Scent Work – *Nebraska Kennel Club

About Scent Work

Fascinating fact: Dogs have a sense of smell that’s between 10,000 and 100,000 times more acute than ours! The sport of Scent Work is based on the work of professional detection dogs (such as drug dogs), employed by humans to detect a wide variety of scents and substances. In AKC Scent Work, dogs search for cotton swabs saturated with the essential oils of Birch, Anise, Clove, and Cypress. The cotton swabs are hidden out of sight in a pre-determined search area, and the dog has to find them. Teamwork is necessary: when the dog finds the scent, he has to communicate the find to the handler, who calls it out to the judge. For full information about AKC Scent Work Trials visit the AKC Scent Work page.

The Nebraska Kennel Club regularly offers Scent Work Trials. Information about upcoming trials can be found here on our website and our Facebook page.

Upcoming

Scent Work Trials — July 10-12, 2026

Nebraska Kennel Club AKC Scent Work Trials

Friday through Sunday
July 10-12, 2026

Trial Site: Iowa Western Community College, 2700 College Road, Council Bluffs, IA 51503

Entries Open: Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Read the Premium for complete details.
Entry Closing Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2026, at 6 p.m.

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Entry Form >>
Two AKC Detective Trials – Sunday, July 26th, 2026

Two AKC Detective Trials – Sunday, July 26th, 2026

Entries Open: Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at 9 a.m.
Please read the premium for complete details about this new location.

Trial Site: Hitchcock Humanities Building, 1040 Bruin Blvd., Bellevue, NE

Entry Closing Date: Wednesday, July 22nd, 2026, at 6 p.m.

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Entry Form >>
Scent Work Seminar with Khara Schuetzner

Date: Monday, July 13th, 2026
Address: North Elkhorn Fire Station, 9301 N 204th Street, Elkhorn, NE

Khara Schuetzner is a professional cadaver dog handler and owner of The Doggie Spot, LLC in Shawnee, Oklahoma. She is a NACSW Certifying Official, Judge, and Certified Nose Work Instructor, as well as an AKC Scent Work Judge, UKC Nose Work Judge, and USCSS Judge and CSD. Khara’s passion for K9 Nose Work began in 2010. She has been teaching since 2011 and has competed extensively with her own dogs, including her first Nose Work dog, Cooper, who earned his ELT-1 title. She currently competes with three dogs: Winnie, Whiskey, and Cinnamon & Cypher. She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KSA) and holds professional memberships with APDT, NAPWDA, NNCDS, and is a lifetime member of NASAR.

We hope that you will join us for this exciting two-session workshop!

Session 1: Communication Within the Team (8:00am – 12:00pm)

Ever wish your dog could talk? Khara will work with handlers on reading their dogs during searches. Is it pooling or a trapped odor? An elevated hide? An inaccessible Hide? Build your ability to read your dog in this session. What cues do you send your teammate when you plant your feet or do not plant your feet, when working your dog on odor? In this workshop, Khara will help your team on Crazy Source. As a handler, you will learn how to properly read the little changes in behavior and the cues you send.

Session 2: Under Pressure – Time, Hides, Size (1:30pm – 5:30pm)

As you move up in nose work, do you feel like you are missing something? Or do you feel like the time pressure is getting to be too much? We will work through the most common issues of trialing at higher levels by recreating some of the challenging hides you have found at trials. We will go over how you, as a team, can support each other. We will discover why time doesn’t matter when you trust your dog. Challenging hide-and-seek and fun mental games will be part of this course.

Questions may be directed to Sue Volkmer via e-mail: zman.volkmer@gmail.com

Registrations must be received by Thursday, July 9, 2026 at 6:00pm.

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