09/03/2026
The Trupanion 2026 UKI Canadian Open is officially complete.
It is difficult to know where to begin with this post and as you will discover, it took us a while to write…
This event became everything we had dreamed it could be, and we truly hope everyone who attended felt that too.
Our original thought was that we would host the UKI Canadian Open for two more years. However, earlier this year, we made the decision that 2026 would be our final year hosting it.
As much as we love creating an event of this magnitude, it requires months and months of planning, followed by day after day of work. It takes a significant toll on us personally and affects our ability to train, compete and perform at the level we expect from ourselves. At our core, our dogs and our own goals within this sport must remain our priority.
Knowing this would be our final UKI Canadian Open, we wanted to leave it with a bang. We wanted to make it as big as we possibly could, create an experience people would remember and continue raising the standard for what an agility event can be. That became the driving force behind so many of the decisions we made.
Our goal was to create an experience where competitors could arrive, run their dogs, spend time with their friends and take in every moment without having to worry about what was happening behind the scenes. We tried to think of every possible detail and have plans A through Z ready when something inevitably did not go as planned. If problems arose, our hope was that you rarely saw them. Your job was simply to enjoy the event and create memories with your dog.
First and foremost, we want to offer a very special thank you to Trupanion for its continued support and dedication to the dog agility community. Having Trupanion behind the 2026 UKI Canadian Open helped us bring this event to the level we envisioned, and we are incredibly grateful.
We would also like to recognize all of the businesses that supported this event:
Our main ring sponsors:
Handling 360
Jessica Patterson Agility
GIP Green Infrastructure Partners
Our warm-up ring sponsor:
Campus Estates Animal Hospital
Our Platinum Event Sponsor:
Omega Alpha
Our individual event sponsors:
Global Pet Foods
Sivret
Mancuso Pain and Longevity Clinic
Nexxfield
Doane Grant Thornton
Our Volunteer Sponsor:
PJ’s Canine Club
And our premium podium prize sponsors:
Smidgin & Company
Get Dirty Pet Gear
Thank you for believing in this event and helping us provide something special for the agility community.
To our judges, Thora Van Der Stock, Grace Heck and Roman Lukac, thank you for travelling from Belgium, the United States and Slovakia to join us in New Brunswick. Each of you brought your own style and flair to your courses, creating exactly the variety and balance we wanted for this event. Your courses were fantastic, but equally important to us was the energy and attitude you brought throughout the week.
A special thank you also goes to our backup judge, Mike Hughson, who travelled from the United States and helped us significantly throughout the event. We were extremely fortunate to have all four of you with us.
Now for the people who helped take our vision and make it real.
To our ring managers, Patti Borda, Clara Selle, Shanna Melanson, and Kristy Seamone-Dalby for stepping in when needed! Thank you for keeping everything moving and for handling the countless details that came your way.
Your dedication was remarkable, and we are incredibly grateful for your tireless work.
A special thanks also needs to go to our sponsorship team – Shauna Miller & Shanna Melanson. You both played a very big role building up into the event, seeking and locking in sponsors, which without, this event would not be possible.
To our podium leaders, Marie-Claude Ravenelle and Shauna Miller, thank you for creating such a special experience for every competitor who stepped onto that podium. And you both are two individuals who continued to step up moment after moment, willing to do anything and everything we needed.
To our volunteer coordinators, Liz Pace and Kristy Seamone-Dalby, thank you for organizing, supporting and looking after such an incredible team. You both worked hours and hours behind the scenes to make this event possible, and your work did not go unnoticed.
To our scoring and RV coordinator, Cheryl Steadman, thank you for the enormous amount of work you handled behind the scenes. To Jeff Peastrel, thank you for managing so many things outside the building and for helping keep the RV lot running throughout the event.
We want to give special recognition to our gate team, who worked tirelessly throughout the weekend:
Beth, Taylor, Sammy, and Adina.
To our timers and scribes:
Sue, Madeleine, Janice, Melanie, Dale, Jessica, Julia, Gisele and Nalan.
A special thanks to Steve Borda, who is always there to help course build, day after day!
And of course everyone else who stepped in to help course build. Your help was so appreciated!
To every course crew member, leash runner, backup timer and person who stepped in for one rotation, one day or day after day, thank you. The complete list is extensive, and every contribution mattered.
And finally a massive thank you to our dog's Nanny Susan, who played the role of "Keep the Volunteers happy, fed and cared for". Maybe the most important role of the event. Thank you Susan!
And Andii, who stepped in last minute as our own person Sherpa! You treated our dogs like gold, and it was the most relaxing feeling (if that feeling was at all possible during this event) to know our dogs were getting what they deserved.
Thank you!
At an event of this calibre, we do not believe competitors should be responsible for stepping away from their own dogs and runs to fill essential volunteer positions. That is why we assembled such a large and dedicated team.
Our ring managers, gate stewards, timers, scribes, volunteer coordinators and scoring and RV coordinator were paid for the time they commitment to the event. Although these roles are still rooted in the spirit of volunteering and supporting our community, we believe that giving this much time, energy and dedication deserves some degree of financial recognition. We would not feel right doing it any other way.
Each person on our team was chosen because we trusted them to bring the kind of energy we wanted at this event. We asked them to lead with kindness, patience and an understanding of what competitors may be feeling. Big events bring nerves, excitement and intense emotions. Our team’s focus was always to help, provide good service and meet those moments with a smile.
We are incredibly proud that there were very few difficult moments of that nature throughout the week. We hope that reflects the amount of care and preparation that went into creating an environment where people felt supported and could simply enjoy competing.
Taking a moment during the event to look around the facility and see so many people stepping in, working hard and giving everything they had was emotional for both of us. It has been equally emotional to think about it since coming home.
So many people were willing to take our vision and apply it. They gave their time and energy so that we could host an event of this size and calibre here in our little Maritime province of New Brunswick. Without every one of you, none of this would have been possible.
If we have accidentally missed anyone’s name, please forgive us. Our brains are still fairly fried, and an omission is certainly not a reflection of how much your contribution meant to us. We noticed the work being done all around us, and we hope every person who helped felt how grateful we were.
We also presented the Kelly St-Jacques Sportsmanship Award during the event. It is difficult for us to speak about this award without becoming emotional, so we will not go deeply into its meaning here. This year’s award was presented to Amber McCune, an incredibly deserving recipient. Congratulations, Amber.
At the heart of everything, agility is about having fun with our dogs. That will always be the most important part.
But it is also a sport into which people pour thousands of hours of training, sacrifice, dedication and love. It deserves respect and attention within the wider sporting world. One of our goals with the Canadian Open has always been to help amplify that.
We wanted to push the quality, organization and presentation of this event while embracing modern technology and finding new ways to help the sport evolve alongside the rest of the world. We want dog agility to be recognized for what it is: a real sport filled with talented athletes, both human and canine, and a passionate community behind them.
We wanted to finish our time hosting the Canadian Open by showing what we believe is possible for this sport. We hope we accomplished that.
To every competitor who trusted us with your Canadian Open experience, thank you. To every sponsor, judge, official, volunteer and supporter who helped us bring it to life, thank you.
We put our hearts into this event.
We hope you felt it.
Aaron & Joe
FlatOut Dogs
