AKC Scent Work Regulations

Obviously, the best way to understand AKC Scent Work Regulations is to consult the published regulations. However, at this point in time, there are rules that have not been added to the official Rulebook and I wanted a spot to link everything that I *know* the AKC has given us in the way of guidance. Hence, this post.

AKC Regulation Resources Page which includes

• Regulations for AKC Scent Work (Mauve Cover) Amended April, 2024  (THE Rules)
• Regulations for AKC Scent Work amended November 2019  
• AKC Scent Work Judges Guidelines (Often helpful for Handlers, too!)
• Rules Applying to Dog Shows (Unless there is an exception made in a sport, the “Rules applying to Dog shows” will apply).

These policies are also individually noted on the Regulations Resources Page but have been incorporated into the Regulations.  

• Size of Cotton Ball specified in HD / New Fix and Go On Option in Detective (Apr 2024)
• Permanent Removal of Mileage/Day Restrictions for Judges (Aug 2022)
• VSWT Goes Permanent / Numeric Elite Titles  (July 2022)
• New Regionals & Future National Announced (Nov 2019)
• Changes to Entry Limits (Oct 2019)
• Regulations Survey (Sept 2018)

Other links from the AKC Website:

• How to Contact the AKC Scent Work department
• The AKC Scent Work blog includes articles on many different aspects of the sport. The most recent entry is from April, 2023.
• The AKC Regional and Future National details including the format overview and past results. No Regionals have been held since 2022 and no National has ever been held.
• The Club Resources Page
• The Judges Resources Page
• How to Get Started in AKC Scent Work
  Results of the first AKC Scent Work trials in September of 2017 These results are not in the AKC Event Results but can only be found here. We transferred them into the We Smell Better database manually.
• Information on the AKC Virtual Scent Work program. The results of this program are not published anywhere, one of the reasons we don’t include it in the We Smell Better database.

Information that has been provided through social media:

• How long can you continue to compete in Novice A after earning an element title? The Rules just say that the Novice A class is only open to dogs that have not yet earned an element title.  If handlers do not make the lateral move to Novice B soon enough, the handler and Trial Officials will receive a letter saying that one or more Qualifying scores out of Novice A were disallowed.  But what is “soon enough?”  Judge Dino Candelaria asked AKC Scent Work and shared their email response in a May 10, 2024, comment in the Friends of AKC Scent Work Facebook Group:
  

  “Thank you for reaching out to the Scent Work Department with your question about Novice A move ups to Novice B.  We take the leg if the title was earned before close of entries on the next trial.  I hope that helps.

  Sincerely, Judith Powell”

  Note that “take the leg” means “take the Q AWAY,” that is, the Q is disallowed.  In other words, if your next trial is still open at the time you earn the element title from Novice A, you should contact the trial Secretary to move into Novice B.   If your next trial has already closed, you may stay in Novice A for that trial and any Qs will still count toward Elite. 
  
  Based on our calculations, it appears that if a trial has Day of Show entries, this policy is not enforced, which is very reasonable on the part of the AKC. 

  Everyone agrees that making the lateral move as soon as possible is the best advice, and we acknowledge that simply always entering Novice B in the first place is also a fine choice.  Nonetheless, it’s important to know exactly what the rule is if one is expected to follow it.

• Assurance that all Qs will count toward Numeric Elite Level titles (April 18, 2024, actual implementation is pending programming changes).
• Collars Allowed in AKC Scent Work (April 12, 2024)
• Dyed or artificially colored dogs allowed in AKC Scent Work ( Feb 26, 2023) Initially, coloring was specifically prohibited in Scent Work; this post reversed that ruling.  Alough no specifics have been provided other than “colored powder is not allowed,” the general assumption is that the guidelines are the same as those for other AKC sports in which coloring is allowed.

Official AKC Scent Work department Facebook Account

Unofficial Resources

• Friends of AKC Scent Work Facebook Group (TOTALLY unofficial but super helpful)
• AKC Scent Work Trial Judge’s Debriefs (A totally VOLUNTARY effort in which willing judges post video debriefs of searches they have set)
• AKC Scent Work Trial Chairs and Secretaries (A voluntary group to support others that have taken on those critical roles).