On June 7, CANINE.NZ hosted an Intermediate and Novice Buried Hides trial at the beautiful Corban Estate Arts Centre in Henderson.
This event marked our first time using Corban Estate as a trial venue, and we could not have asked for a better location. The estate provided a unique urban environment with a variety of search areas, interesting scenting conditions, and plenty of opportunities to challenge both dogs and handlers.
Our Intermediate trial was judged by Gaye Stammers, Kerryn Johnson, Rob Peterson, and Sam Murdie. The afternoon Novice Buried Hides elements were judged by Susie Londer and Adele Williams.
Intermediate Trial
Intermediate teams were first on the roster, taking on searches throughout the estate grounds and surrounding urban environment.
As a public venue, Corban Estate brought plenty of real world challenges. Throughout the morning, teams encountered members of the public, other dogs, cyclists, and unexpected activity happening around the grounds.
What none of us expected, however, was a cultural parade complete with performers, fans, music, and a giant dragon making its way through the venue.
Yes, a dragon.
While certainly not part of our trial planning, it created a memorable challenge for competitors and provided an excellent test of environmental resilience. We are pleased to report that most teams took the disruption in stride and continued to work confidently despite the additional distractions.
For a completely new venue with constantly changing environmental conditions, the dogs performed exceptionally well. Fifteen of the twenty teams successfully qualified, resulting in an impressive 75% qualification rate.
We were especially proud to see eight Scent Squad teams earn qualifying scores.
Congratulations to:
- Rob Mosen and Ranger, Highest Qualifying Team
- Emma Ruck and Echo, Runner Up
- Nina Hannert-Nimmo and Chewie, recipients of the Judge's Choice Award for their outstanding Interior search
- Lia McKenzie and Kira, recipients of the Judge's Choice Award for their excellent Vehicle search
Seeing so many Scent Squad members succeed at this level is a testament to the dedication, training, and teamwork that these teams bring to every search.
Novice Buried Hides
The afternoon saw competitors tackle both Sand and Water Buried Hides.
Buried Hides are a unique challenge, requiring dogs to work through odor movement and pooling while maintaining confidence and commitment to source.
Sand Buried Hides
The Sand element proved to be the more challenging of the two buried hide searches, with six of eighteen teams successfully qualifying.
We were happy to see four Scent Squad teams earn qualifying scores in this element.
One standout moment came from Rob Mosen and Envy, who located a challenging threshold container hide in just 11.32 seconds. It was an impressive demonstration of odor recognition, commitment, and teamwork, and one of the fastest searches of the day.
Water Buried Hides
The Water element saw fourteen of eighteen teams qualify, demonstrating strong odor commitment and problem solving from many of the dogs.
Five Scent Squad teams successfully qualified in Water.
A special congratulations goes to Tegan Coxen and Moose, who were awarded the Judge's Choice Award for their outstanding Water search.
Whether teams left with a ribbon, a qualifying score, or simply more experience, every search offered valuable learning opportunities and another step forward in each team's scent work journey.
Thank You to Our Sponsor
A huge thank you to Animals Like Us for their continued support of our events.
Every competitor received an Animals Like Us sample in their competitor goodie bag, ensuring every team went home with a little something extra from the day.
Animals Like Us also generously sponsored our major award winners, providing a 1.5 kg bag of RawMix50 to our Highest Qualifying Team, Runner Up Team, and all Judge's Choice Award recipients across both the Intermediate and Buried Hides trials.
Community support from sponsors like Animals Like Us helps us continue to recognise the achievements of our competitors while delivering quality events for the scent work community.
Thank You to Our Volunteers
Events like these simply do not happen without an incredible group of volunteers working behind the scenes.
A special thank you goes to Supreet Chadha, whose contribution to CANINE.NZ extends far beyond trial day. Supreet assists with administration, event preparation, photography, merchandise production, judge gifts, and countless behind the scenes jobs that keep everything moving forward.
Through her photography business, Mustard Bloom Media, she captures many of the moments that make our events memorable. Through her printing business, Browse in Style, she produced our new 2026 Scent Squad merchandise, volunteer vests, and this year's judge gifts.
Supreet was also the person who first sourced Corban Estate as a potential trial venue, and we were excited to finally bring an event to this fantastic location.
We would also like to thank our amazing Scent Squad volunteers:
Briar, Nina, Sylvia, Zoe, Lia, Ingrid, Rob, Tegan, Danielle, Emma, Wendy, Rachael Conrad, Rachel Fox, and everyone else who gave their time to help make this event possible.
From stewarding and set up to pack down and competitor support, your efforts are what allow these events to run successfully.
Looking Forward
A special shout out also goes to Rachel Fox and her husband Aaron Fox, who helped us roll out our new live call board system.
The system allowed competitors to easily track trial progress throughout the day and contributed significantly to the smooth flow of the event. As with any new system, there are improvements we would like to make, but the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and we look forward to continuing to develop it throughout the remainder of the 2026 trial season.
Finally, thank you to every competitor, volunteer, judge, and supporter who joined us at Corban Estate.
Whether you came home with a ribbon, a qualification, a title leg, or simply new information to guide your training, we hope you enjoyed the day as much as we enjoyed hosting it.
We look forward to seeing you at our next CANINE.NZ event.