From 4 to 6 September 2025, the first intensive Workshop of the Mantrailing.ro - Misiunea Prietenilor Canini (the Canine Friends' Mission) project took place in Bucharest, an event dedicated to the training of search and rescue teams through mantrailing techniques.
The workshop was attended by certified instructors from Hungary, members of the Debreceni Mantrailing és Kutyás Egyesület association, renowned for their extensive experience in this field. Under their guidance, 12 handler-dog teams, coming from two associations whose object of activity is search and rescue, carried out complex training sessions both on the city streets and in parks and forests, which included: trails more than 4 hours old, scent discrimination, concentration training, trail discrimination, intersection questioning, signalling a moving victim, indicating a person who cannot be reached, and much more.
The realism and effectiveness of the exercises were supported by 25 volunteers from several Bucharest associations – the Jnepenii Association for Youth, Sport, Tourism and Ecology, the Arcul Carpatin Ecological Association, the Temerarii Alpine Club and the Gaska București Tourism Association – who played the role of victims, providing a variety of scenarios put into practice.
The event was made possible thanks to the efforts of the Debreceni Mantrailing és Kutyás Egyesület team, who travelled for 11 hours to reach Bucharest. Essential support also came from the NAS Oradea Search Dog Association, which provided translation from Hungarian into Romanian, facilitating communication between the participants and the instructors.
Examinations and certifications – 7 September 2025
7 September 2025 was dedicated to the official examinations, during which the participants had the opportunity to obtain certifications at various levels of training.
A particularly important moment was the success of the team made up of Ruxandra and Aragorn, representing the Drumeții Montane Association. They passed level 4 out of 6, becoming:
- the first team from Bucharest to reach this level,
- and the first team in Romania with a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog certified at this level in mantrailing.
Results of the teams formed between May and August 2025
Besides the teams taking part in the workshop, mention should also be made of the teams formed in May–August 2025 within the project, which sat the examinations and obtained the following certifications:
- Laura + Billie – Level K9-MT1
- Ioana + Tara – Level K9-MT1
- Ariadna + Pruna – Level K9-MT2
- Mihai + Echo – Level K9-MT2
- Alexandru + Hannah – Level K9-MT2
- Ruxandra + Aragon – Level K9-MT4
These results mark the consolidation of the Mantrailing.ro community and show the steady progress of the young teams in the training and certification process.
Soon, the Drumeții Montane Association will begin forming new handler-dog teams within the Mantrailing.ro – Misiunea Prietenilor Canini project. Those who wish to join are invited to sign up as volunteers with the association. More details are available at www.mantrailing.ro.
The Mantrailing.ro – Misiunea Prietenilor Canini workshop demonstrated the importance of international collaboration, community involvement and continuous training in the development of search and rescue teams. The event represents an important step in consolidating the resources dedicated to saving lives through the discipline of mantrailing in Romania.
Mantrailing is a search and rescue activity in which the dog, guided by a person's specific scent, follows an olfactory trail in order to locate them. It is used both in real missing-person situations and as a method of training and developing the dog's abilities and its relationship with its handler.
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