Sniffing Around Scent Work

In past years, I have posted books reviews at the end of the year. This year, I thought I would do something a bit different: predictions about future developments in Scent Work. These are not things that I see coming in the next year, they are random musings about the distant future….every once in a while I like indulge in a bit of day-dreaming speculation, and what better time to do it than at New Years?

Let’s start with Technology. It is now the beast that now rules our lives, and we have just started to see its inroads into Scent work.

Apps

At the top of that list are the apps that help us run the trials –they check in the competitors, let us know how many competitors are in line to run in each class, and allow automatic entry of run times into whatever software the secretary is using. Some of these also do online entries.

There are at least three that I have used in the local area: Agilitygate, Secreterrier, MyK9pro. I am sure there are probably a half dozen others throughout the US, and more to come. I was initially not a fan of the apps, not because I am anti-technology, but mostly because I couldn’t get them to update on my Android phone reliably, and I found them difficult to use.

But recently the apps have improved. We are starting to see additions in the communications portions of the apps so that announcements can be sent, and very soon now I think the apps will allow us to do the traffic control that is so needed at the AKC trials: we will be able to sign up for a running order in classes, and be notified a few minutes before we are due to run. The app will manage any conflicts we have by moving us back down in the running order, and maybe we can stop all standing in long lines, and reduce the stress on the gate stewards.

We will be able to see any judges’ announcements about the class, and maybe, just maybe, have video briefings available for each class (yeah, that one is WAAY down the road, but hey, I can dream, can’t I?)

There will probably continue to be a lot of different apps, but eventually they will all look more alike in abilities than different.

Tech: Electronic Timing

I feel like these won’t be long in coming. I don’t know how long it took for agility competitions to start using electronic timers, but since they already exist, I feel like they will inevitably be adopted into scent work. And someone, somewhere, will develop enhancements so that not only does the time start when the team crosses the line, but also give an automatic 30 second warning and listens for the final “alert” or “finish” call to stop the time. This will cut down on the need for a human timer, and the inevitable human errors that happen.

More and Better Videos

This is probably wishful thinking on my part, but perhaps cheaper/better tech will result in more professional videos being made for AKC trials. Videos are really the stuff of learning for scent work, and my hope is that everyone will be able to invest in seeing their runs, with their successes and failures. The tech already exists for cameras which focus on and track a moving person or dog and those will become more sophisticated and cheaper, allowing for better angles and close-ups.

Eventually, I would love to see Scent work become a competitor sport by the use of video. It could be livestreamed through some online platform, just like videogames, with the use of expert commentary. (Well, I say “live-streamed,” but there it would actually be delayed until after the trial was over so that competitors wouldn’t be able to take advantage of it).

Eventually, some kind of big event would take place in conjunction with Westminster or the National Dog Show, but not necessarily at the show site: it would be staged somewhere else, with specially designed interiors and exteriors with sophisticated cameras set up so that we could all see the details in real time, while the competitors were housed somewhere in isolation.

Different Classes

Just as in other sports, we will eventually (again, I am speaking pretty far into the future)see more and different classes being offered in Scent work. I foresee a possible splitting of classes into divisions such as short/tall dogs. This happened in other dog sports: agility originally ran all dogs at the same height jumps (but changed very quickly, according to my internet research) and perhaps more relevantly, Barn Hunt now has height divisions.

I also see additional classes being developed. One thing scent work lacks is a “match to sample class.” Right now all scent work/nose work classes are based on imprinting essential oils or one specific human odor (in Handler Discrimination). The imprinting takes place in the beginning of training, and the dogs are never asked to find other odors.

 A “match to sample” class would require that the dog be given a sample odor at the beginning of the class, (one that he has never encountered before), and then find a person or object that matches that odor.

This could be a “lost item” in a room or outdoors, this already exists in NASDA. In this class, a dog would be presented with a sample odor from a person, and then asked to find an item with that person’s odor on it.

The other possibility for a match to sample class would be to present the dog with an item with a person’s odor on it, and asked to identify that person in a line up. This was at one point a technique used in Europe to identify potential criminals.

Addition of these classes would allow for a lot of fun and variety, but would add a lot of complexity in training. We have advanced quite a bit in our training methods, but it is going to take a while for us to be ready for these.

I could get into speculation on where various organizations will go, or changes to the regular classes and or rules…but I think I will stop here for the moment.

I hope y’all have big plans and exciting goals for 2025! I know I do.

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