I was born in Gyor in 1988. Being a student at Budapest Business School, I currently live in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. I got to know agility in 2001, visiting a training session with my first dog, Bizsu, a miniature poodle. I am very grateful for her, to get to know this wonderful sport, that later became a part of my life, brought extraordinary experiences and a lot of friends. My second dog Witch, a border collie entered my life in 2007. Experience with a large dog resulted in a completely different world, full of new challenges. I reached National Champion titles and was member of the Hungarian Team numerous times, both at the EO and the World Championships.

Apart from running with my dogs, I’m related to agility in many other ways. I was the trainer of the Agility Team in Gyor between 2007-2012, the Teamleader between 2009-2012 and I was also member of the Hungarian Agility Committee between 2010-2012. I currently hold trainings at numerous clubs in Budapest for beginners up to master levels.

I was dreaming of becoming a judge since my first competitive years, so I was delighted to have the opportunity to start the education, and finally become an international agility judge in 2012. Throughout my international judging career, I have had the chance to judge in many foreign countries including Italy, Austria, Germany, Czeck Republic, Poland, Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, Serbia, Norway, Peru, Japan, Greece, France and I have got invitations for next year from Finland, Slovenia, Portugal. My main aim is to build technical and speedy courses that challenge the handlers as well as the dogs, and that are really exciting for spectators and fans too. I am personally very happy to see brilliant technical solutions and really energetic runs on my courses.

Taner Dogan discovered agility with his first dog, Safir, in 2014. His passion and dedication for agility brought him up to a competitive level very quickly. In 2019, he and his Border Collie CODE made it to the podium in several big events such as UKI West Coast Cup, USDAA Western Regional.

In 2021, Taner and his young BC, ICE, made the 2022 EO Team USA, and with his BC, CODE, the 2022 WAO Team USA, where he brought home Biathlon Championship Bronze Medal. He also competed in some other European events in 2022; Border Collie Classic, Polish Open, Slovenian Agility Open and Süßenbrunner Seenlauf.

Taner is also an agility instructor and UKI judge. He is currently teaching foundation and master international handling at Half Moon Bay Dog Sports in California and often holds workshops. He always follows the new trends and methods around the world to keep himself and his students up to date.

Apart from dog agility, he is a molecular and cellular biologist teaching multiple online biology classes at international universities.  He obtained his BS and PhD in Germany, and he has worked as a scientist in biotechnology in the Bay Area for 10 years.

I started agility in 1999 and my dog, Bailey still holds multiple USDAA records including the 1^st spot in all 12” Lifetime Top 10 Championship and Tournament classes.  In addition, Bailey and I represented the USA internationally 3 times culminating in winning the overall IFCS World Championship in 2008.  I stepped out of agility in 2009 when we lost Bailey, who was my one in a lifetime heart dog.

A few years ago, some of my best friends suggested I try judging, and with a few AMAZING mentors, I am LOVING judging!  I enjoyed serving as the USA WAO Team Manager from 2019 through 2022.   In 2020, I completed the Global Judging program and received my International Global Judging Accreditation. This past year, I have been honored and truly enjoyed judging local trials, Regionals, and I was one of the Inaugural UKI West Coast Open judges.   In addition to the US Open in Jacksonville in 2023, I am scheduled to judge Regionals, Cups, Classics and multiple local trials all over North America.

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!

Aaron Froude, originally from Newfoundland and currently living in New Brunswick Canada, has been competing in agility since 2010, and became a UKI judge in 2014.

Aaron is an agility coach with FlatOut Dogs, with students across the globe, and was WAO Team Canada coach for 2018 & 2019. FlatOut Dogs is also the host of the 2023 UKI Canadian Open.

Aaron has judged all across Canada, from local trials, numerous UKI Cup events, and the UKI Canadian Open in 2018. He also completed the Global Judging Program in early 2020, receiving his International Judging Accreditation.

He is super excited and honored to be invited again to judge at the US Open for the second year!

I have been involved in dog agility since 1993, competing in national events here in the US since 1997 and competing internationally at various events around Europe and the UK since 2010. I attended the inaugural World Agility Open in 2011 and won the 55cm biathlon with my border collie Drifter.

I decided to become a judge for UKI in 2018, with my primary goal being to learn to craft the types of courses I wanted to run myself. Having experience previously judging for another organization, and competing overseas in multiple venues, I hope to use that knowledge to create large, fun, fast, yet challenging courses for competitors to test their skills on. My goal is that even if a competitor doesn’t run clean, they should walk off the course having enjoyed attempting to master it. I very much look forward to judging at the US Open!

First things first – Thank you to UKI for the opportunity to come back 12 years later from judging the 2011 inaugural US Open in California, and judging the 2023 event in Florida.

I started agility in 1999 with my first Australian Shepherd, Tahoe, along with my wife and her rescue Australian Shepherd, Chase.  Currently I have two Aussies; my current competition dog, Elektra, who is 7 years old and my youngster, Tess, who is 10 months old. With Elektra’s mom, Boca, I had the honor of representing Team USA (2013-2015 WAO and 2015 IFCS), with multiple individual class placements, winning Team Gold at WAO 2013 and 2014 and she was the silver medalist in the 2015 IFCS Individual All-Around. In addition, Boca and I were the 2013 UKI US Open National Champion.

I have been judging since 2004 for UKI, USDAA and ASCA. My international and national judging experience has included:

• 2009 & 2010 USDAA Cynosports World Games
• 2011 Inaugural WAO (England)
• 2011 Inaugural US Open
• 2022 WAO (The Netherlands)

When designing courses, I look to challenge the handler to be actively engaged and timely in their commands when handling through what should be obvious and fast lines for the dog. Please be ready to run!

Good luck everyone!!!!!