NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CANINE SCENT WORK ®

What is K9 Nose Work®?
The sport of K9 Nose Work®, created by the founders of NACSW™, was inspired by detection style training for working K9s and has elements that are founded in that type of training and work. K9 Nose Work® is the term that specifically defines this detection-inspired sport that is governed and sanctioned by the National Association of Canine Scent Work, LLC®.
One of the many challenges faced by working K9s and their handlers is encountering new environments and scenarios daily. This challenge will be reflected in the sport through differing search environments and requirements of each location. Additionally, the environment may change throughout the day due to uncontrollable factors such as weather. Therefore, the general rules and guidelines will apply, but handlers and dogs may encounter variations
at each trial.

NACSW

Titles

  • The Odor Recognition Test (ORT) is a test that verifies a dog's ability to recognize the three target odors used in NACSW trials (birch, anise, and clove). 

    No, there is no requirement to pass all three odors at the same event, but the ORT title will not be earned until all three odor tests have been passed. 



  • The dog will seek out the exact source of the odor.

    The handler can identify the dog’s communication of the exact source.

    The dog can maintain the energy, stamina and mental focus to do all four elements in one day.

    The dog wants to find odor regardless of the environment around him.

  • The dog can find multiple hides in one environment.

    The dog and handler team can work through more challenging, less accessible hides.

    The dog can overcome food and toy distractions and alert only to odor.

    The dog can manage a longer, larger search.

  • The dog can find an unknown number of hides in a search environment.

    The handler will recognize the search behavior in a dog when no odor is present (if there is a blank area).

    The dog and handler team can work through even more challenging, less accessible hides with varying heights and containment.

    The dog can overcome food and toy distractions in any environment and alert only to odor.

    The dog can manage much longer, larger searches.

  • The NW3-ELITE title is earned by getting 3 NW3 titles, plus demonstrating proficiency in all 4 elements.

  • Can be entered after achieving a NW3-Elite title.

    • Earn ELT1 title after accumulating 150 points.

    • Earn ELT2 title after accumulating 400 points.

    • Earn ELT3 title after accumulating 650 points.

    • Earn ELT-CH title after accumulating 1000 points!

AKC Scent Work

AKC Scent Work is a sport that mimics the task of working detection dogs to locate a scent and communicate to the handler that the scent has been found. Real-life detection dogs are trained to search for a variety of things–drugs, explosives, human remains, currency, other contraband, living humans (such as for Search and Rescue), and much more.  AKC Scent Work takes this amazing working relationship and turns it into a fun game that any dog can play.

Am I Eligible?

To be eligible to compete in AKC Scent Work, a dog must be:

Learn more

AKC Scent Work

Titles

  • Dogs must earn 4 qualifying legs in each class to achieve the title.

    SCN - Scent Work Container Novice: Dogs in the Novice class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of birch within a two-minute time frame while searching a total of 10 containers.

    SCA - Scent Work Container Advance: Dogs in the Advanced class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of two odors: birch and anise. Two hides, using both or only one of the odors, must be alerted to within a two-minute time frame while searching a total of 15 containers with the presence of one non-food distraction.

    SCE - Scent Work Container Excellent: Dogs in the Excellent class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of three odors: birch, anise, and clove. Three hides, using any combination the odors, must be alerted to within a three-minute time frame while searching a total of 20 containers with the presence of two distraction: non-food, food, visual, or audible.

    SCM - Scent Work Container Master: Dogs in the Master class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of four odors: birch, anise, clove, and cypress. The dogs have four minutes to search 20 containers with the presence of three distraction: non-food, food, auditory, visual, human, or mimic. There are an unknown number of hides from 1-3.


  • Item desDogs must earn 4 qualifying legs in each class to achieve the title.

    SIN - Scent Work Interior Novice: Dogs in the Novice class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of birch within a 100-200 square foot indoor area within 1-3 minutes set by the judge.

    SIA - Scent Work Interior Advance: Dogs in the Advanced class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of two odors: birch and anise. Two hides, using both or only one of the odors, must be alerted to within a 1-3 minute time frame set by the judge while searching 200-400 indoor area with the presence of one non-food distraction.

    SIE - Scent Work Interior Excellent: Dogs in the Excellent class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of three odors: birch, anise, and clove. Three hides, using any combination of the odors, must be alerted to within a 1-3 minute time frame set by the judge per search area while searching two 200-400 indoor areas with the presence of two distraction: non-food, food, visual, or audible. One hide may be inaccessible.

    SIM - Scent Work Interior Master: Dogs in the Master class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of four odors: birch, anise, clove, and cypress. The dogs will search three separate indoor areas for a total of 600-1000 square feet. In each area the dog will have 1-3 minutes to search with the presence of three distraction: non-food, food, auditory, visual, human, or mimic. One area search area can be empty, all hides can be inaccessible, and the number of hides is unknown; 0-3 per area for a total of 2-6.

  • Item desDogs must earn 4 qualifying legs in each class to achieve the title.

    SEN - Scent Work Exterior Novice: Dogs in the Novice class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of birch within a 200-400 square foot outdoor area within 2-4 minutes set by the judge.

    SEA - Scent Work Exterior Advance: Dogs in the Advanced class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of two odors: birch and anise. Two hides, using both or only one of the odors, must be alerted to within a 2-4 minute time frame set by the judge while searching a 400-800 outdoor area with the presence of one non-food distraction.

    SEE - Scent Work Exterior Excellent: Dogs in the Excellent class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of three odors: birch, anise, and clove. Three hides, using any combination of the odors, must be alerted to within a 3-5 minute time frame set by the judge per search area while searching a 800-1500 outdoor area with the presence of two distraction: non-food, food, visual, or audible. One hide may be inaccessible.

    SEM - Scent Work Exterior Master: Dogs in the Master class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of four odors: birch, anise, clove, and cypress. The dogs will search an outdoor area of 1500-2000 square feet. In each area the dog will have 3-5 minutes to search with the presence of three distraction: non-food, food, auditory, visual, human, or mimic. One area search area can be empty, all hides can be inaccessible, and the number of hides is unknown 1-4.

  • Dogs must earn 4 qualifying legs in each class to achieve the title.

    SBN - Scent Work Buried Novice: Dogs in the Novice class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of birch under 4” of sand within a two-minute time frame while searching a total of 6 containers.

    SBA - Scent Work Buried Advance: Dogs in the Advanced class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of two odors: birch and anise. Two hides, using both or only one of the odors, buried under 4” of water must be alerted to within a three-minute time frame while searching a total of 8 containers with the presence of one non-food distraction.

    SBE - Scent Work Buried Excellent: Dogs in the Excellent class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of three odors: birch, anise, and clove. Three hides, using any combination the odors, buried under an equal number of sand and water containers of 4” must be alerted to within a four-minute time frame while searching a total of 12 containers with the presence of two distraction: non-food, food, visual, or audible.

    SBM - Scent Work Buried Master: Dogs in the Master class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of four odors: birch, anise, clove, and cypress. The dogs have five minutes to search 16 containers, half with water and half with sand, with the presence of three distraction: non-food, food, auditory, visual, human, or mimic. There are an unknown number of hides from 1-4.

  • Dogs must earn 4 qualifying legs in each class to achieve the title.

    SHDN - Scent Work Handler Discrimination Novice: Dogs in the Novice class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of their owner and find one hide with the owners scent within a two-minute window. Ten boxes are used, eight are empty, one has a sock/glove with the handler’s scent and one has a sock/glove with the judges scent.

    SHDA - Scent Work Handler Discrimination Advanced: Dogs in the Advanced class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of their owner and find one hide with the owners scent on a cotton ball or swab within a two to five minute window in an interior room 150-400 square feet. One scent aid scented by the judge is also included in the search.

    SHDE - Scent Work Handler Discrimination Excellent: Dogs in the Excellent class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of their owner and find one hide with the owners scent on a cotton ball or swab within a 3-6 minute window in an interior room 400-600 square feet. One scent aid scented by the judge is also included in the search and one non-food distraction.

    SHDM - Scent Work Handler Discrimination Master: Dogs in the Master class must be able to recognize and alert to the scent of their owner and find three hides with the owners scent on a cotton ball. Two different search areas and type are used and the dog is given 2-3 minutes per search area. One scent aid scented by the judge and one by the steward are also included in the search and 1-2 distractions can be utilized: non-food, food, visual, auditory, human or mimic.

  • The Detective Class offers an integrated search environment with an unknown number of hides in a variety of elements . The intent of the Detective Class is to emulate as closely as possible the work of a true detection dog .

    The search area must span both an indoor and outdoor search area between 2,000-5,000 square feet.

    An unknown number of hides between 5-10 are hidden throughout the search area using any combination of the following scents: birch, anise, clove, and cypress. Hides can be anywhere inside the area, inaccessible, or buried in the ground or a potted plant.

    Dogs will have 7-15 minutes based on the judges discretion to find all of the hides.

    Handlers have the option to run the dogs off leash.

    Judges may include 4-6 distractions.

  • SWN - Achieved novice titles in all four scent divisions

    SWA - Achieved advanced titles in all four scent divisions

    SWE - Achieved excellent titles in all four scent divisions

    SWM - Achieved master titles in all four scent divisions

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