NW600: Introduction to AKC Scent Work

Buried Hides Part 1

Buried hides are something new that the AKC will be offering starting in October 2017.  With Buried hides at the Excellent and Master Levels, the hides are actually buried UNDER THE GROUND!  At the Novice and Advanced levels however, the hides are buried in containers.  This week we will cover Novice and Advanced.  Next week we will cover Excellent and Master Levels!

From AKC Rules:

Section 6. Buried Searches. The Buried search element simulates the task of Human Remains Dogs to search for scents that have been buried under the ground. The Novice and Advanced classes use containers filled with soil (see Chapter 5, Section 7 above for size requirements), and may be conducted indoors or outdoors. The Excellent and Master classes are outside, in an area where scent vessels can be buried beneath sand or soil. Empty scent vessels will also be buried so that the handler or dog are not cued to the hide location by upturned dirt. The search area boundaries will be clearly delineated by colored adhesive tape, caution tape, flags, plastic fencing, ring gates, or by some other method. It is expected that dogs may dig when they locate the scent, but handlers should minimize this as much as possible. Handlers can be assessed a fault if they do not attempt to control a digging dog, however, digging should not be considered a disruption of the search area requiring an NQ.

Fun, huh?

Also...

Special Considerations: Containers. Clubs may choose to utilize a screen over top of the buried containers to prevent disruption of the soil if the dog attempts to dig. The screen may be made of any material but glass. The screen may be raised above the top of the container, but the total dimensions of the container with the screen cannot exceed the dimensions specified in Chapter 5, Section 7.

Chapter 5, Section 7: 

Containers in Novice searches must be cardboard boxes and must all be identical. Whenever cardboard boxes are used, they must be of uniform size and shall be at least 10-inches long by 8-inches wide; they must be no less than 3-inches and no more than 8-inches tall.

With Buried Hides, rules allow plastic bins.  For practice containers, I use plastic shoeboxes.  They work great!  Remember that once this box has been hot, it's hot FOREVER.

You can get a dozen on Amazon pretty inexpensively!  I fill with at least 3 inches of Play Sand.  It's pretty clean and easy to use.

I use the following type of vessel for Buried Hides:

With this type of vessel, you can easily fit one Qtip and can push the vessel into the container of dirt or sand.

In most of these videos, I practiced off leash...  this is the best way to start.  We want the dog working independently.  Later on, you will want to work on leash because that is what is required in the test.  

And remember...  once the box is hot it is hot FOREVER.

Step 1: Vial Flush with Dirt

In step 1 we want to introduce Buried Hides without actually burying the hide!  In this case, we will push the vial into the dirt without covering the top.  This way the odor is still very accessible to the dog.

And...  I start with only 4 containers...

Here's Judd practicing Buried Hides with the hide flush with the top of the sand:

Step 2: Push the hide in 1 inch

In the second step, I still use only 4 boxes but in this case I push the hide in by one inch.  It's starting to be buried!

Here's Judd practicing hides at 1 inch:

Step 3: Go Deeper!!  Push the hide 3 inches deep into the sand.  

Here's Judd at 3 inches deep:

Step 4: Add more boxes!  Now we are at 6 boxes!  This is the level we need to work at for AKC Novice.

Step 5: Let's go to 8 boxes!  This is the number of Containers for Advanced Level.  You can put these in any configuration.  Once you get the hang of a single hide you can move to two hides.

Now let's go over some rules!

AKC Novice Buried Hides

From AKC Rules:

Buried Novice Class: Six lidless containers (such as plastic bins) will be placed in the search area, in two rows of three, at least 36 inches apart. The search area must be at least 150 but not more than 200 square feet. Each of the containers will hold at least three inches of sand or soil, and one of those will have the scent vessel containing Birch, buried two inches down. The dog has two minutes to locate the target scent and communicate the find to its handler. The handler must call “Alert” when the dog indicates the find. The Buried Novice Class is open to all dogs.

This is exactly how we practiced it!  At this level there will be no distractions.

AKC Advanced Buried Hides

From AKC Rules:

Buried Advanced Class: Eight lidless containers (such as plastic bins) will be placed in the search area, in any arrangement, at least 36 inches apart. The search area must be at least 150 but not more than 200 square feet. Each of the containers will hold at least five inches of sand or soil, and two of those will have the scent vessel containing Birch and/or Anise, buried four inches down. There is one non-food distraction, which can be inside a container or loose in the search area, but if it is in a container it may NOT be in the same container as the odor. The distraction is not buried. The dog has three minutes to locate the target scent and communicate the find to its handler. The handler must call “Alert” when the dog indicates the find. After the second “Alert” call, the handler must call “Finish” to indicate that all hides have been found and to stop the time. The Buried Advanced Class is open to dogs who have acquired the Buried Novice (SBN) title.

So remember all of that distraction work that we did???  Distractions still apply.  In this case there might be a loose toy.

When I contacted the AKC regarding loose non-food distractions I received the following response:

Dogs cannot NQ as a result of interacting with a distraction, but in extreme cases they may be excused. If they are able to return to work with a verbal command from their handler in a reasonable time they are not penalized at all. If the handler must physically redirect them, the team earns a fault. If the dog is so distracted that he is no longer working, the judge will issue a 10-second warning. If after the 10 seconds the handler is still unable to return the dog to work, they will be excused. The only way you could be NQed would be if you took the distraction object away from the dog and removed it from the search area.