Scent Work is a great way to tap into your dog's natural abilities while building teamwork and developing their skills. This program is designed for teams to work together incrementally, with different levels of difficulty as they progress. When you feel your team is ready, you can take the Virtual Scent Work Trial to demonstrate basic competency in locating an item based on scent. You can go to AKC to find out more and for rules and video submissions.
Below is a sample from AKC on setups.
Virtual Scent Work Testing Criteria
BEGINNER
Interior (Examples - living room, kitchen, dining room, bedroom, home office, bonus room)
Search items: Ball or Toy or Treat
Min/Max Height the Search Item Can Be Placed: ground
Maximum Search Time: 1.5 Minutes
Number of Search Areas: 1
INTERMEDIATE
Exterior (Examples -front yard, back yard, driveway, patio area, terrace, porch)
Search items: Any two of following items – Ball, Toy, Treat (the two items used must be different)
Min/Max Height the Search Item Can Be Placed: 1-2 ft.
Maximum Search Time: 2.5 Minutes
Number of Search Areas: 2
EXPERIENCED
Combination Interior & Exterior (1 search item of the 3 must be placed in the interior and 1 search item of the 3 must be placed on the exterior)
Search items: All three items, Ball, Toy, Treat
Min/Max Height the Search Item Can Be Placed: 2-3 ft.
Maximum Search Time: 3 Minutes
Number of Search Areas: 3
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