What Is AKC Scent Work?

What is Scent Work? Scent Work is a sport where the dog locates an odor and communicate that it has found the odor to its handler.

AKC held the first Scent Work trial in September 2017. Dogs locating a designated odor was not a new sport, but it was new for AKC. AKC Scent Work filled a void from other organizations that were limited to how many dogs they could run in a day. Scent Work trials can be limited too, but generally more dogs can run in a day depending on the trial set up/make up of classes.

How do dogs communicate that they have found and odor? Dogs can communicate it in several different ways:  Focused alert (dog freezes with its nose as close as possible to the odor), dog sits, stands or lays down, dog barks, dog paws, or dog spins in a circle. There is no one way a dog should tell its handler it has located the odor. The handler just needs to know when the dog has located the odor and then tell the judge by saying the word “alert”. Dogs can be trained to alert one way, or the handler can let the dog come up with its own way of telling the handler it has located the odor.

What odor does the dog have to find? Essential oils of Birch, Anise, Clove, and Cypress are used. Birch at the Novice level; Birch or Anise at the Advanced level; Birch, Anise or Clove at the Excellent level; Birch, Anise, Clove or Cypress at the Master and Detective levels. Two drops of the essential oil are placed on a cotton swab. The swab (cotton ball or Q-tip) is then placed in a vessel. The vessel has holes in it so that the odor can escape. The vessel is used so that the swab does not absorb into the location you are placing it in. The swab is contained, the odor escapes for the dog’s nose to find it.

What are the Search Divisions?  Odor Search Division is one division, finding one or more specific essential oils. The other Search Division is Handler Discrimination Division, finding the handlers scent.

What are the classes? Novice, Advanced, Excellent, Master, and Detective are the classes.
What are the Elements? Interior, Exterior, Container, and Buried are the Elements.

How do you earn titles?  To earn titles the dog starts at the Novice class in each element. Once the dog earns three legs in that class/element the dog then can move to the next class which would be Advanced, then Excellent, then Master. Each level becomes more complexed, and distractions are added to the search area. Distractions can be Food, Non-food, Visual, Auditory, Mimic or Human, depending on the class/level. The Higher the class/level the more distractions are added. The search area is also enlarged at each level.

For the Novice level elements, the dog will need to locate one “hide” (hidden swab) which is birch. For the Advanced level elements, the dog will need to locate two hides. For the Excellent level elements, the dog must locate three hides. For the Master level elements, the dog needs to locate one to six hides. For the Master classes the handler does not know how many hides there are. The handler will call “finish” once they think they have found all the hides for that class.

Can you earn placements? Placements are won in each class. Placements are awarded to the team with the fewest faults and fastest time.

What are the titles a dog can earn? Each title below requires 3 qualifying legs/scores.

Scent Work Container Novice (SCN)
Scent Work Container Advanced (SCA)
Scent Work Container Excellent (SCE)
Scent Work Container Master (SCM)
Scent Work Interior Novice (SIN)
Scent Work Interior Advanced (SIA)
Scent Work Interior Excellent (SIE)
 Scent Work Interior Master (SIM)
Scent Work Exterior Novice (SEN)
Scent Work Exterior Advanced (SEA)
Scent Work Exterior Excellent (SEE)
Scent Work Exterior Master (SEM)
Scent Work Buried Novice (SBN)
Scent Work Buried Advanced (SBA)
Scent Work Buried Excellent (SBE)
Scent Work Buried Master (SBM)

After a dog has earned every element title in the same difficulty level, they will be granted the level title. People refer to this as earning the overall Novice level title, or overall Master level title.

Novice Container, Interior, Exterior, Buried, would then become – Scent Work Novice (SWN)
Advanced Container, Interior, Exterior, Buried, would then become – Scent Work Advanced (SWA)
Excellent Container, Interior, Exterior, Buried, would then become – Scent Work Excellent (SWE)
Master Container, Interior, Exterior, Buried, would then become – Scent Work Master (SWM)

Dogs can earn elite titles. Elite titles take 10 qualifying legs/scores at each class/level. 

Scent Work Container Novice Elite (SCNE)
 Scent Work Container Advanced Elite (SCAE)
 Scent Work Container Excellent Elite (SCEE)
 Scent Work Container Master Elite (SCME)
 Scent Work Interior Novice Elite (SINE)
 Scent Work Interior Advanced Elite (SIAE)
Scent Work Interior Excellent Elite (SIEE)
 Scent Work Interior Master Elite (SIME)
 Scent Work Exterior Novice Elite (SENE)
Scent Work Exterior Advanced Elite (SEAE)
 Scent Work Exterior Excellent Elite (SEEE)
 Scent Work Exterior Master Elite (SEME)
Scent Work Buried Novice Elite (SBNE)
Scent Work Buried Advanced Elite (SBAE)
Scent Work Buried Excellent Elite (SBEE)
Scent Work Buried Master Elite (SBME)

After a dog has earned every element elite title in the same difficulty level, they will be granted the Elite Level title. People refer to this as earning the overall Novice Elite title, or overall Master Elite title.

Novice Container, Interior, Exterior, Buried Elite, would then become – Novice Scent Work Novice Elite (SWNE)
Advanced Container, Interior, Exterior, Buried Elite, would then become – Advanced Scent Work Novice Elite (SWAE)
Excellent Container, Interior, Exterior, Buried Elite, would then become – Excellent Scent Work Novice Elite (SWEE)
Master Container, Interior, Exterior, Buried Elite, would then become – Master Scent Work Novice Elite (SWME)

In the Handler Discrimination Division, the first level/class in Novice is where the dog will need to find the handler’s cotton glove or sock that is placed in one box out of 10 boxes. The judge places their cotton sock or glove in another box as a distraction to the dog. Like in the odor division, the dog will need to communicate to the handler where the handler’s glove or sock is. In the Advanced class, the dog will need to find a cotton swab or Q-tip with the handlers scent on it placed in an indoor search area. The Judge places their cotton swab or Q-tip in the search area too as a distraction to the dog. In the Excellent class the dog will need to find a cotton swab or Q-tip placed in an outdoor search area. In the Master class the dog will need to be able to find three cotton swabs or Q-tips with the handlers scent on them place in two search areas, indoors, outdoors or in containers. There are two distraction cotton swabs or Q-tips placed in the same areas.

 Handler Discrimination Division Basic Titles are:
Scent Work Handler Discrimination Novice (SHDN)
Scent Work Handler Discrimination Advanced (SHDA)
Scent Work Handler Discrimination Excellent (SHDE)
Scent Work Handler Discrimination Master (SHDM)

Handler Discrimination Division Elite Titles are:
Scent Work Handler Discrimination Novice Elite (SHDNE)
Scent Work Handler Discrimination Advanced Elite (SHDAE)
Scent Work Handler Discrimination Excellent Elite (SHDEE)
Scent Work Handler Discrimination Master Elite (SHDME)