Celebrating 20 Years of Cynosport Dog Agility World Games
Annual event continues to offer the best agility events possible.
Not long after the International Federation of Cynological Sports (IFCS) and its IFCS World Agility Championships in Europe began in the early 2000s, USDAA® created the Cynosport® Dog Agility World Games to bring a taste of that championship experience to North America. Now known as the Cynosport Dog Agility World Games Presented by Purina® Pro Plan®, this world-class event is celebrating its 20th anniversary in Murfreesboro, Tenn., this year!
The first Cynosport World Games were held in 2003 in Dallas, Texas, at the Las Colinas Equestrian Center, bringing together a variety of disciplines including flyball, flying disc and canine freestyle, as well as introducing Eastern Europe’s “Summer Combined Competition” to North America. Among the featured agility competitions were final rounds of the Dog Agility Steeplechase®, Dog Agility Masters® Three-Dog Team championship, and Grand Prix of Dog Agility® championships, with that Grand Prix becoming the first agility event to be filmed and telecast in high definition.
According to founder Ken Tatsch, “USDAA had introduced the Grand Prix of Dog Agility 15 years before Cynosport, and the Steeplechase year-long tournament began in the late 1990s. We had been running both of those championships at various times of year and different locations including Fairhill, Md.; Cleveland, Ohio; Ventura, Calif.; and Houston, San Antonio and Dallas in Texas. Because of heat and weather conditions, the individual finals eventually moved to the fall within weeks of each other. That is when we decided it was easier to combine the finals into a single championship event — Cynosport.”
The name Cynosport comes from “cyno,” the Latin derivative of the ancient Greek root “keno,” meaning “of the dog,” and “sport,” meaning competitive physical activities.
Tatsch added that Cynosport rotated every other year between east and west coast venues like Scottsdale, Ariz.; Denver, Colo.; Morgan Hill, Calif.; Louisville, Ky.; and Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Over the years Cynosport has continued to offer the best agility events possible, expanding the year-long annual tournaments to include the Dog Agility Masters® International Team Championship and Masters Challenge Biathlon℠ titles.
In addition to celebrating Cynosport’s 20th anniversary, USDAA is also hosting the 35th annual Grand Prix of Dog Agility, which grew from a three-day weekend event in 1988 with 79 competitors from 11 states to the prestigious finals it is today, and Cynosport’s 15th annual livestream, having pioneered dog agility webcasts in 2008.