If you've ever watched the European dog agility circuit and thought, why can't we have that here? — Jessica Ajoux has been thinking the same thing. The world champion and founder of UDog Agility in Pennsylvania is launching something brand new to the U.S. agility scene: What The Cup, an unaffiliated, high-level agility competition that's as much a celebration as it is a competition.
Registration is open now, and the event runs June 6–7 at B&D Activity Center just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Filling a Real Gap
The U.S. has no shortage of agility events — AKC Nationals, the US Open, and others — but Jessica noticed something missing. The big sanctioned competitions are high-stakes productions run by major governing bodies, with long qualification paths and real pressure attached. What she kept seeing on trips to Europe were a different kind of event: relaxed, festive, skills-forward cups like the Polish Open and the Gold Rush that drew elite competitors without all the formality.
"Why do we have to go all the way to Europe to participate in this?" she told Olivier Morin, co-founder of WorksSoWell, during a recent interview. "We can make this happen here."
What The Cup is her answer — an event that borrows the energy and course style of those European opens and brings it stateside, without the affiliation strings attached.
High-Level Agility, Serious Fun
The courses will mirror international FCI and ISC standards, designed by French judge Andrea Mangini who is flying in specifically for the event. Expect large rings, technical distance challenges, and throttle wraps — the kind of skill-testing layouts that handlers training for international competition rarely get to run at home. Course difficulty will range from mid-Level 2 to Level 3, hitting that sweet spot where it's genuinely challenging without being punishing.
But what sets What The Cup apart is the atmosphere Jessica is building around those courses. Music playing during runs. A live announcer adding color commentary. Time after competition to hang out, play games, and just be with other dog people who love this sport as much as you do. "It's meant to be a social event combined with high-level agility," she explained — not the anxious silence of a tryout, but the electricity of a party where everyone also happens to be seriously good at what they do.
Two Ways to Compete — and Real Prizes
Competitors can enter one or both of the event's formats. The Clip and Go Team Challenge features two runs, cumulative scoring, and a relay finale in the style of the European Open. No team? No problem — you can enter solo and be placed. The Clean Run Individual Competition follows a more traditional bracket, with top finishers in each class advancing to a finals round designed to be watched, cheered, and experienced as a spectacle by everyone in the room.
Prizes are real. Cash awards are on the table, with sponsors including Saint Rocco's Treats, Clip and Go, Clean Run, WorksSoWell, OneTDC, and Well That Herds rounding out the prize pool. Jessica's long-term goal is to grow the cash prizes as the event gains momentum — this is the opening chapter, not the final word.
Junior handlers get a discounted entry, and a handful of international competitors have already signed up to make the trip.
A Starting Point for Something Bigger
Jessica is clear-eyed about what What The Cup is right now — a first step toward something she believes the sport genuinely needs. "I'm trying to think of agility like other top-level sports," she said, "where there's not just the World Championships, but leagues and invitationals and competitions where athletes are actually invited." The governing bodies aren't going anywhere, but she sees room for something more flexible to grow alongside them.
For handlers who've been training toward international-style agility and haven't had a worthy destination to aim for, What The Cup is exactly that — a reason to prepare, a place to compete, and if Jessica has anything to say about it, a genuinely great time.
Registration is open now. Find all event details and sign up at UDog Agility.
Want to hear it straight from Jessica? Watch the full interview here.
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