Scent Work Club of San Diego

11/11/2024

What a beautiful day for a Match!

Thank you to all the volunteers and participants who spent their holiday morning at SWCSD's first AKC-sanctioned event! We are thrilled to have completed this last step towards AKC licensing, and hope to soon be scheduling more SWCSD trials in 2025!

Special congratulations to our High In Trial Teams: Ozzy handled by Sandy Peace (Novice A), and Piggy handled by Chiara Clemente (Novice B)! 🥳

PS: Membership for 2025 will open on December 1st... keep an eye on our website!!

04/10/2024

We are thrilled to announce our first AKC Sanctioned Match! Join us on Veterans Day for a fun, low-pressure event. See our website for the match premium, which contains all the details: https://scentworksd.org/trial-event-info

LFGSWCSD!

06/09/2024

September Drop-In Practice was another great one! We had Containers and Buried for warm-ups, and then a Detective-level search with a combined interior and exterior.

GREAT job to all members who attended, many of whom pushed themselves and their dogs with these more difficult searches! Good luck to those competing at the local trial this weekend.

05/07/2024

Wanna get found? Our friends at Southwest Search Dogs need 2 volunteer subjects for training Thurs 7/11 from 8am to 11am at Rohr Park in Chula Vista. Please contact Kay at (949) 246-3114 Thank you🐾🐾👣

22/05/2024

DID YOU KNOW? Since AKC Scent Work began in 2017:

12,000 dogs have earned a Scent Work Novice (SWN) title
6,200 dogs have earned a Scent Work Advanced (SWA) title
3,000 dogs have earned a Scent Work Excellent (SWE) title
1,300 dogs have earned a Scent Work Master (SWM) title
315 dogs have earned a Scent Work Detective (SWD) title
& 1 dog has earned a SWD6, SWD7, & SWD8 title (80 Detective Q's!!)

Thanks to the Demo Dog Database Discussion project for this data (as of 5/5/24)!

06/05/2024

Our May Drop-In Scent Work Practice was so much fun!! We were given the opportunity to utilize a lovely property in Poway, complete with some unique distractions - like goats and tortoises! - to challenge our teams.

29 dogs of all ages, breeds, and skill levels came by to practice all four elements from the Novice to Master level. We had new teams prepping for their first trial, all the way through dogs competing at Detective. Shout out to our volunteers and "judges" (mentored by, and including, a licensed AKC judge and AKC judges-in-training) who tailored the experience to make each team successful and provide lots of great learning experiences!

Good luck to the teams competing over the next two weekends at the HVOC trial and SWCSGF trial!

03/05/2024

Thanks for sharing, Clubistry, and for building a unique and intuitive platform that we could capitalize on for our website!

Managing a club can be challenging. All the administrative tasks and requirements tend to wear you down. And sometimes, because the club doesn’t always generate massive revenue, advanced tools, and manpower are often not in the budget.

12/03/2024

Last week was a busy week for SWCSD! Starting on Sunday March 3rd, we hosted an Intro to Scent Work Bootcamp, aimed at providing new teams the equipment and basic skills to get started in AKC Scent Work. We look forward to hosting future Bootcamps regularly that are open to the public!

On Monday March 4th, we had a virtual General Members meeting - we kept the "business" portion of the meeting short so that we had plenty of time for a Mini-Virtual Seminar by our Secretary and long-time exhibitor, Aly Deines, on "What To Know Before You Show".

On Thursday March 7th, we had a fantastic Drop-In Scent Work Practice for members at Harry Griffen park, led by Sally, Bob, and Kay. We had Exteriors, Buried, and Container searches from the Novice through Master level! Around 20 dog-handler teams were challenged with damp, smelly grass, searches in real picnic areas, swirling winds, sun/shade challenges, and a whole new environment. Lots of great practice and learning experience, especially for a few of our members who competed at the SWC San Gabriel Foothills trial the following weekend!

Finally, on the following Sunday March 10th, we had a special Board Meeting to discuss a proposed class/drop-in location, as well as finalize our AKC licensing application, which was submitted to the AKC Scent Work Field Representative the next day!

SWCSD has been floored by the interest we've received so far and how lovely our community is already turning out to be. We look forward to re-opening new member applications shortly! In the meantime, please email [email protected] if you'd like to be added to our waitlist!

01/03/2024

Tell us something we don't already know ;)

In all seriousness, there are SO many benefits to scent training and scent games for your dog. From helping shy dogs grow in confidence, to fulfilling a high-drive dog so they can settle better in the home, to giving an old or ailing dog something fun and accessible to do. And when our dogs are mentally stimulated and fulfilled, they are more likely to behave in more desirable ways to us humans, too!

Dogs that were scent trained were found to be better at impulse control when tasked with treat based challenges, a study has found.

10/02/2024

Our first Drop-In Scent Work Practice was a hit!! We had 24 member dogs come out to play in the rain on Thursday - with setups at the AKC Novice and Excellent level for Container, Interior, Exterior, and Buried. A great time was had by all, new and experienced teams alike.

Good luck to all who are competing this weekend! Trust your dog & have fun! 🐾

06/02/2024

Scent Work is a fun & fulfilling game for dogs, but our dogs' noses can also be life-saving! Thanks to one of our members for sharing this story:

K9 Biza and her partner, Auburn Police Officer David Ljunggren, followed the scent of a missing 12-year-old and helped find the child safe miles from home.

31/01/2024

The Scent Work Club of San Diego (SWCSD) was established in late 2023 by a group of Scent Work enthusiasts, who saw a need for a dedicated club in San Diego to support this exponentially growing sport and the benefits scent games have for dogs, handlers, and their communities.

SWCSD's mission is to facilitate the growth of Scent Work and other scent sports in San Diego, by conducting classes, workshops, seminars, matches, trials, and other activities for dog and handler teams, promoting evolving science-based and positive training techniques, and welcoming all from beginners to long-time exhibitors. We hope you will join us, and in the meantime - Happy Sniffing!

Welcome to the Scent Work Club of San Diego!