A dog’s nose led it to victory after entering a scent competition.

Rosie the cockapoo and her owner Linda Flynn from Rickmansworth leapt into first place at the first World Scent Detection Assocation (WSDA) competition on May 27 in Buckinghamshire.

Ms Flynn, a teacher in Northwood, said: “Rosie is a fast, lively dog who benefits so much from doing the course.

“She enjoys the mental stimulation from doing both the active and passive searches.

The competition was organised by Jamie Pound who hosted and judged the competition, he also helped train the dogs in the competition.

Rosie, two, and her owner initially attended the courses to practice agility, however, the cockapoo proved to be more adept at scent training.

Ms Flynn said: “Along with plenty of walks, my cockapoo needs the mental stimulation that the scent detection classes give her.

“We do the classes in all weathers and it can be quite cold standing on a frosty field, or doing a man hunt in the woods when it is snowing, but it’s always fun.”

In second place was Roxy, a black cockapoo, and third was Ludo a cocker spaniel.

The competition consisted of red toys hidden on a track - dogs have a hard time seeing red so the competition forced the dogs to use their nose, although with plenty of distractions as ball pits were installed on the track.

Then they had to find clues in a mock murder scene finding hidden gun oil buds in a tents to be completed in three minutes.

Rosie’s time was one minute, twenty three seconds.

Immediately the search progressed to the second tent where the dog and handler were confronted by models of three world leaders: Barack Obama, Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump slumped in chairs and had to find a scent buried in the grass.

This had to be completed within three minutes, although Rosie managed it in one minute and two seconds.

Ms Flynn added: “I think that I have learned as much as Rosie. I now find that I watch my dog’s body language as carefully as she watches mine.”

“Perhaps I should change her name from Rosie to Nosy?”