Participating in the Appalachian Bloodhound man-trailing training weekend were, from left: Andy Mantilla and Mazie; Tara Young, Annette Compton and Esther Lou; Michael Carpenter, DeWayne and Salina King and Ginger; Don Shelton and Winston; Michelle Mantilla and Findley; Michael Helms, Sandy Weik and Oliver; Rose and Paul Williams and Jed; Jim Hebb, Dave Sharp, and Dave Weik and Gunsmoke Festus.
MARLINTON, W.Va. — Saturday was a day for the dogs, at least, it was in Cass.
Dave and Sandy Weik of Appalachian Bloodhounds hosted their fourth annual man-trailing training event where they assist bloodhound owners in training dogs for search and rescue missions.
As part of the training, several volunteers, known as runners, walk a specific trail and wait at the end of it for the dogs to sniff them out. The dogs are given an article of clothing and are led on leash by their owners until they find the runner.
“We’ve had a tremendous, actually, very surprising rate of success so far,” Dave said. “Much better than what I anticipated with the complexity of the trails, which goes hand-in-hand with the amount of training we’re doing. The dogs are getting better and better, and we’re getting better and better.”
Bloodhound owners from Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia came to learn man trailing with their dogs…