Scentwork Trials

About Scentwork Trials

Scent Work events are super exciting and supportive places to compete with your dog. Although the sport
is based on real-life K9 detection, we use non-toxic scented oils.

A Scent Work trial usually has about 75 people over one, two or three days. It would be best if the event was on a consecutive Saturday and Sunday, running during the day from about 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. The event is a
competitive detection-style competition with around 35 teams each day, plus our staff to help run it.

We’re dog lovers who train our dogs to compete in sports, so we’re looking for a venue that can host 35
teams each day in a dog-friendly environment. We’re really grateful to facilities that have let us use their
properties, even if they’re not usually open to dogs. These facilities include churches, schools,
warehouses, retail stores, arenas, and camps. We take great care to clean and respect all the
facilities we train and compete in. We put dog waste in a designated area and pick up all the solids to
minimize our impact. Our trial coordinators even walk the property before they leave to make sure nothing
is left behind.

We have a $4 million liability policy for our events and take great care to leave all facilities
clean and undamaged. We even bring our own toilet paper, paper towels, and trash bags. Our goal is to
always leave the facility cleaner than we found it.

Elements of a Typical Competition:

CONTAINER SEARCH:
A container search consists of a group of containers set in any arrangement with no minimum spacing
distances. The container search may be conducted indoors or outdoors. For NW1, containers will be boxes
of any shape or size. Containers at NW1/L1 are defined as either cardboard OR rectangular. Examples
include cardboard literature mailers, triangular mailers, plastic shoe boxes, etc. The search is typically
conducted on leash, but any length leash may be used. Handlers are not permitted to touch the containers.


EXTERIOR AREA SEARCH:
Each competition includes at least one outdoor search area. Examples of areas previously used include
the exterior of a building, a parking lot, grassy field, courtyard, etc. Dogs may have to search while coming
across doggie odors, other animal smells (cats, gophers, rodents and other critters), litter, food trash, and
simply the smells of the great outdoors. Additionally, the dogs will have to search under all weather and
wind conditions on trial day. The exterior search area will be clearly identified by flags, cones, tape or other
identifiers marking the perimeter of the search area. The search area and search time limit will be
determined on a number of factors including, size, weather conditions, complexity, distractors and title level
and will change with each trial location.
INTERIOR BUILDING SEARCH:
Each competition includes at least one interior building search. These are typically room-sized
environments such as a kitchen, bathroom, conference room, office, or warehouse space. A single search
area may include contiguous ‘rooms’ (For example: a master bedroom with adjoining bathroom). Often this
portion of the competition is not open to spectators because the search areas may be small such as
bathrooms and kitchens. The building could be any type of building such as a warehouse, school, church,
restaurant, house, etc. The search may have on and off leash areas, depending on the particular trial
requirements.
VEHICLE

My days would be Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I could do Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday. A one day would also work in some circumstances.

Location

Attendees Information