September 2026 News

September has been a month of learning, problem-solving and adapting — for our dogs, our handlers and, occasionally, for us too!

We've had some wonderful opportunities to develop our handling skills, welcomed more teams into classes and continued exploring the many little things that make such a difference to our dogs' searching experiences.

Behind the scenes, September also brought some challenges, including the difficult decision to cancel our planned NW2 trial.

But if there's one thing Nose Work teaches us, it's that things don't always go according to plan. Sometimes the most valuable learning comes from what we do next.

Here's what we've been up to.

September Highlight: Putting the dog back in the driver's seat

On 13 September, John and Amy presented a Dog-Driven Handling workshop in Canberra, attended by an amazing group of dogs and their handlers.

Inspired by the work of Sue Sternberg and Dana Zinn, the workshop explored one of the most important aspects of scent work: the relationship between the searching dog and the person at the other end of the leash.

As handlers, we're often concentrating on doing the right thing. Where should we stand? When should we move? How much leash should we give? Should we encourage the dog to check somewhere else?

But sometimes, in trying so hard to be helpful, we accidentally make the dog's job more difficult.

Dog-Driven Handling encourages us to recognise when our dogs have information, understand what their behaviour is telling us and develop the confidence to let them work.

It's not about doing nothing. It's about becoming a thoughtful, observant partner in the search.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the day.

John also travelled to the Albury/Wodonga region in September to share his knowledge with the scent work community there.

In the Classroom

September saw our Scent Work Skills Builder teams getting stuck into some interesting training challenges.

We've been exploring how handlers influence the search, developing better awareness of our own movement and learning to recognise the information our dogs provide.

One particularly interesting area has been inaccessible hides.

These searches can be fascinating — and occasionally confusing! The dog may be able to detect odour but cannot physically reach its source. That means handlers need to think carefully about the difference between the location of the hide and where odour is available to the dog.

It's a lovely opportunity to practice patience, observation and trusting the information coming back along the leash.

Our Introduction to K9 Nose Work® teams have also continued discovering the joy of the searching game, building confidence and independence through carefully designed search problems. With several groups finishing up their six-weeks of sessions.

And September saw preparations underway for another new Introduction to K9 Nose Work® course beginning in October.

A Little Nose Work Food for Thought: The hide isn't always where the odour is

When we're setting searches, it's easy to think about the location of the hide as the most important piece of information.

But the dog isn't searching for a hide location marked on our map. They're searching for odour.

And odour doesn't necessarily stay neatly where we put it.

Air movement, temperature, surfaces, structures and the surrounding environment all influence where odour travels and where it becomes available for our dogs.

It may rise, fall, collect, move around obstacles or become detectable some distance from its source. As we discovered in classes this month, this is particularly important with inaccessible hides.

A dog working odour away from the actual hide isn't necessarily confused or wrong. They may be telling us something valuable about how the odour is moving.

As handlers, our challenge is to remain curious.

Rather than immediately deciding where the dog should go, consider what the dog might be telling you about the search environment, and where we need to allow them to go in to find that pesky hide.

A Difficult Decision

One of the more disappointing parts of September was having to cancel our planned ACSW NW2 trial. It certainly wasn't the outcome we'd hoped for. And we've certainly learned a few things along the way!

Unfortunately, a combination of venue challenges and the practical requirements of running a successful event meant that we couldn't bring everything together to the standard we wanted.

Cancelling an event is never an easy decision, particularly when competitors have been preparing, volunteers have generously offered their time and so many people have contributed to the planning.

We'd like to sincerely thank everyone who entered, volunteered, offered assistance or sent a kind message following the announcement. The support and understanding we received meant a great deal.

While this particular event didn't go ahead, we're continuing to work towards providing more ACSW trial opportunities in the Canberra region in 2027. Stay tuned!!

Coming Up in October

ACSW Odour Recognition Test

Saturday 24 October | Sutton

Entries are still open for our next ORT, scheduled for Saturday 24 October - https://acsw.com.au/calendar/

For those preparing, remember that good foundations, confidence and a clear understanding of the searching game matter far more than cramming in lots of last-minute training. We will however be offering an ORT practice session in the week before the trial. Details will be posted to our Facebook page and website soon.

Until Next Time…

September reminded us that Nose Work is as much about the journey as the destination.

Sometimes searches go beautifully. Sometimes they leave us scratching our heads. And sometimes plans outside the search area need a little adjusting too.

What matters is that we keep learning, keep supporting our dogs and keep finding the joy in the game.

Thank you for being part of the Canberra Nosework community.

Happy sniffing!

Amy & John

Canberra Nosework Training