THE RULES
The standard is only as good as the rules that protect it. Everything here exists to make sure what you built with your dog gets a fair chance to reveal itself.
ENTRIES
Any breed may enter a DDT trial, including mixed breeds. No experience requirements, no prerequisites. If you and your dog are ready to work, DDT is ready for you.
Entries are managed through DDT Pro. Find a trial, register your dog, and the rest takes care of itself. Your division, your record, your results all live in one place and follow you through every trial you enter. Trials offer up to 4 elements per level, with no more than one dog per handler per level.
Each host sets the entry limit for their trial. When a trial is full, DDT Pro manages the waitlist automatically. If a spot opens, the next team in line is moved in. If you can no longer attend a trial you have entered, please withdraw your registration in DDT Pro as soon as possible. Every spot matters to the team waiting behind you.
Membership
A valid DDT Pro membership is required to enter and qualify at any trial. Memberships are valid for the full calendar year, January 1 through December 31. From the moment you join, your membership opens every trial on the calendar and every result you earn is recorded and waiting for you in DDT Pro.
This is where your journey in the sport lives.
Nervous & Reactive Dogs
Every team's journey is different and DDT respects that. Nervous and reactive dogs are welcome here. Judges will be present in the search area and need to be able to see your dog work and indicate, but will give space where possible.
The safety and wellbeing of every dog, handler, and person on site is a shared priority. If safety or welfare becomes a concern at any point, the host or judge may excuse you from the trial. Their decision is final.
Bitches in Season
Bitches in season may run at the end of the day where odour placement allows, at the host's discretion. Please give your host as much notice as possible. The earlier they know, the better they can plan around it.
If the host is unable to accommodate your bitch at that trial, you will receive a credit to use at a future trial.
Fees
DDT trials are priced per event. The prices listed here reflect a 4 element trial, which covers the vast majority of events on the calendar. The same standard, the same format, the same honest measure of what your team has built, wherever in the world you are competing.
UK: £85. US: $100.
Payment is arranged through your trial host. Everything else is managed through DDT Pro.
Venue & Trial Day
DDT runs year-round, indoors and outdoors, in real working venues. No odour may be placed in a trial venue within one week of the event. On trial day, odour placement is for the judge only. This includes competitors' vehicles. You are welcome to bring an odour tin for your dog to nose touch before your run.
Hosts may set up a practice area on the day, though this is not required.
DDT runs in all conditions. In truly extreme weather it is at the judge's discretion whether the trial proceeds. The safety and welfare of every dog and handler is always the priority.a
Levels & Progression
DDT has four levels: Preliminary, Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced. Every competitor may start at any level and move up whenever they feel ready. It is your journey to pace. Handlers may request a time check during their run.
Preliminary opens the sport to every team regardless of experience. A five minute search, one hide, never more than a meter off the floor, and your dog will always be able to get their nose to source. It is designed to be achievable. What it measures is real.
Novice asks more. Still five minutes, but now two hides. The first is Preliminary standard. The second may be higher, deeper, or more complex but it will never exceed what Novice allows. Your dog is being asked to work harder. The search knows the difference.
Intermediate is where the search stops telling you everything. Eight minutes, between one and three hides, and handlers do not know how many. Dogs may or may not reach source. The work is genuine and the standard reflects it.
Advanced is the full expression of what this sport asks. Eight minutes, zero to four hides, and nothing is guaranteed except the standard. Hides may be buried. The search will ask everything your team has.
Once established at a level, moving back down is not permitted except in limited circumstances. To request a division change, email info@detectiondogtrials.com.
Winning Out
Three qualifying scores of 80 or above at Preliminary and the Sapphire Title is yours. Novice is waiting. Five at Novice earns the Ruby Title and Intermediate opens. Eight at Intermediate earns the Emerald Title and the door to Advanced.
Every trial is another opportunity to meet the standard. When the last score lands, DDT Pro records it, the title is yours, and the next level is ready for you. Every team that has ever moved up did it the same way. One qualifying score at a time.
Your journey, your pace, your moment.
Moving Down a Division
There are two circumstances in which a team may request to move down one division.
If your dog moves up in odour tiers, your team may drop one division level to allow for the adjustment. If you chose to start above Preliminary and the level proves too much for your dog, you may request to move down once — provided you have not scored 80 points or won out at that level.
Neither exception applies to any team that has won out or been promoted through the standard. To request a division change, email info@detectiondogtrials.com.
Not For Competition
Any team may enter any level Not For Competition, regardless of where they are currently competing. NFC runs are not scored and do not count toward titles or progression. They are simply an opportunity to work your dog at a different level, in a different environment, without the pressure of the result.
The search is the same. The standard is the same. The only thing that changes is what you are asking of yourself that day.
Elements
Each trial offers up to 4 elements per level, with every element carrying the full rules and timings of its division. Five minutes at Preliminary and Novice. Eight minutes at Intermediate and Advanced. Each element is its own search, its own environment, its own result.
First through fourth place is awarded per element. Every search judged on its own merits. A team can place in one element and not another. What you build in that search area stands on its own, every time.
Where a trial has two elements, hosts may run both consecutively with a four minute break between. Typically all of Element 1 runs before Element 2 begins.
Odour
DDT competes on a wide range of odours, grouped into tiers. Higher tiers receive additional search time to reflect the complexity of the work. Tier 1 odours run at standard search time. Tier 2 adds two minutes. Tier 3 adds four.
Hosts generally supply odours for their trial. If an odour is specialist, hard to source, or licence-controlled, the competitor provides it. The host will allow time in the running order for the handoff to the judge. If an odour requires a licence, both the host and competitor must hold a valid licence to handle it.
Multiple hides must be at least 3 meters apart indoors and 5 meters apart outdoors. Where a solid barrier fully separates hides and odour cannot pass between them, this does not apply.
Full odour tier listings, preparation protocols, and the complete reference table are available at detectiondogtrials.com/odour-tiers.
Scoring
The qualifying score is 80 points. The same threshold at every level, for every team, at every trial anywhere in the world. Whatever the venue, whatever the conditions, whatever the day brings, the standard is always the same.
High In Trial is the highest scoring team across all levels and elements on the day. Reserve High In Trial is the team behind them. Both qualify for the annual championships at any division, as does first place in any element. It does not care what division you are running or where you came from. It only looks at the work your team did together.
Where runs tie within an element, the overseeing judge reviews and makes the call. Tie breaker values apply to element placements only and do not affect overall trial scoring, title calculations, or High In Trial.
Championships
Championships are held each February for all qualifiers from the previous year. One qualification is all it takes to earn your place. Win an element, take High In Trial or Reserve High In Trial, and the invitation is yours.
Preliminary has two championship events each year. One in August for teams that qualify before the end of July, and one in February with everyone else. Preliminary teams move quickly through the level and the sport recognises that.
If you qualify at a level and move up before championships are held, you may still compete at the level you qualified at, provided you have not also qualified at your new level.
Everything earned. Everything recorded. All of it waiting for you in DDT Pro.