Canine Nosework

Dogs are born with a nose for odors.  They love to search and locate animals, objects, individuals and other fun smelly stuff by using their nose.  Depending on the breed of dog, its sense of smell is estimated to be between 1,000 and 10,000,000 times more sensitive than a human’s.  Wow!

Mankind has been utilizing the dog’s amazing scenting abilities in countless ways for centuries.  Most are familiar with the ability of a dog to use its nose to track a person’s movement over ground or through water.  Hunting dogs are used to track and locate prey, while cadaver dogs specialize in locating the remains of deceased individuals.  Dogs have been trained to locate oil and gas leaks for utility companies, while mineral corporations have also used dogs to locate zinc, lead and copper underground.  Exterminator companies utilize dogs to locate all sorts of critters from rats in a barn to termites and bed bugs.  Dogs are used by customs officials to discover fruit located in travelers’ bags and law enforcement uses the dog to detect narcotics.  Explosive detection dogs are employed by the military, police and private security companies.  The dog's heightened sense of smell is even being used to detect a growth of cancerous cells or an oncoming seizure, as well as signal low or high blood sugar levels.

Nosework sports showcasing the dog's amazing sense of smell and their natural desire to hunt have recently been developed.  The United Kennel Club expanded our UKC Dog Events licensing to include UKC Nosework as of May 2014, with official written notification made on August 1, 2014.  Our CCDSA membership includes 5 Nosework judges licensed by the United Kennel Club.

To earn the UKC Elite Nosework title, a dog and handler pass a pre-test for each of the 5 scents (birch, anise, clove, myrrh and vetiver), then must earn 2 legs in 4 separate elements (container, interior, exterior and vehicle) in EACH of the 5 scents.  The higher the level, the greater the number of hides which must be found (1-4 odor hides) and multiple distractions (1-3 distractions of food or toys) must be ignored.  This requires a minimum of 45 shows to earn 30 title certificates as follows:

PTN-Pre-trial Novice

NC-Novice Container

NI-Novice Interior

NE-Novice Exterior

NV-Novice Vehicle

NN-Novice Nosework (PTN,NC,NI,NE,NV)

PTA-Pre-trial Advanced

AC-Advanced Container

AI-Advanced Interior

AE-Advanced Exterior

AV-Advanced Vehicle

AN-Advanced Nosework (PTA,AC,AI,AE,AV)

PTS-Pre-trial Superior

SC-Superior Container

SI-Superior Interior

SE-Superior Exterior

SV-Superior Vehicle

SN-Superior Nosework (PTS,SC,SI,SE,SV)

PTM-Pre-trial Master

MC-Master Container

MI-Master Interior

ME-Master Exterior

MV-Master Vehicle

MN-Master Nosework (PTM,MC,MI,ME,MV)

PTE-Pre-trial Elite

EN-Elite Container

EI-Elite Interior

EE-Elite Exterior

EV-Elite Vehicle

EN-Elite Nosework (PTE,EC,EI,EE,EV)

In addition, the UKC offers 3 levels of handler discrimination nosework titles (NHD-Novice Handler Discrimination, AHD-Advanced Handler Discrimination, EHD-Excellent Handler Discrimination) which requires the dog to find an article containing the owner/handler’s scent in 3 separate trials at each difficulty level.

Championship and Grand Championship titles are also offered for each level (Novice through Elite) as well as Overall NOSEWORK CHAMPION and GRAND CHAMPION titles..

Questions? 

Please email our Trial Secretary at CCDSA.org@gmail.com or (517) 749-9865