The College of Scent Dogs.
“The Science of Scent. The Art of Excellence”
This wasn’t just the best Scent-Detection Course I’ve been on… It was the BEST Dog Training course (EVER!) I’ve been on!
Sarah (Scent-Detection 2025)
Meet ‘The College’, we are here to help…
We’ve helped hundreds of trainers walk this exact path. Led by Dr Robert Hewings and a nationally respected team of subject-matter experts, The College of Scent Dogs trains the trainer. We provide rigorous, evidence-based education aligned with recognised City & Guilds professional standards, so the skills you learn are real, the credentials you earn are genuine, and the methods you take away are ones you can confidently deliver to the dog owners you’ll go on to coach.
Built on Compassion, Science and Integrity
We train and mentor trainers who are not only technically excellent but guided by an unwavering commitment to the welfare of every dog they will ever teach. Every method we teach, every credential we award and every trainer we support reflects our founding belief: that the highest levels of professional performance are always achieved through compassion, science and integrity. Never through force, fear or coercion. And because you’ll be coaching guardians as well as dogs, we show you how to pass that same ethos on, using kind, effective, evidence-based training that ripples out through every owner and every dog you coach and train.
This is how the best results in the world are built. On trust, not fear. It’s better for the dogs, better for the guardians you’ll guide, and better for the professional reputation you carry forward into everything you do.
Great Trainers Create Great Dogs! We Create Great Trainers
Every dog is born to do extraordinary things. Every dog is born to do extraordinary things. Beneath the wagging tail and the waiting eyes lies one of the most powerful scenting machines on earth. It’s an instinct so precise it can find a single drop of oil in an industrial warehouse, unravel a trail hours old, and pluck a person’s scent from the wind itself. But that potential rarely unlocks itself. It takes a skilled trainer to draw it out, someone who can coach both the dog and its guardian to work as one. That trainer is you, and shaping you into that expert is exactly what we do.
Something is standing in your way. There’s a problem stalking our industry, and it’s hurting good trainers, good guardians and good dogs alike. The market is flooded with worthless, printed-at-home ‘certificates’ that promise the world and prove nothing. Outdated methods built on force, fear and coercion still betray the very animals we claim to love. Dog owners can’t tell the genuine professional from the pretender, and talented trainers are left holding paper that means nothing when it matters most.
You deserve better, and so does every trainer, guardian and dog. Your future clients, the guardians who will trust you with their dogs, deserve better. Their dogs deserve better. And you, the trainer, deserve better. You deserve education that stands up to scrutiny, credentials that open doors, and proven methods you can pass on with pride to every owner you go on to teach.
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City & Guilds Assured Scent Detection
Train dogs to locate target odours accurately while helping handlers read and build confidence, giving their dog the best. Build reliable, confident scent detection teams every time.
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New Courses Soon!
By popular demand, they are on their way! Exciting new courses that will add so much more to your training portfolio. Things are just getting better…
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City & Guilds Assured Track, Trail & Find
We'll provide you with trusted techniques, practical scenarios, and the confidence to train any dog to follow that vital track. Whether it's for pet-dog enjoyment, lost dogs, or conservation, the choice is yours!
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Scent Detection Training Equipment Shop
Discover high-quality scent detection tools designed by experienced handlers with proven operational expertise. Our equipment is trusted in real-world training, nosework, tracking, and scent detection scenarios. Still the original, still the best.
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Graduate Membership Beyond Foundations
Advance your knowledge and skills in scent detection with our exclusive Graduate Membership. Designed for professional handlers and instructors, this membership provides ongoing education, expert guidance, and access to advanced scent training resources.
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Scent Sessions, Short Video Knowledge Blasts!
Enhance your skills with Scent Sessions, short, focused online training for scent detection handlers and instructors. Learn about airflow, odour movement, discrimination, false alerts, and foundation training plus more! in bite-sized, practical lessons you can apply immediately.
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Meet Our Expert Instructors
We'll teach you how to turn the greatest game of hide and seek into a professional skill! Training dogs to follow human scent and handlers to trust the trail, every time goes here
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Bringing the Book To Life, Our Online Learning
Dive deeper than the book! Our online courses bring Dr. Rob's methods to life with video demonstrations, real-world scenarios, and expert guidance at your own pace. goes here
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The Consultancy Services, Here to Help
The College of Scent Dogs Consultancy provides professional guidance for handlers, instructors, and organisations working in scent detection, tracking, mantrailing, and operational canine deployment. Our services include training audits, program design, and expert advice to improve dog performance, handler skills, and search reliability goes here
Get in Touch
Whether you have a question, an idea, or just want to say hello, feel free to reach out. We’re here to help.
Your Journey starts here
Success stories from our training community
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I've already completed the tracking course last year which was phenomenal. This year I'm doing scent detection with my blind rescue and, yes, another phenomenal course...
Lou. (Scent Detection)
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Exceptional training- A huge boost for my business!
Hanna (Scent Detection)
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I cannot believe how much HydroTrailing has improved my mantrailing classes!
Amanda B. (Mantrailing)
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I highly recommend the College of Scent Dogs Mantrailing course. From the start, I felt I was in the right place.
Hollie. (Mantrailing)
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You will not attend a better course, it was brilliant.
Anna. (Tracking)
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This course was amazing, I've done other trainer courses (Names removed) but these are the BEST!
Emma. (Scent Detection)
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The videos are so informative, and detailed. Thank you Dr Rob, can you post more?
Melissa (Ohio. USA)