The Eastern Bay hosted the first national Dog Scent Work camp last weekend, attracting more than 50 people and their dogs from around the North Island.

The event was held at the Racecourse Park Events Centre in Te Teko which, although undergoing a major upgrade, provided facilities allowing most participants to camp on site.

Organisers said the venue was ideal for a large gathering with good buildings, shady camping area and lots of area for walking dogs.

“The Whakatāne district is very lucky to have a venue like the Racecourse Park Events Centre; venues like this are very rare and all those who attended the camp want to come back again,” said an organiser Maree Boreham.

Scent work trialling is a relatively new dog sport in New Zealand and the objective is to train pet dogs to be like detector dogs – able to go into different areas to search and detect specific odours.

At trials, searches are set up indoors, outdoors, on vehicles and in containers.

Private trainers and local dog clubs run courses to introduce pet dogs (and their owners) to the sport.

Ms Boreham said it was proving to be a fun sport for many because dogs of all breeds, sizes and ages were equally able to use their noses and search.

“It is something dogs just love to do. And the fact that a lot of training can be done at home, and it’s a great way to keep a dog entertained and involved, is a big plus.”

Twelve presenters held sessions over the four days.

Some of them came from a detector dog background with many of them involved in dog detection services. Others came from dog sport backgrounds in tracking and obedience and agility and became involved in scent sport when it was established in New Zealand six years ago.

The camp began on Thursday, with the first sessions including a series of odour recognition trials in which multiple containers – one of which contains a specific odour – are set up in rows. A dog must find the container with the odour and alert their handler to the find.

Ms Boreham said there were seven trials, each with a different odour, being used in scent sports.

On Friday, there were individual sessions in which experienced trial judges spent time with each dog and handler team in an indoor search.

“These enabled handlers to get some personal feedback on how their team was working, from people who set the searches at trials. There was also a session on troubleshooting false alerts: when a dog incorrectly alerts a handler to a find.

The Saturday morning session was about odour movement, with smoke bombs demonstrations showing how air currents move around objects.

The dogs then worked areas set up with fans and other equipment designed to enable them to pick up odour a long way from its source.  Saturday also included a canine fitness session and a special search challenge, sponsored by Canine & Co.

The last camp sessions on Sunday included a session on training at home.