Scentwork Club
Open to any dog. For the sport, or just for the fun of it.
Scentwork is good fun and it is open to anyone. Some of our lot are working towards trials. Some are here because their dog loves it and so do they. They all train together and it works.
Your dog’s nose is in a different league to yours and this is just letting them use it properly. Puppies, veterans, working breeds, sofa dwellers, we have had the lot. You do not need to be good at anything first, your dog does not need to be fit, and twenty minutes of searching will settle a dog better than an hour of walking.
This is for you if
- You want something to do with your dog that is not just another walk
- You have got a clever or high drive dog who is bored and finding their own entertainment
- Your dog is older, or on restricted exercise, and needs something to get their teeth into
- You want to compete, and you would rather learn it properly from somebody who also judges it
- Your dog is anxious or lacking confidence and could do with a win
- Your dog struggles around other dogs and group classes have felt out of reach until now
Any breed, any age, any background. Nothing needs to be wrong with your dog for this to be worth doing, and you do not need to want to compete to be welcome.
Why dogs love it
Mental work tires a dog out in a way physical exercise does not, and a dog with nothing to think about will usually invent something, normally something you would rather they had not. An hour of searching does more for a bored dog than three walks.
It is also the rare activity where your dog is properly in charge. You cannot help them and you cannot do it for them. They work it out, they get it right, and you get to stand there watching your own dog be genuinely impressive.
That last bit is also why it does so much for anxious or reactive dogs. A quiet run of small successes, made entirely by them, builds confidence faster than almost anything else we do, and it never asks them to greet another dog to take part.
What’s Included?
Progressive group sessions
Training that builds your dog’s searching from the very first hide onwards. Everybody works at their own level, so you are never holding anyone up and nobody is racing off ahead of you.
Coaching from a Scentwork Judge
Jazz is a Certified Scentwork Instructor and Judge, so you are learning it from someone who also sits the other side of the table at trials and knows exactly what gets marked down.
The Scentwork Club WhatsApp group
Our members’ group, where you can ask questions between sessions, share what your dog has been up to and get advice from us and from everyone else in the club.
A route into competing, if you want it
Plenty of people come for the fun of it and stay for the fun of it, and that is absolutely fine. If you do catch the bug, we will get you ready to trial properly.
What a session is actually like
Relaxed, and quieter than you are probably expecting. Dogs work one at a time while the rest wait their turn, so there is no free for all and no pressure to have your dog mixing with anybody else’s.
If your dog needs a bit of distance, they get it. We have had everything through the club, from confident dogs who have never had a worry in their life to dogs who had never managed a class before, and it is set up so everybody can take part properly.
No experience needed, and you do not need any kit to start.
Where and when
Two sessions a week, at two venues, so you can come to whichever suits you.
Thursdays, 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Great Ponton Village Centre, near Grantham.
Sundays, 10am to 12pm
The K9 Concept, Scalford, near Melton Mowbray.
How it works
£25 a session, and there are no blocks to sign up to. Come when you can, leave it when life gets busy, pick it back up when it calms down. Plenty of people come every week and plenty dip in and out, and both are fine by us.
Training Club members
Members of The Training Club get first access to Scentwork Club bookings, ahead of general release. Sessions fill up, so it is worth knowing about if you plan on coming regularly.
Come and give it a go
Bring your dog along and see what they can do. Most people are surprised by their own dog inside the first twenty minutes, and most of them are back the week after.
