Nose Work

Nose Work Poodles

Nose Work: This is AKC’s newest sport, offered beginning in October 2018.  Also known as Scent Work, it evolved from the work done by police detection dogs.  The sport was created by the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW).  The founders were involved in training working detection dogs, and they used their training methodology to develop a recreational form of this work for canine and human teams.  The terms nose work, scent work, and search work are all used to describe the work of a dog locating a target scent or odor.

The dog must locate a concealed scent and indicate it to the handler within a set time.  There are different environments used for different titles, and the areas used become increasingly larger and more complicated at the higher levels of competition.  The odor, an essential oil dropped onto a Q-tip or cotton ball, is hidden inside an assortment of containers such as boxes or luggage, in an interior room or an exterior area, or on the outside of a vehicle or in a buried container.  Besides the AKC and NACSW, the United Kennel Club (UKC) also has a Nosework program.  There are variations in rules and requirements between the organizations offering titles.