08/04/2026
One Judge’s Perspective: So You Think That Hide Is Cool?
“That would be cool” is not a reason to place a trial hide. If that is the first thought, STOP. BACK AWAY SLOWLY. Good. Now start with the organization, the class, and the level.
Every level gives us a range of skills we are allowed to test. The available search area tells us which of those skills it is predisposed to support well. Possible hide locations come after that.
Starting with a location and trying to make it fit the parameters reverses the process. The requirements and the space should have already narrowed the choices before a location enters the conversation.
A trial hide first asks whether the team can meet the requirements of the class and level. Then we can argue about speed and ribbons. I mean, ribbons. Am I right? 🤫😉 Thinking, “That would be cool,” or, “That would be fun,” contributes nothing to that evaluation.
Training has a different purpose. A trainer may begin with a skill to isolate, a gap to expose, or several variables that need to be worked together. They may even set a “let’s see what happens” hide. Sometimes the location comes first. Sometimes the goal comes first. The WHY is usually some version of learning, stretch, or exposure.
That flexibility belongs in training. Setting a trial hide starts somewhere else.
BEGIN WITH THE LEVEL AND THE AREA
Before placing odor, whoever is responsible for setting the search needs to know the organization, class, level, element, number of hides, accessibility requirements, time limits, and any other rules controlling the search.
Then we look at the available spaces. Boundaries, airflow, surfaces, fixed objects, access, movement, safety, and the positions officials will need are already shaping the search before a hide is placed.
Now identify which level-appropriate skills each area is predisposed to support testing. Depending on the organization and level, that could include elevation, inaccessible odor, interacting odor, multiple hides, blank areas, or more complicated decisions for the team.
The area guides the choice. Walking into the site committed to a specific challenge makes it easy to force the space around an idea that does not fit it well.
The site may change the original assignments. A space planned for a higher level may produce a cleaner search for a lower one. Another space may better support the additional difficulty needed later in the progression.
We have to think.
When a space cannot support an appropriate search, address it with the trial committee. A clever placement cannot repair the wrong space for the class.
Only after the level, the available skills, and the area have been considered should possible hide locations enter the process.
CHECK THE COMPLETE CLASS AND TRIAL
Each placement joins a class that already has a shape. One area may ask for complicated odor. Another may restrict movement. Another may require the team to decide whether another hide remains.
That spread can give us a fuller picture of the skills required at the level. Repeating the same pressure in every area can turn the entire class into one long version of the same problem.
Look at what the team will encounter from beginning to end. The hide that works beautifully by itself can be the one that tips the complete class too far.
The search area may also be used for another level, another trial, or another day of searching. Hide selection has to account for what comes next.
Removing the scent vessel removes source. Cleaning, airing out the area, and using removable objects can help manage the space for later searches. Planning the order of classes or choosing another portion of the area may leave better options for everyone who follows.
Some associations require previous hide locations to be marked or disclosed when an area is reused. That can help officials account for lingering odor. From this judge’s perspective, I would rather choose placements that leave cleaner options for the next search than build the plan around those markings.
A location used in one class can limit everything that follows. When several other decisions have to change to preserve one hide, too much of the trial is being built around that location.
THE HIDE STILL HAS TO WORK
Once the level and the area have narrowed the choices, the possible locations have to survive reality.
The scent vessel needs to stay put when dogs nose, paw, push, or drive into source. Dogs of different sizes need a safe and appropriate way to work the location. Visibility from the start line and the paths available to the handler also have to fit the rules and the intended test.
A cold vessel can expose practical problems before odor is added. If the area keeps being changed to make one location technically possible, stop. The process has reversed again.
A visually unusual location can also affect the handler before the dog encounters odor. It may pull attention during the walkthrough or change where the handler expects source to be.
That handler demand has to belong in the class and level. “Everyone will second-guess it” is not a reason to keep the hide. Neither is, “They will all talk about this one afterward.”
CONFIRM THE SEARCH PICTURE
Once odor is added, the demo dog or dog in white shows us the search we built. The purpose of the run is to confirm that the hide is acting as intended and determine whether anything needs to change.
The search picture may not match the original prediction. That does not automatically make the search wrong. Sometimes the run reveals a different skill test that is still level appropriate and still at 100 for the class.
The placement changes when the search picture falls outside that. A meaningful adjustment needs another test run.
Finding source answers one question. It does not tell us whether the hide created the intended challenge, whether the difficulty fits the level, or whether concerning behavior during the run should be ignored.
“The dog found it” cannot end the evaluation.
This is one reason familiar “boring” locations appear so often at trials. Experience gives officials a reasonable expectation of the search picture those placements are likely to produce. We often understand their security, accessibility, and likely odor behavior better.
That understanding can get us closer to the goal without adding variables the class does not need. Familiarity may show that the person setting the search understands what the placement is likely to produce.
If an unusual location survives the process, fine. It stayed because the area supported the skill, the placement fit the complete trial, and the test run produced an appropriate search. It did not earn bonus points for being interesting.
Most locations first considered because “that would be cool” should be gone before this point.
WHAT COMPETITORS CAN TAKE FROM THIS
Do not get distracted by the cool thing. The object or location holding the hide does not tell you what the search will ask of your team.
Run your plan. Trust your training and your team. Let the dog’s behavior and the developing search picture guide your decisions.
Afterward, look at what the search was doing to test the team’s ability. Where did the difficulty develop? What information did the dog have available? How did the dog work through it, and how did the handler respond?
Do not take “it was on X thing” back into training. Take back the odor picture and the skills the team needed to work through it.
For the person setting the search, the order is the point: organization, class, and level first. Then identify which level-appropriate skills the area is predisposed to support testing. Locations come after that.
If “that would be cool” is still the best reason for the hide, STOP. BACK AWAY SLOWLY.
For the competitor, do not let the cool thing become the lesson. The lesson is what the search asked your team to do.
