Six hundred handler and dog partnerships will be invited to compete at the 1-TDC Invitational in Chicago, at the Canlan Sports facility in Barrington, IL, held from March 25th to 28th 2027.
Invitations to compete at the 1-TDC Invitational will be based upon results gained at UKI International Challenge Events (ICE), the US Open, Canadian Open or the West Coast Open.
The event is comprised of a WAO style Pentathlon, Biathlon and Games Challenge, culminating in a Blue Ribbon Final.
Byes will be awarded from the 1-TDC Invitational to the three UKI Opens for 2027 and 5 WAO spots will be awarded in the equivalent heights, allowing handlers to choose to represent their country or to run as a Wildcard in 2028.
The event will take place at the Canlan Sports facility on the following dates in the future;
2028 - March 30 - April 2
2029 - March 29 - April 1
2030 - March 28 - March 31
Qualification for the 1-TDC Invitational
The event will be open to 600 dogs.
- 121 partnerships will be invited from winning an Overall ICE.
- 379 partnerships will be invited due to their results at the
- Canadian Open
- West Coast Open
- US Open
- 80 dogs will be invited from a seeded random draw.
- 20 dogs will be invited from an international pool.
WAO Win on Spot.
In the 8”, 12”, 16”, 20” and 24” height categories there will be one win on spot to the 2028 World Agility Open for the partnership to compete in all 3 individual events.
The partnership may choose to run for their country at the WAO, thus gaining their country an extra dog in that height, or the partnership may choose to run at WAO under the Wildcard flag.
From the overall result in the Biathlon, the Games, the Pentathlon and the Blue Ribbon Final, using cumulative points, a points system will be used where first place equals 1 point, second place equals 2 points, third place equals 3 points, scoring down to last place.
The partnership with the lowest points total gains the Win on Spot.
Class Name | Summary of Class |
Biathlon | Jumping round and an Agility round with the results combined |
Games Challenge | Snooker round and Gamblers round with the results combined. |
Pentathlon | Two Jumping rounds, two Agility rounds and a Steeplechase round with the results combined. Faults are converted to seconds on a 1:1 ratio. |
Challenger Round | Agility class that is a one-off round for those that have not qualified for the North American Championship Final. The winner of this class gains a place in the 1-TDC Blue Ribbon Final. |
The 1-TDC Blue | Qualifying from the three events, Biathlon, Pentathlon and Games. The Final will be a one off agility class as a stand alone result. |
Byes to be Gained for Future Events from the 1-TDC Invitational 2027
Biathlon Overall Winner
Winner in each height gains the following byes.
- Automatic bye into the UKI Stakes final at the West Coast Open 2027
- Round 2 bye at the Canadian Open 2027
- Guaranteed run in the Biathlon Agility at the US Open 2027
Pentathlon Overall Winner
Winner in each height gains the following byes.
- Automatic bye into the Masters Final at the US Open 2027
- Automatic bye into the Masters Final at the Canadian Open 2027
- Guaranteed run in the Pentathlon Steeplechase at the West Coast Open 2027
Games Overall Winner
Winner in each height gains the following byes.
- Guaranteed run in the Gamblers at the Canadian Open 2027
- Guaranteed run in the Gamblers at the West Coast Open 2027
- Guaranteed run in the Gamblers at the US Open 2027
The 1-TDC Blue Ribbon Final Winner
Winner in each height gains the following byes.
- Automatic bye into the UKI Stakes final at the West Coast Open 2027
- Guaranteed run in the Pentathlon Steeplechase at the West Coast Open 2027
- Guaranteed run in the Gamblers at the West Coast Open 2027
- Automatic bye into the National Final at the US Open 2027
- Automatic bye into the Masters Final at the US Open 2027
- Automatic bye into the Speedstakes Final at the US Open 2027
- Automatic bye into the National Final at the Canadian Open 2027
- Automatic bye into the Masters Final at the Canadian Open 2027
- Guaranteed run in the Gamblers at the Canadian Open 2027
ABOUT THE 1-TDC INVITATIONAL VENUE
Canlan Sports Lake Barrington is the leading sports complex in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, featuring an olympic-sized turf, 4 regulation sized sport-floor courts, volleyball and basketball courts, a walking/running track, training center, event rooms and full service, licensed food and beverage. Canlan Sportsplex is located at 28156 West Northpointe Parkway, Barrington, IL 60010.
Click here to visit the venue website
2027 1-TDC INVITATIONAL 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 Montreal) with my wife Elisabeth, our three kids, six dogs, one cat, and one parrot.
I’ve always been involved in sports (hockey, tennis, baseball, etc.), and I discovered canine agility when my wife joined a club in our hometown of Truro, Nova Scotia in 2006 — I was instantly hooked. I’ve now been competing in agility for 20 years. Since 2013, I’ve won Regional, National, and World Championships with my border collie Crash, and have had the honour of representing Canada internationally 15 times at various world championships as a competitor. Outside of the ring, I’ve also had the privilege of serving as Team Captain for Canada at the 2017 European Open, and later as Team Coach for the Canadian WAO team that competed in The Netherlands in 2024.
In addition to competing, I began instructing and judging in 2014 and have thoroughly enjoyed being involved in the sport from both perspectives. I have a relaxed approach to training dogs and tend to draw on a variety of elements rather than strictly adhering to a single methodology. This allows me to adapt to each individual team and provide meaningful feedback based on the current skill level of both the dog and handler. As a judge, I particularly enjoy the art of course design and creating courses that are both fun and challenging for competitors. I’ve had the opportunity to judge in both Canada and the United States at qualifying trials as well as Regional Cup events in Canada that help determine selection for Canada’s WAO team each year. More recently, I had the pleasure of judging at the 2023 World Agility Open in The Netherlands and the 2024 and 2025 UKI US Open in Jacksonville, Florida.
Looking forward to working with you and your furry companions in March 2027!
To view a sample of Andre’s courses, click here.
JURAJ RUZA
I have discovered Agility in 2008, getting my first sport dog – Patterdale terrier. It was an instant love at first sight. Since then, I have competed in 3 classes (Small, Medium and Large) and represented Slovakia many times over as a member of the Slovak National Team. I am active, not only as a competitor, but I managed to add different roles to my profile: Organizer of International events, Trainer, Team Leader, Breeder and for the past 8 years also Judge. These different roles give me the perfect opportunity to offer my own view and perception of this amazing sport.
I became a National Judge in 2019 and then, two years later, International Judge. Until now I have judged in 21 countries, important competitions included EO/AWC tryouts , JOAWC tryouts, FMBB tryouts, JOAWC in 2025 and various National Championships and big events like Moravia Open, Midsummer Festival or Alpine Agility Open.
In my courses I like to offer safe, smooth and fluent lines, which can test a combination of speed and technical skills, but most importantly, I like to give handlers and dogs the element of fun and good energy.
I will spare no efforts to deliver my best judging work and cheer all the participants, wishing them clear mind, fast feet, good luck, but most importantly, enjoyment of the teamwork with their dog friends in all their runs.
To view a sample of Juraj’s courses, click here.
ROMAN LUKAC
My name is Roman Lukáč and I’m 34 years old. I was born in Bratislava (Slovakia) and I have lived there for my whole life. In 2014, I completed Masters study at University of Law in Bratislava and nowadays I’m working as a lawyer in a Slovak law firm.
It is possible to say that I was “born“ to agility, as my parents established this special sport in Slovakia, when I was a child. I started my agility career when I was 7 years old with our family dog Tomi – breed Lhasa Apso. For my 10th birthday, I got the most beautiful present from my parents, my first Border Collie named Baileys. I represented Slovakia with her in 2004 for the first time at Agility World Championship in Italy. In following years, I have been competing at Agility World Championship and European Open many times, later on I also have been a team leader and team assistant. During my career of handler, I have been competing and training in all height categories with our dogs or dogs of my friends. Nowadays I’m enjoying agility with my 9 years old Border Collie named Metaxa and each year I am also the organizer of many agility competitions together with our club. I have been Slovak delegate of FCI Agility Commission since 2015 with the motivation to help improve worldwide agility.
I became an agility judge at the beginning of the year 2012 and from this time I have been trying to improve myself in judging and also course designing. Until today I have judged outside Slovakia in 28 other European countries, Canada, USA and Indonesia. In 2016 I judged the Junior European Open (nowadays JOAWC) as a home judge and in 2025 I judged the European Open in Portugal. Excepting the basic conditions of course designing, which are for me the in accordance with the rules and the safety, I’m trying to design a kind of challenge for handlers and their dogs. I’m always the most satisfied with courses that let handlers solve situations with different handling options and at the same time enjoy speed and fluency while showing all different skills of the team.
I feel honoured to be part of the judges team of the 1-TDC Invitational 2027 and am looking forward verymuch to meeting all competitors on the agility field there 😊
To view samples of Roman's courses, click here.
SANGIE BROOKS
Sangie found agility in 2008 with her lab Lexie. A few years later an amazing border collie came into her life. Once she started competing with Vette, her passion for agility was truly realized. Sangie and Vette competed across the country competing at regional and national events. Sangie and Vette 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.
Sangie has been judging UKI since 2018. She started judging as a way to give back to the agility community. Sangie has judged multiple Classics and several big events including US Open twice and the West Coast Open. She looks at every judging assignment and competition as a learning opportunity for future course design.
Sangie is currently training and competing with her Krome. She also has two other border collie Creed and Dexter.
Sangie is a degreed Industrial Engineer who currently works as a Director of Global Operations Support for Trintech in Plano, TX.
To view a sample of Sangie’s courses, click here.
