Carolina Kennel Club, Inc.

Scent work was originally developed for dogs in California shelters to help them settle their anxiety and
personality deficits. Scent trials are based off working K9 detection, but instead of searching for
narcotics, explosives or other illegal/hazardous odors, dogs search for essential oils.
In every dog exists the motivation to hunt and search whether it be for food, prey, or the opportunity to
breed. A dog uses 40% of its brain dedicated to smell. They have over 100 million sensory receptor sites
compared to humans having only 6 million. While a human can smell spaghetti sauce cooking, a dog can
identify exactly what ingredients the sauce contains.
Scent work is a fairly new sport, growing rapidly as it attracts all types of dogs and handlers. The sport
helps dogs with behavior issues as it has proven to be fulfilling and therapeutic. It builds a dog’s
confidence, independence and allows the handler to learn how to better read and communicate with
their dog.