UKI US OPEN
The 2024 UKI US Open will take place from the
20th – 24th November 2024 at Jacksonville Equestrian Center, Florida.
The event is open to all dogs and all handlers and there is no qualification necessary to enter.
Focusing solely on dog agility, The UKI US Open is the pinnacle of UKI shows each year.
Dogs will be showcasing their agility abilities in Agility, Jumping, Speedstakes and Games classes.
Future dates for your diary for shows to be held at Jacksonville Equestrian Centre.
2025 – The Open will run from 19th – 23rd November.
US OPEN – 20th - 24th November 2024
The qualifying period is October 1st, 2023 – September 30th, 2024.
An overview of Byes and a US/West Coast Open Tracker which helps you to to keep track of your Q’s and byes can be downloaded here.
If you are interested in sponsoring this event or are interested in vending, please enquire at katie.ukiusopen@gmail.com
Announcements and updates for all US Open information will be published on the US Open Facebook page. Please like this page to keep up to date.
CUPS, CLASSICS AND FESTIVALS INFORMATION
Find out all the Cups, Classics and Festivals information by clicking here.
Cups, Classics and Festivals give you the opportunity to gain byes and automatic spots at the US Open and West Coast Open.
ALL ABOUT THE UKI US OPEN VENUE
Jacksonville Equestrian Center is eighty acres of paradise in Jacksonville, Florida. This exceptional multi-purpose facility is conveniently located with access from major interstates I-10 & I-295.
The short drive to beautiful beaches, exciting downtown Jacksonville & historical St. Augustine, make Jacksonville Equestrian Center
An event location that is more like a vacation!
2024 US OPEN JUDGES
ANDRE LANDRY
I grew up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia on Canada’s East Coast, but now live in Saint-Lazare, QC (just outside of Montreal) with my wife Elisabeth, our 3 kids, 6 dogs, 1 cat, 1 parrot, and 1 pony.
I’ve always been involved in sports (hockey, tennis, baseball, etc.), and I found agility when my wife joined a canine club in our home town in Nova Scotia – I was instantly hooked. I’ve been competing in agility for nearly 18 years. Since 2013, I’ve won Regional, National and World Championships with my border collie Crash and have had the honour of representing Canada on the international stage 15 times at various world championships (as a competitor), and in 2017 I was selected to be Team Captain for Canada at the European Open team in 2017.
I took up judging in 2014 and have been enjoying it ever since. I truly love the art of course design and presenting competitors with fun and challenging courses. I’ve had the opportunity to judge in both Canada & the USA at both qualifying trials as well as regional cup events in Canada which help determine the selection for Canada’s WAO team each year. Most recently, I had the pleasure of judging at the 2023 World Agility Open in The Netherlands.
I am extremely honoured to have the opportunity to judge at this wonderful event and I thank the organizing committee for extending the invitation. Best of luck to all competitors!
To view a sample of Andre’s courses, click here.
CLAUDETTE MO
Agility is my passion – it began in 2010, but it wasn’t until 2014, when I spent a year working in Brazil, that I discovered agility as a competitive sport, so different than my experiences up until then. Simba was my first agility dog and we were part of Team USA for the Americas & Caribe FCI Championships (A&C) in 2015, 2016 and 2017, becoming gold medalists in 2016, in Medellin, Colombia.
Currently I run with Nacho, a small poodle with a huge heart. Together we have traveled to Europe and South America, competing and training with the best in the world. Nacho was 2021 US Open Biathlon and 2022 Canadian Open Master Series champion. We have represented Brazil at the 2019 European Open, and the United States at 2019 A&C and 2022 WAO, thanks to my dual citizenship.
Besides my regular job working for a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization in the Pharmaceutical area, I teach skills for international style courses in workshops and as an instructor at Canine Sports Zone, Middleton, WI.
The hiatus in competition during the pandemic years allowed me to focus on another aspect of agility: course design. After studying with some of the best designers in the world, I wanted to know if American handlers would be interested in the type of courses trending in Europe. Hence, I became a UKI judge, as this is the organization in the US that most closely follows the current international style of agility. I am especially indebted to Petr Pupík, who has been my mentor in the quest to become a better course designer.
It’s a great honor to be one of judges for the US Open, my favorite national championship. I hope handlers will enjoy my fast and flowy courses with technical challenges that test skills and partnership between teammates. Good luck to all, enjoy every moment with your best canine partners!
To view a sample of Claudette's courses, click here.
IVAN AMEZ ALVAREZ
First of all I want to thank you for the opportunity to judge this great event, I am very happy for this invitation. My name is Iván Amez, I am 46 years old and I live in Asturias, in the north of Spain. I started doing agility in 2008 with my German shepherd Charly, currently I have a 7-year-old Spanish Water Dog. I am a competitor, agility instructor and judge, I also have a canine center where more than 100 dogs are trained. I became a judge in 2010 and in these years I have been lucky enough to judge big events in different parts of Spain and Europe. Among them: WAO World Cup, Netherlands Open CSJ, UK Iconix 2023 British Championship, UK FINALI CSEN – FIDASC, Italy European Festival, Jersey OpenGotor, Spain As a judge, I like to design and build courses that are smooth and safe for the dogs while challenging the handlers and their dogs. Thank you very much for the invitation and I am looking forward to learning about agility in your country!
To view a sample of Ivan’s courses, click here.
MARKO MÄKELÄ
I am Marko Mäkelä from Finland and I've been competing in agility since 1995, with various breeds - Shelties, Border Collies, Spanish Water Dogs, Papillon etc. At the moment my full-time job is teaching and coaching agility under my company Ykslysti. I do it in Finland and also in other countries.
I have now been a judge since the end of 2017. I feel truly honoured to be invited to judge already so many cool competitions both in Finland and internationally. Personally, I like to run challenging courses with speedy lines and hopefully with some possibilities to have variations both in dogs' lines and handling options. And of course, that's also my goal when I'm designing courses as a judge - to have a course with speed, a proper amount of challenge for the level of class, safe lines, options, and variations for handling and dogs' lines. I always enjoy seeing dogs and handlers having fun on the courses I judge and teach! It keeps me going on - the joy and fun of agility!
To view a sample of Marko’s courses, click here.
MIKE MURPHY
I started agility in 1999 and my dog, Bailey still holds multiple USDAA records including the 1st spot in multiple 12” Lifetime Top 10 Championship and Tournament classes. In addition, I represented the USA internationally 3 times and won the overall IFCS World Championship in 2008. I stepped out of agility in 2009 when we lost Bailey, who was my one heart dog. A few years ago, really good friends suggested I try judging and with a few AMAZING mentors, I am LOVING judging! I have been honored and have enjoyed judging local trials, Regionals, Classics, Cups and West Coast Open, all around North America. In 2020, I completed the Global Judging program and received my International Global Judging Accreditation. In 2022, I represented the USA internationally, as the WAO USA Team Manager along with 2 fabulous coaches! The feedback I hear often about my courses is the dogs love them, and the handler does a bit of running. I am excited to be judging with such an esteemed and fun group of judges. Best of luck to all of the teams competing at the US Open!
To view a sample of Mike’s courses, click here.
SANGIE BROOKS
I started agility in 2008 with my lab learning the basics about agility. A few years later an amazing border collie came into my life. As I started competing with Vette, my passion for agility was truly realized. I traveled the country competing at big events and meeting amazing people along the way. Vette and I had the honor of representing the USA on four international teams. At the 2017 WAO, Vette was a gold medalist winning the 24” Pentathlon event.
After all the amazing friends and experiences agility had brought into my life, I decided it was time to give back to the agility world by becoming a UKI judge in 2018. I had some fabulous mentors along the way. I look at every judging assignment and competition as a learning opportunity for future course design. My goal is to try and design open, fast, motivating courses that I want to run.
I have judged UKI competitions across the USA. This past year I got the honor of judging the Mile High Classic and the Morgan Hill Dog Sports Classic.
When not competing or judging UKI or AKC, you will find me at my day job as a senior operations manager for an accounting software company. I currently have four border collies, Vette, Creed, Krome, and Dexter.
I am super excited and honored to be invited to judge the US Open.
To view a sample of Sangie’s courses, click here.
