NNA Trials
NNA Trials are scentwork competitions held throughout the year at diverse and exciting venues across the UK. Designed to challenge and inspire, these nosework trials offer something for every handler-dog team - whether you’re aiming for personal progression, competitive success, or both.
Each trial stage increases in complexity, gradually developing your dog’s skills and your teamwork as a handler. You’ll move from surface hides to more advanced, inaccessible placements, with distractions becoming more sophisticated and search areas growing in size. As the difficulty rises, so does the need for stamina, focus, and communication.
At every trial, judges assess handler-dog teams in three key areas: Team Confidence, Area Coverage, and Indication. While each search has a time limit, speed is not the main focus - instead, it’s about precision, thoroughness, and working in sync with your dog.
We celebrate success in multiple ways. Alongside naming a winner and runner-up at each trial, we honour consistency with our Skill Awards, recognising excellence within each element of a stage. For those unforgettable moments of true partnership, our judges may also present the prestigious Synergy Award - a special recognition of complete harmony between dog and handler.
Whether you're new to scentwork trials or striving for high level performance, NNA Trials offer the perfect platform to test, learn, and shine together.
In order to take part in The NNA trials you need to join as a member. Membership is £15 per person per year and £7 per dog for their entire nosework career.
What sets NNA Trials Apart?
Live venues
One of the things that sets NNA Trials apart is our use of exciting, real-world venues.
From football stadiums, museums, and army barracks to farms, schools, livery yards, factories, and even go-kart centres, our live search locations bring a whole new level of challenge and adventure.
These live environments help prepare dog & handler for unpredictable conditions, sharpen focus, and offer an engaging experience far beyond the standard village hall.
Larger search areas
Larger search areas are a key part of developing advanced scentwork skills.
They challenge teams to search for longer periods, maintain focus, and confidently clear blank areas.
As you progress, you'll learn to plan and manage your search strategy together - building teamwork, stamina, and adaptability across a wide variety of complex environments.
It's not a race
Our trials are about the team confidence and the partnership required to cover a search area.
The dogs are the ones with the amazing noses but the handler plays such a big part. It shouldn't be about how fast the dog is, it should show a great partnership, a unity, a synergy of handler and dog.
NNA trials can either focus on the competitive element which many of us love, or the focus can be personal progression with individual elements to pass and awards for consistency. As the NNAs strapline declares, it's not just a trial – it's a training plan.
How to get involved
Ready to put your training to the test? NNA Trials are open to members looking to challenge themselves, track their progress, and enjoy the thrill of competition. With stages to suit all levels and exciting venues across the UK, it’s time to enter a trial and see what you and your dog can achieve.
Skills Awards
At NNA Trials, it’s not just about where you place overall, we also celebrate consistency and progress through our Skills Awards.
When you pass all the elements of a trial stage twice, you’re eligible to move up to the next stage. But if you pass an individual element three times, you’ll earn a Skills Award for that specific element.
Collect a full set of Skills Awards by passing each element three times - it's a fantastic way to showcase your ongoing achievement!
Once you’ve got your three passes, just complete the Skills Award request form and we’ll send your badges free of charge. It’s a well-earned mark of dedication and teamwork between you and your dog.
Remember: To be eligible for league-table points, skill awards must be applied for in the calendar year in which the stage is completed.
League Tables
The NNA League Tables are designed to reward consistency, progression, and teamwork throughout the trial season. By competing in trials, teams earn points for gaining element badges, trial placings and gaining Skill Awards.
There are 3 League Tables
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Foundation & Pre-Entry
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Entry to Elite
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Spirit to Sovereign
Each year we celebrate achievements at our Annual Event with rosettes for Breed Group Winners, Young Handler, League table top 10 and our League Table Winners collect their trophies.
Whether you're aiming for the top or celebrating personal growth, the league offers an exciting way to track progress and be part of a community that values every stage of the journey.
Title Challenges
The NNA Title Challenges are a unique opportunity for top scentwork teams to earn a Title. Teams who have demonstrated consistency at Excellent and above will be invited to compete in a Title Challenge Event.
Those who succeed will earn elite post-nominals: NNA ET (Excellent), EE (Elite), ST (Spirit), or SE (Supreme) - marking their achievement as among the best in the sport. These titles celebrate dedication, skill, and the incredible teamwork that defines the heart of scentwork.
Title Challenges
Hall of Fame
Earning an NNA Title is a prestigious milestone, reserved for dogs already performing at an exceptional level.
From Excellent stage onward, teams can take on a dedicated challenge to pursue this distinguished scentwork Title.
These challenges offer a unique opportunity to demonstrate the exceptional nosework ability that sets these teams apart.
Excellent Stage Title Holders:
Elite, Spirit & Supreme Stage Title Holders:
Who will be the first to achieve these prestigious titles? Watch this space!