Trailing certification will consist of four phases.

The trailing team must pass three out of the four phases and must pass the fourth phase (indication and find) to receive a certificate.

The certification may be terminated at any time by the certifying officials if the officials deem the team is off the trail or if the handler is controlling the direction of the dog.

The trail can be marked to assist the certifying officials. If it appears to the certifying officials that the handler is controlling the direction due to the markers, the test can be terminated by the officials.

** Service dog teams must pass Trailing I before testing for Trailing II.

DEFINITIONS

Individual sent:            Human body cells that are shed by the body.

Trailing:                       The Police service dog following an individual human scent trail.

Scent Article:               Scent of an individual left on an article.

Scent Discrimination:  Service dog’s ability to discriminate between individuals scent or scent articles.

Scent Pool:                  Accumulation of ones scent left in an area.

TESTING

LEVEL I TRAILING

1. The team shall initiate the trail in a contaminated (3 additional individuals) area with a scent article left by the trail layer.
2. The trail shall have three turns.
3. Three multiple surfaces such as: vegetation, sand, dirt, asphalt and concrete will be used.
4. A minimum of a five (5) minute sent pool left by the trail layer will be incorporated.
5. Trail must be at least 45 minutes old.
6. Trail must be ½ to ¾ mile in length.
7. The team must find the trail layer to pass.

The starting location will be contaminated with at least three individual human scent. A scent article will be left by the trail layer. The handler will introduce the service dog to the scent article and will be given five (5) minutes to initiate the correct trail. The team must complete the three turns, work through the scent pool and find the track layer. The service dog can be rewarded after completing the trail and finding the trail layer.

The test will be PASS/FAIL.

Trailing team must pass three of the four phases and make the find to pass.

This certification will be valid for one year from the date issued.

 

TRAILING II

1. The team shall initiate the trail in a contaminated area (10 additional individuals) with a scent article left by the trail layer.
2. The trail shall have three turns.
3. The trail will have multiple surfaces and different conditions. Conditions can be traffic, intersections, residential, industrial, parks and urban contamination.
4. A minimum of a ten (10) minute scent pool will be left by the trail layer.
5. Trail must be at least 1 ½ hours old.
6. Trail must be one (1) mile long in length.
7. Team must find the trail layer to pass. The trail layer can be off the ground, in a vehicle, behind a door, concealed, or multiple individuals can be at the end of trail.

The starting location will be contaminated with at least ten (10) individual human scents. A scent article will be left by the trail layer. The handler will introduce the service dog to the scent article and will be given seven (7) minutes to initiate the trail. The team must complete the three turns, work through the scent pool and find the trail layer. The service dog can be rewarded after completing the trail and finding the trail layer.

The test will be pass/fail.

Trailing team must pass three of the four phases and make the find to pass.

This certification will be valid for 1 year from the date issued.