  We propose some scenarios to pursue dark matter searches at the LHC in a
fairly model-independent way. The first benchmark case is dark matter
co-annihilations with coloured particles (gluinos or squarks being special
examples). We determine the masses that lead to the correct thermal relic
density including, for the first time, strong Sommerfeld corrections taking
into account colour decomposition. In the second benchmark case we consider
dark matter that couples to SM particles via the Z or the Higgs. We determine
the couplings allowed by present experiments and discuss future prospects.
Finally we present the case of dark matter that freezes out via decays and
apply our results to invisible Z and Higgs decays.
