What is Scentwork UK?

Scentwork UK is an organisation that conducts scent specific trials around the UK. At Paw and Order Stacy is a Scentwork UK qualified instructor and trial manager, whilst Jennie is a qualified judge; meaning not only can we teach you the methods to becoming a great scentwork team we can also run trials where you can compete against yourself, and others, to both pass each level and for the really competitive amongst you; aim for that 1st place rosette!

There are currently (I’m writing this March 2026) three tiers, each tier contains between four and six levels.

In this post I’m going to focus on Tier One and the 4 levels that sit within it. If you’d like to know more about the precise rules for each of these levels and beyond, please visit the Scentwork UK website which has up to date information.

Everybody starts at Level One. To compete at Level One you just need to register with Scentwork UK (SWUK) and then book onto a L1 trial. You don’t have to trial at your own club, you can attend any trial that is advertised on the SWUK website.

In Tier One there are four trials that you will compete in during the one trial:

• BBC (Bags Boxes and Containers) - Interior Search

• Tables & Chairs - Interior Search

• Exterior Items - Outside / Exterior Search

• Wall or Vehicle - Exterior Search

Level One:

There will be a total of 6 scented articles to find. In L1 the scent is clove.

For BBC and Exterior items you have 5 minutes to complete a search and find 2 scented articles in each activity; notifying the judge (usually with a hand in the air) that your dog has found the article.

For Tables & Chairs and Wall or Vehicle you have 3 minutes to complete a search and find 1 scented article in each activity, again notifying the judge that your dog has found the article.

If you incorrectly mark the article found you will either have to finish the search there without receiving any points, or if it is a two article search you will be told no and be asked to move on with the opportunity to find just one more. If you are incorrect on a single article search you will be told no and that element of the trial is over.

When your dog correctly finds and you notify the judge of the find (ideally with the dog at the article) you will be awarded points. Every article found in L1 gets you 15 points, you need 4 correct finds our of the 6 possible to pass that level.

You will also get marks for nice handling and teamwork, being marked down for poor handling

Pass or Excellence?

When you pass your trial you can then decide on next steps for you and your dog. If you would like to, you can work towards your Excellent Title; for this you remain at this level until you have accrued 20 excellence points which are given depending on how you place at each trial.

If you don’t want to go for your Excellence level you can either stay at that level and gain further experience or you can progress to the next level.

You can compete in two levels at the same time but they must be adjacent, so if you’re working towards excellence in L1 you may wish to trial at L2 too and progress there at the same time, once you move to L3 though you can no longer compete at L1 and so on.

Level Two

For Level Two the search areas are virtually the same but the amount of articles changes from 6 articles to 8 articles to find across the four areas.

• Interior BBC with 2 scented articles and 5 minutes to complete

• Interior Tables, Chairs and Perimeter Items with 2 scented articles and 5 minutes to complete

• Exterior mixed items with 2 scented articles and 5 minutes to complete

• Vehicle or Wall with 2 scented articles and 5 minutes to complete

To pass you must correctly find 6 our of the 8 articles across the 4 search areas.

As with L1 when the first article is correctly found the dog and handler must leave the search area whilst that article is removed from the area and then the second search can begin.

The target scent remains clove for this trial.

Level Three

L3 follows on from L2 with 4 search areas and 8 possible scented articles, with 6 finds required to pass.

Each search has 5 minutes permitted to complete.

The target odours for L3 are both clove and now gun oil is added into the mix.

For L3 the clock is not stopped if a correct alert is called, the item isn’t removed and the search continues.

Level Four

The progression continues in L4 with the same set up as L2 & L3 but more difficult placements of the scented articles, the BBC search now includes the perimeter as well as the items.

In this level two distraction scents will also be added into the mix on all search areas except the vehicle or wall searches.

Beyond Level 4 you can move into Tier 2 and continue trialling, working on more difficult finds as you progress through the levels.

At Paw & Order we host trials that can be attended by both our customers (remember to register with SWUK) and anyone registered as a competitor with their dog at Scentwork UK. We hosted our first trial on 7th March 2026 with one of our very own taking first place!

Would you like to learn the skills to take part in a Scentwork UK Trial - We host Beginner Classes and Scent Skills classes where we’ll work with you as a dog:handler team to build your skills in searching for odour. After this you can move on to Scent Cadets to refine further. Like the idea of scentwork but the thought of trials is scary, then join our Scent Games classes where we develop the desire to search and find without the added pressure of a competitive environment.