy Tubes

For some teams, the reward may be a squeezy tube of food. The treat can be dispensed simply by squeezing, the dog gets a great reward and also is constantly licking. Whilst this can be slightly harder to judge the quantity, the handler should be able to guide how much is right for their dog. This type of reward has a variety of convenience benefits but really comes into its own in the base of dogs that are muzzled. For these, the handler can provide a reward whilst keeping the muzzle in place, regardless of the reason for the muzzle; it allows the dogs to participate in mantrailing, which simply wouldn't be possible with a 'reward pot'.

In summary

Mantrailing with dogs involves rewarding them for finding a hidden person, often using food. The choice of reward is crucial, balancing motivation without overfeeding. While many dogs are food-motivated, some prefer play, so rewards should match what excites the dog.

High-value food rewards should consider allergies, taste preferences, scarcity, smell, protein content, and consistency. Smelly, mushy foods like tinned fish in tomato sauce encourage licking, which releases endorphins and oxytocin, promoting calmness and bonding.

Reward quantities should be proportional to the dog's daily food allowance, ensuring the effort is worthwhile without overfeeding. A good reward pot should be leak-proof, easy to open, and safe. Squeezy tubes can be useful, especially for muzzled dogs, allowing them to participate in mantrailing.

A mantrailing team off to find their runner, and for the dog, their reward