Auditing Spot – February 15-16, 2025, Scentwork Seminar with Hallie McMullen

Hallie McMullen has more than 25 years of experience training dogs. She began training drug and explosive detection dogs for law enforcement in 1996. She became certified as a detection dog trainer and evaluator in 2000 and continues to work with dogs. Hallie became involved in the competitive sport of scent detection in 2015 and became a judge for the NACSW. When the AKC took on the sport in 2017, Hallie was one of their original judges and now serves as an expert judge, helping others
who want to become judges. She teaches classes in Boise, Idaho year-round and travels to give seminars and judge trials.
She participates in other sports with her German Shepherds including herding, IGP, tracking, obedience, and conformation.

She will be presenting two one-day seminars:

Foundations and Fundamentals – Day 1
This seminar is open to dogs of all skill levels. We will work on introducing odor and developing
foundational basic skills in new dogs. The more experienced dogs will be working on
fundamentals, including odor recognition, indication behavior, and other skills vital to advancing
in scent work. We will use specific exercises and techniques to improve your dog’s accuracy
and motivation. You will leave with some fun games and exercises that you can continue to do
with your dog at home..

Advancing Your Skills – Day 2
This seminar is open to dogs that are already on odor and familiar with basic search concepts.
We will be working on improving and reading indication behavior. We will present the dogs with
a variety of search environments including blank rooms and unknown hides so the handlers can
work on recognizing and confidently working these challenges. We will also break down a
variety of specific hide types including high hides, odor convergence and inaccessible hides.
We will address building search endurance, recognizing frustration and clear area behaviors.