EO Tryouts Wrap Up in Pennsylvania
Sarah here! This past weekend, over 260 dogs traveled to Latrobe, Pennsylvania for the 2026 AKC European Open Team Tryouts, held at the B&D Creekside Activity Center. Competitors from across the country ran four rounds over three days to try to earn a spot on Team USA for the 2026 European Open in Fontainebleau, France.
The tryouts were judged by Anna Schönenberger (Switzerland) and Greg Fontaine (USA), with Greg judging courses designed by Gabriel Arriagada (Chile). Team selection is led by EO Team Coach Annette Alfonso, with assistant coach Renee White.
Handlers competed in four rounds (two agility and two jumpers). Scores combine placement points and speed points, with each team’s best three of four rounds counting toward the final standings.
The tryouts award automatic spots to the top two cumulative teams in each height (Small, Medium, Intermediate, Large), along with the Round 4 winner in each height when eligibility requirements are met.
Win-On Team Members
Small
- Spike & Perry DeWitt
- Coos & Laura Dolan
- Pre & Laura Dolan
Medium
- Fidget & Casey Keller
- Amity & Melanie Miller
Intermediate
- Naavdanya & Kris Seiter
- Maestro & Laurren Bastian
- Liri & Casey Keller
Large
- Please & Kaimen Miller
- Hup & Laura Sonic
- Genuine & Perry DeWitt
From there, the United States can send up to 32 dogs total to the European Open. The remaining spots are selected by EO Team Management, based on both the number of entries in each height and overall tryout performance.
One thing I’ve always appreciated about the EO Tryouts is that they do not prohibit handlers from qualifying with more than one dog. That has long been the policy for the AWC team, and personally I’ve never thought it was the best approach. If the goal is to field the strongest possible team, the selection process should reward the best dog-and-handler teams, even if that means a single handler qualifies multiple dogs. We saw that play out this weekend, with several handlers earning win-on spots with more than one dog: Laura Dolan (Coos and Pre), Casey Keller (Fidget and Liri), and Perry DeWitt (Spike and Genuine). When a handler has multiple dogs performing at that level, it seems clear that those teams deserve to be part of the final roster.
We’ll keep an eye on the final team announcement as Team USA for EO 2026 in France comes together.
New Podcast: What Dog Agility Can Learn from Olympic Swimming
Our latest podcast episode came from a place I didn’t expect: swim season.
Our daughter Hannah just wrapped up an incredible year in the pool, and for the first time ever Sarah actually started paying attention to swimming. Historically she has been much more of a water polo person and has always found swimming, how shall I put this delicately, a little boring to watch. She simply didn’t have much appreciation for the sport.
But something changed this season. As we watched more meets and talked more about the training and preparation behind those 25–60 second races, we started noticing how many parallels there are between swimming and dog agility. Both are incredibly fast sports with tiny margins. Performances last seconds. Training takes months or years. And small technical mistakes can cost huge amounts of time.
So in this episode, Sarah and I explore what dog agility might be able to learn from Olympic swimming. We talk about tapering before big competitions, the importance of the first few seconds of a performance, trusting training when you only get one shot, and the role of mental preparation before stepping up to the start line.
It turned into a really fun conversation, especially because it’s rare that Sarah is the one bringing fresh enthusiasm about a sport that I’ve been around forever.
Listen to the Podcast Here: Episode 382: What Dog Agility Can Learn from Olympic Swimming
What Should We Watch Now?
We wrapped up both of the shows we mentioned recently. First, The Artful Dodger. We ended up loving it and finished both seasons. The writing stayed sharp, the characters really grew on us, and the mix of humor and high-stakes surgery kept things moving. The season finale also left things on a bit of a cliffhanger that strongly suggests the creators are angling for a third season. I certainly hope they get it, although I still think the first season was my favorite.
I should also mention that Sarah and Hannah have to look away during some of the more graphic surgical scenes. Even for me, a few of them furrowed my brow.
We also finished Bridgerton, and the second half of the season delivered. Several storylines finally reached their payoff and we enjoyed seeing how everything was resolved.
Now we have a new problem. We need something new to watch.
The challenge is that we rarely watch shows at the same time due to our crazy schedules. We always have multiple series going depending on who is watching. Sarah and I are currently working through a K-drama (Undercover Miss Hong). Sarah and Hannah have a show they watch together (The Maze Runner). Hannah has another show she watches by herself (XO, Kitty). Hannah and I watch Jesser videos on YouTube. You get the idea.
Right now, though, we’re trying to find something the three of us can watch together.
If you have a show you love, please let me know at team@baddogagility.com.
Happy Training,
