Scent Work – Sniffing For Fun

– Silke Weyland

A new fascinating dog sport has taken Australia by storm – the ANKC Scent Work.

This sport is based on the work of actual working detection dogs. The dogs are trained to recognise specific odours and communicate to their handler when the odour has been found.

Dogs have up to 300 million scent receptors in their brain compared to humans with 5 million, catapulting the dogs into the top range of supersniffers in the animal kingdom. When we walk our dogs in the park, they barely lift their nose off the ground pulling us with excitement, seemingly erratic, all over the place.

This is not erratic at all but a bit like reading the newspaper for the dog. They detect what is happening right now, what did happen a while ago and what is approaching, giving them a much broader picture of the environment than humans.

Dogs see their world through their sense of smell and we take advantage of this highly evolved skill.

Humans and dogs have developed successful working relationships whether this is working in the Health Industry detecting Cancer or Covid, clearing mine fields in the Armed Forces or sniffing out drugs for Customs. In the dog sport of Scent Work, the dogs are allowed to use their strongest natural sense, the sense of smell, in a fun and challenging way.

Scent Work is an all positive, engaging activity, great fun for dogs and handlers alike, furthering the relationship and trust with your 4-legged friend. Dogs and Handlers of all ages, breed, size and ability can participate with no prior training required.

You and your dog work as a team. In most other dog sports the dog has to obey commands, performing the exact cues from the handler in order to succeed with the task. In olfactory-based sports like Scent Work and Tracking, the handler takes a step back, and only gives guidance and help to the dog when needed.

The dogs are taken through different environments in their searches to find the hidden odours. They search around luggage and cars, in closed rooms and outdoor scenarios. When a dog has detected the odour, it communicates to the handler the exact location with a distinct indication and the task is completed.

Communication, praise and rewards while the dogs are searching is encouraged.

Above: Rieka and Mark Thomsett at a training session for vehicle search in the CCKC.

Once you and your dog have learned the game of Scent Work, you can play it at home or train in a more demanding atmosphere at the Club. In the sport of Scent Work any dog can put its natural K9 behaviour to the test and sniff for fun and you can share this stimulating activity with your best friend.

Above: (K96) is Emma Mulligan with Loki training duration of indication on the Scent Wall in the Cairns City Kennel Club (CCKC). Emma is now a new instructor having successfully completed a 1 year training program with me and is now ready to teach her first classes.

The Club had 14 ‘Beginners’ in December 2021 alone and Scent Work is the only dog sport that does not take a holiday break.

Little Ollie, with Marilyn McKee, is pictured at a training session for Advanced in the CCKC. Lolly, with Lisa Murfin, is taken through pipe training for duration of indication in the CCKC. Lisa has achieved her Novice and Advanced title this year.

Pictured above is Honey and Karin Notaro at the Advanced Container Search in the July Tableland Trial. Karin received the CCKC Club Trophy for Novice Scent Work this year.

Honey and Karin Notaro with Silke Weyland as a judge and Debbie Schmidt as a Steward. This was one of my 3 mock trials back in October 2020 at the CCKC for my judges practical exams. Advanced Container Search.

SCENT WORK IN REVIEW

The Cairns City Kennel Club is the only Club in the Far North offering regular Scent Work Classes for Beginners and Advanced and conduct regular workshops. The response is substantial – all classes are always full and booked out in advanced.

In the Beginner training we create the drive / motivation with scent exposure. Using a cocktail of all 4 scents, the dogs are rewarded equally for every scent and learn to identify all scents at the same time.

With a High Value Reward System in place (food / toy), the handlers have to learn a flawless reward delivery to achieve the perfect alert indication. When the dog clearly shows a solid commitment to the scent, we work on confidence and the duration of the alert indication before we can move on to the Advanced training. At this level, the Scent has become the Highest Value for the dog. The Advanced training builds on teamwork in real searches of all elements from Novice to Master level.

The dogs advance at a different pace. Some stay for several months in the Beginner Class, whereas others only need a few sessions to move on. This does not matter – at the end we are all at the same place having a lot of fun with our furry friends. Reiley with Matt Currey at the Novice Interior Search of our first trial in CCKC in April 2021.

CAIRNS CITY KENNEL CLUB The Cairns City Kennel Club will have 4 trials per year, offering all classes that apply next year – Novice/Advanced/Excellent on all Elements. Two of our trials next year will be in a different venue to offer interesting and challenging search areas. The Tablelands will offer 1 trial per year – which makes it 5 trials so far for the Far North. For more information, contact Silke Weyland, Scent Work and Tracking Instructor, Cairns City Kennel Club via email: s.weyland@bigpond.com