UK Sniffer Dogs Scent Work Classes

Suitable for dogs of any age, breed and activity level, this 6 week foundation course held at Clanfield Memorial Hall will introduce you to the world of scent work using fun and easy to follow techniques, providing a great source of mental exercise for your dog. 

This course is suitable for dogs new to scent work or those that have some experience of scent work but are new to the target scent of Kong.

Exercises in the course include building freeze indication on target scent (KONG), completing searches on pots, pipes, and boxes, chairs, bags, vehicles and novel search environments such as exterior walls, fences and random new areas as well as a bronze level trial on the final week of the course.  

Each class is 50 minutes long.

Includes homework kit, certificate of attendance and weekly email with notes of the exercises covered.

Please note this course will take place over 7 weeks, as there will be no class on Thursday 28th August 2025

Please note this course will take place over 7 weeks, as there will be no class on Sunday 12th October 2025

Moving on from the bronze level, our silver classes introduce two new target scents, gun oil and catnip as well as new active searches. Police working dogs can be trained on up to 8 different scents. Cocaine, cannabis, cash, amphetamines, heroin, bombs and more. We believe the dog can be trained on many more and this is referred to this as their target scent library. 

Our silver level classes are held at Clanfield Memorial Hall and will cover the introduction of gun oil to our dog's scent target library, working on chair and bag searches, novel environments and vehicle searches, as well as building upon distance, difficulty, duration and distraction of indications.

We will also cover a new type of indication, known as an active search on another new target scent, cat nip. The active search involves teaching the dog a retrieve so that when they find the cat nip toy or key, they retrieve it and return to the handler.  

At the end of the silver course, we will run a silver level trial, which includes chair and bag searches, novel searches and vehicle searches in addition to our new active search .

Each class is 50 minutes long.

Includes certificate of attendance and weekly email with notes of the exercises covered.

Please note this course will take place over 7 weeks, as there will be no class on Remembrance Sunday 9th November 2025

Moving on from the silver level, our gold classes introduce a new target scent of English truffle oil, as well as new search environments including people searches and water searches! 

Our gold level classes are held at Clanfield Memorial Hall and involve working with the entire UK Sniffer Dogs scent library of Kong, gun oil, cat nip and English truffle oil. We will work on inaccessible hides, improving duration of indications, as well as learning more about how dogs use different techniques to search. 

We will also continue to work on the active catnip searches we learned in the silver level, but this time expanding it to retrieve different textured items including material, wood and plastic, learning how scent permeates different surfaces.

At the end of the gold course, we will run a gold level trial, which includes novel, water, person and active searches.

Each class is 50 minutes long.

Includes certificate of attendance and weekly email with notes of the exercises covered.

Please note this course will take place over 7 weeks, as there will be no class on Remembrance Sunday 9th November 2025

Moving on from the gold level course, our 6 week continuation courses will continue to develop your dog's scent work abilities by building upon their existing skills and working your way through the UK Sniffer Dogs grades. 

Whilst working through the UK Sniffer Dogs bronze, silver and gold grades, we will be covering exercises such as: 

• Indication duration
• False hides
• Inaccessible hides
• Indication distance
• Novel, bag, chair, vehicle, person, water and active searches
• Buried hides
• Fun competitions

We will be working with the UK Sniffer Dogs scent library of Kong, gun oil, cat nip and English truffle oil.

Each of the bronze, silver and gold levels consists of 6 grades, that can be worked on simultaneously. A certificate will be awarded upon reaching each grade with a special award being given upon reaching grade 6 in each of the levels. 

Classes are 50 minutes long and will be held both in and outdoors.

The initial course fee is £90, which includes the continuation class workbook containing the bronze, silver and gold grade criteria, which will be marked off as and when each criteria is met. Subsequent courses will be £80 per 6 week block. Progress will carry over from course to course, even if you decide to take a break for a course and return to a later one (availability permitting).