Entry Level NNA Nosework Trial – Royal Engineers Museum, Chatham

Organised by K9 Scent and Search and judged by Suzanne Olford and Teresa Mills.

Freya and I travelled down early for this one.

It paid off.

We came away with a full sweep of finds, finally putting the selection box issues behind us.

Freya after a full sweep of finds and a Synergy Award for the interior search.

That result meant a lot.

But the standout moment of the day was the Interior Search, where we were awarded a Synergy Award.

Synergy Award — recognition for a clean, connected search.

"Synergy Awards may be given at the judge's discretion for a search that shows exceptional teamwork.....reserved for those moments when the judge sees no disconnection between dog and handler"

Here's how we did it.

The Area & Approach

This is the search area and the exact route I took.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/ab676a_ec74a89cac534d74b56a1903c5b36e9d/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Search area and route — five sections, anticlockwise, one at a time.

Before starting, I’d already decided how I was going to work it.

I split the area into five smaller “rooms” and planned to work anticlockwise, on leash, searching each one before moving on. Our standard pattern, don't change things up unless you need to.

Each section was treated as its own small search with steady progression through the area.

Freya works on an ~8ft leash on a harness. This gives her enough freedom to search while still allowing me to hold that structure and not get pulled off plan.

Once that’s set, the handling becomes simple.

Action on an indication was to be a Clicker Release marker, several rewards of Drool Pate while I regroup and reward her to the next start point ("First Corner Method")

Room 1

First section.

Freya settled straight into the search and we encountered the first hide at the end of the "room" search.

That gave me a clear read on how she was working so I can adjust for the rest of the search.

Hide location behind the display.

Room 2

This was covered thoroughly with no reaction to odour so we moved on to Room 3.

Room 3

We had our 2nd find almost at the start of room 3 situated on the steps.

Hide location on the steps.

Click - Reward - Reset - Search on

Room 4

This is where it got interesting.

Freya picked up odour but couldn’t access source directly. A pillar was blocking her, and you could see her start to bracket as she worked it.

Final find — pillar obstruction.

At that point I’m watching her, not thinking about what I need to do next just reading the situation.

I held her in that area using the leash. Not tight, just enough to keep her working the problem instead of drifting away from it.

No tasking. No cues. No questions.

Her focus kept coming back to the same point, which told me the issue wasn’t location, it was access.

I adjusted my position slightly to give her a different angle on it.

That was enough.

She worked around the obstruction and drove into source.

Click - Reward - Breathe, Job done

Room 5

No need to search.

At that point we’d accounted for all hides, so the job was done.

Summary

This is how I approach searches.

Start with a clear plan, work the area in a structured way, and stay with the dog as the search develops. If the picture changes, the plan can change — but it’s always built on something solid to begin with.

It’s the same approach I use in operational searches and what I teach in training and on workshops.

If you’re interested in the sport side of things, take a look at National Nosework Association UK.

Tom Moir

ScentMastersUK