These trials are designed to test and highlight the amazing abilities of dogs trained to detect a wide variety of scents. Opening up the fun of trailing with your canine partner to dog and handler teams from the operational world like narcotics dogs, explosive dogs, wildlife conservation, cadaver dogs, medical detection dogs, and any other dogs imprinted on an odor. This post will guide you through the essentials of these thrilling trials, helping you understand what they are, how to get involved, and what to expect.
What Are Detective Dog Trials?
Detective Dog Trials are competitions aimed at evaluating the scent-detection skills of dogs. During these trials, canines work alongside their handlers to locate the specific scents the individual dogs are trained on in various environments. Events can range from straightforward searches in enclosed spaces to complex challenges that mirror situations faced by professionals, like police or rescue teams.
During each trial, each dog and handler team will search for the odor they are trained on in four separate search areas referred to as elements. These areas can be indoor, outdoor, or a combination of both. The searches are meant to represent a real operational search situation.
Who Can compete?
Handlers need to register with Detection Dog Trails once they are registered they can enter trials. Each handler can have many dogs listed under their registration. Dogs do not need to be purebred or registered with any specific organization. Dogs need to be in good overall health or they could be excused from the trial but other than that everyone can play!
One of the things that makes Detection Dog Trails so unique is that dogs can compete on a variety of different odors. Detection Dog Trails allows dogs to compete that are trained on, narcotics, explosives, wildlife conservation scents, antler shed, essential oils, medical scents, bed bugs, truffles, digital hardware, cash, and many others. Odors are tiered based on volatility with low volatility odors such as bedbugs, some explosives, digital hardware, and others receiving additional time in the search element.
***If an Odor is expensive, rare, unique, and/or requires a license the competitor must supply the odor to the trial host if the host requests it.
Unique Scoring system not just a q of NQ
Detective Dog Trials has a comprehensive scoring system that includes 10 categories. This means that even if your dog doesn't find the odor source you will still get rated and earn points providing valuable feedback. If your dog doesn't find the odor source and time has elapsed then the judge will indicate to the handler where the source of the odor is so that the dog still leaves the search area finding the odor and getting rewarded.
Odor Location: Did the dog pinpoint source and if it is accessible how close to source did they alert. This category primarily focuses on the dog.
Area Coverage: This is a team score. How well does the team search the area? If there is a known number of hides the team is only judged on the area they search up until they locate the odor. If there is an unknown number of hides the team is evaluated on the total search area.
Obedience to Search: When the dog is in the search area is it totally focused on the task? Does it get distracted by environmental factors like other people or dogs near the search area? Does it use the bathroom in the search area?
Handler Tasking: This is all about the handler. Does the handler help the dog by paying attention to things like wind direction, heat sources, and cold spots? Do they direct the dog to search in such a way that hinders or helps the dog.
Handler Recognition: Does the handler recognize when the dog is in odor, can they tell and let you know when the dog has alerted to the odor source?
Odor Recognition: Does the dog recognize the odor it is being sent to find? Does the dog sniff the source odor multiple times without showing any change of behavior?
Commitment to Odor: This primarily focuses on the dog, once they are in odor do they leave the odor pool while not continuing to work the order? Can the handler accidentally direct them away from odor?
Indication: Is it clear when the dog is at the odor source? Does the dog perform a trained behavior to indicate it is at source and if so does that behavior match the behavior he handler informed the judge prior to the start of the search.
Team Impression: Overall team impression based on the search.
Judges Discretion: These points are awarded by the judge for exceptional behaviors by the handler or dog. Did something some crashing down in the middle of the search and the dog just kept right on searching without getting distracted? Was the search just textbook perfect? These could all earn you judges discretion points.
Calling the Alert: what makes Detective Dogs trials different?
In most scent-based trials handlers are required to call alert when they believe the dog is at the odor source. What this leads to is the dog thinking that the word alert means they did the correct thing and are going to get rewarded. Unfortunately, that isn't always the case and this can lead to confusion for the dog. In Detective Dog Trials handlers can indicate that the dog is on source however they would like as long as they inform the judge prior to the search.
For example, a handler could raise their hand to indicate the dog is at the source of the odor, three things could happen after that.
The judge could respond and say, "Correct." The handler can then wait for a clear indication from the dog and then mark the dog (with a verbal cue or clicker) for being correct and reward the dog.
If the handler is wrong and the dog is in the odor pool but not at the odor source then the judge would say, "The dog is in odor but not at the source" and the team would be allowed to continue working the search.
If the handler is wrong and the dog is not near the odor source or in odor they would simply say, "No, sorry." The team would then still be allowed to continue the search.
LEvels of Competition
Once competing at a level, you may not move back down to the lower level! This is to keep the competition fair for all competitors.
You may move up a level at any time, it is decided by the handler.
You may start competing at DDT at any level.
Completing a Level or Winning Out
PRELIM - If you win a Prelim trial OR score an average of 75 points in a trial or above 3 times, you must move up to novice.
NOVICE - If you win a Novice trial OR score an average of 75 points in a trial or above 5 times, you must move up to Intermediate.
Prelim:
5 min search time (most odors)
1 odor hide
Up to 3 feet from the floor but not below the floor
Hide must be accessible for the dog to put nose to source
Novice:
5 min search time (most odors)
2 hides; 1 prelim level hide
Hide can be inaccessible (as much as 1 foot 7 inches away from dogs access)
Up to 6 feet from the floor
Intermediate:
8 min search time (most odors)
1, 2, or 3 hides (handlers will not know the amount)
Up to 10 feet from the floor and up to 8 inches below the floor but not buried for example an open drain pipe
Hides can be a mix of accessible or inaccessible
Show me the ribbons
Per Trial, these are the ribbons that will be awarded.
1st – 4th of each element at each level per trial (1st place qualifies for annual championships).
High in Trial winner and Reserve High in Trial – the highest scoring dog over all the levels and elements at each trial (winner qualifies) for annual championships)
Per Trial, these are ribbons that could be awarded.
Diamond Title - A competitor at any level that scores 90 points or above wins the diamond title. You may win up to 3 diamond titles in one year.
Sapphire Title – A competitor that scores 75 points or more, 3 times in Prelim, or 5 times in Novice and Intermediate wins a Sapphire Title.
Ruby Title – A competitor that wins a Prelim 3 times or Novice and Intermediate 5 times, wins a Ruby Title.
Best of Breed – Trials organized by a breed association may award a rosette for the highest score of that breed.
*If you know that your dog might qualify for a Sapphire or Ruby title at a trial ensure the host is aware and has time to ensure they have a ribbon for you.
Annual Championships
Held in January following the qualifying year. So qualified teams for 2024 will compete in the January 2025 Championships
High In Trail automatically qualifies you for the Championships
Winners of each Element at each level will qualify for the Championships in that level.
Last held in Utah
Upcoming events
Detective Dog Trials
March 16, 2025 Stockton, CA link to sign up
March 19, 2025 Mart, TX contact Tracy Landis at tracy.dogmaacademy@gmail.com for more information
March 22-23, 2025 Millhart, Utah link to sign up
April 6, 2025 Milhart, Utah link to sign up
Detective Dog Seminar and Host/Judge Certification
March 17-19 Mart, TX Contact Tracy Landis at tracy.dogmaacademy@gmail.com for more information
April 4-6 Millhart, Utah link to sign up
Do you want to Host a Trial in your area?
Robert Barlow is running seminars across the country certifying new judges and hosts. Please reach out to Robert Barlow who owns Detective Dog Trials USA for more information.
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