Q: What is required to enter a trial?

A: All dogs must have earned an ORT title (passed all three odors at ORTs) to be eligible for all trial levels. In addition, any dog participating in an NACSW Trial must be registered with the NACSW prior to entering the event. Any person handling a dog in an official trial must be a current member of the NACSW. More detailed information can be found by visiting the Trial Requirements & Eligibility page. It is strongly recommended that dogs and handlers participating in an NACSW Trial prepare for the challenges of a real-world competition experience. Visit the How do I Know if I am Ready to Trial page for more information.

Q: How do I enter an ORT or a trial?

A: You can find information on upcoming ORTs and trials on the ORT Calendar or Trial Calendar pages, including instructions for entering events. Events are added to the calendar on an ongoing basis.

Q: How do I receive my title certificate(s)?

A: Title certificates are available through your account page for download/printing as soon as the results are loaded in our system. This is within 14 days for ORTs and trials, however trial results are frequently loaded within 72 hours. For NW3, you will receive a certificate the first time you earn the NW3 title and then you will be receive a separate NW3-Elite certificate when you achieve that title.

Q: Can anyone host an NACSW trial?

A: We welcome all potential hosts for official trials. Visit How to Host a Trial for more information and to submit a request to host a trial.

Q: Can I or my family/friends take video or photos of my dog searching at an NACSW trial?

A:

• Videos and photos of trial competition searches are only allowed by photographers/videographers who have been contracted by the Trial Host and by competitors wearing visible head or chest mount cameras.
• Video/Photography may not be allowed based on facility restrictions.
• Any competitor video should not delay the start of the search.
• Please have your camera ready prior to approaching the search area.
• Videos of searches may not be shared until the completion of the trial day.
• Spectators and volunteers may not video trial searches at this time.
• Videos and photos taken by contracted video services/photographers will be made available to the competitors to purchase, per the NACSW photographer and video service guidelines.
• Competitors, spectators, and volunteers may not video or photograph the CO briefing.

Q: Under what circumstances can I request to have my trial video or trial score reviewed?

A: We will ONLY provide a review in situations where it will affect a qualifying score, a title, Elite Division points, or move a team into the top 3 placements.  
 

We will offer review of scoring in the case of the score card not matching the score that is showing in the official results.  We will also offer review of trial video ONLY in the case of a score card inaccuracy.  That is when the judge's responses during the search are not reflected on the score card.  We will only be able to review the video in the situation where we actually have official NACSW video that clearly confirms the inaccuracy or you are able to provide a video from a video service or handler worn camera.  We frequently do not have video or the video is not clear due to a variety of circumstances.

To submit a request for review, please visit: https://nacsw.net/trial-score-card-inaccuracy-request-review. You will be required to provide the handler's name/member number, dog's name/K9 ID, dog's breed, date, location and level of the trial, the element in question, and a scanned or photographed image of the score card in question. This request must be submitted within 21 days of the trial date. We will respond to the request within 30 days of the submission of the request. Trial results will be updated at that time if applicable.

Q: How does the random draw for trial entry work?

A: We know that as more people are entering trials, more people are ending up on wait lists for these trials. We would love to have more trials on the calendar to help address the demand, so if you are interested in hosting and have a potential location, please let us know.

We have been getting a lot of questions lately regarding how the random draws are performed and we wanted to take the time to give you the inside scoop on the process.

All entries come in through the NACSW trial entry tool. An NACSW staff member then extracts all the entries for a given trial into an Excel file. Then we add a column and use the Excel random number generator to assign a random number to each entrant. Then the staff member sorts by the assigned random number and that is the resulting draw order. The draw results are then sent from the NACSW to the trial host so that they can send out the entry confirmations and wait list emails.

Occasionally a priority entry may be given to a person for significant contributions to the trial process or extenuating circumstances.

Priority Entries are given in the following cases:

• Trial Hosts can earn one Priority Entry per calendar year for hosting. An Additional Draw Entry (one extra entry put in for the same dog/handler team) can be earned for all other trial events hosted during that calendar year. 
• Volunteers can also earn additional draws by volunteering 7 full days in a 12-month period per additional draw.  
• NACSW Trial Staff who contribute significant hours to the behind the scenes working for the NACSW may be gifted a priority entry- one per calendar year - so if they are also trial hosts they will be gifted an additional draw instead.
• Occasionally there is a unique situation that results in someone else getting a trial opportunity because of one person's sacrifice.  For instance we have had a CO or  judge who has an entry in a trial with their own dog, agreed to sacrifice their trial opportunity to CO or judge in an emergency situation so that everyone else could trial.  This Priority Entry simply replaces the guaranteed entry they gave up when they agreed to forfeit their spot.

We understand the frustration with the wait lists, but rest assured the draw IS random. We have investigated many possible options for all the people who deserve entries (those who volunteer a lot, those who have been wait listed many times, those with older dogs, those who cannot travel, etc.) and the unfortunate situation at this time is that many people deserve entries and there is not an easy way to address the situation given our current resources.  The most fair solution is a random draw.

We encourage all of you to get involved in some capacity to help us make more trials happen so that we can help alleviate the long wait list issues in some parts of the country.

Visit our Random Draw page for additional information on how random draws work.

Q: How far in advance of a trial must my dog have passed an Odor Recognition Test?

A:

• Primary Draw: Trial entry requires that you have earned your ORT Title and any applicable titles required for entry at least 14 days prior to the trial entry open date to be considered for the primary draw. You can still enter if your ORT title is more recent or if you plan to complete it prior to the trial, but you will be placed in a secondary draw and only receive a space in the trial after all qualified entries are accommodated.
• Trial Date: You must have earned all required titles at least 3 days prior to the trial date to be eligible to compete.

Q: How do I know if my dog and I have a spot in the trial I entered?

A: For every trial entry, you will get an email either way (if you got in or not) by the notification date specified in the premium. A lack of an email does not mean you did not get in and you should check with the host to verify (after the date specified). You can find this date in the "Entry Requirements & Selection" section of the premium, a few paragraphs before the "Cancellation Policy" section.

Q: What is the role of a trial judge?

A: The Judge is responsible for determining if a dog/handler team has correctly identified the hide location. They are also responsible for issuing any faults that may be incurred by the team. Many of our judges come from a professional detection background . Many of them are current or retired law enforcement or military detection dog handlers while others have gone through extensive Certifying Official Training with NACSW. The judges have thousands of hours of experience watching dogs work scent, often in situations that are dangerous or even life threatening. Their ability to read a dog working scent in a real life working scenario makes them uniquely qualified to judge our trials. We have been very lucky that so many professional handlers have been willing to give us their time.

Q: What is the role of a trial Certifying Official (CO)?

A: The Certifying Official (CO) is responsible for selecting the hide locations, setting the search area parameters and ensuring that the trial is run to our standards and rules. Our COs have been through extensive training regarding our standards of hide placements for each of our trial levels. Their training also covers all aspects of a trial in a variety of regions. This helps us to maintain a standard at each level at trials throughout the country. All of our COs attend continuing education meetings and volunteer at other trials to continue their education. We appreciate the time and effort these people have put in to learn the necessary skill sets to help set great hides and provide new challenges at all of our trials.

Q: My dog is “dog reactive”. Can we still play?

A: It has become apparent that there are some misunderstandings regarding our rules regarding reactivity at official events. The activity of K9 Nose Work is something that almost all dogs can enjoy and we have found that the activity has helped many dogs with sensitivities improve tremendously - sometimes to the point where they can safely navigate a trial environment.  However, NACSW Trials and ORTs will not be something that are appropriate for all dogs, as these are real life environments.  We cannot control these environments as much as class environments can be controlled and surprises do frequently happen.  Our primary goal is to keep your dog comfortable and safe - no dog enjoys being put in a situation where they feel it necessary to react - and for some dogs, this may mean that the trial environment is not right for them.  Dogs with human aggression issues or extreme environmental sensitivities may want to enjoy the activity privately. Questions or concerns can be sent to trial@nacsw.net.