Five Reasons You Should Deck the Crates at Cynosport
A tradition that makes a great event even more fun!
One of the unique features of USDAA’s Cynosport World Games is the annual crating area decorating contest, known as Deck the Crates. Three prizes are awarded: Most Creative; Best Interpretation of Event Theme (“Joy in the Journey”); and Judge’s Choice.
So why should you add extra work to an already busy and stressful event? Here are five reasons to deck your crates.
1. Deck the Crates is purely for fun! It’s a chance to be playful and get creative, which is the perfect antidote to World Games butterflies.
2025 crate contest winner: "Joy in the Journey"
JoAnn Burtness, "Roll the Dice"
2. You’ll enjoy a smoother trial experience with a well-organized crating area (and if you don’t already know this firsthand, you should get your act together and find out!). A well-organized and aesthetically pleasing crating area makes everything — and everyone — feel even better, psychologically speaking. This appealing ambiance helps to establish the all-important positive mindset upon which so much of success in agility depends.
2025 crate contest winner: "Judges Choice"
Woodside/Bowman Whitfield: "Agility skeletons ... you are never too old for agility"
3. Decorations elevate your crating area. It’s not only efficient and attractive, it’s festive, too! Just as dressing up on exam day helped you do better on school tests, crating décor can contribute to a competitive edge.
2024 crate contest winner: "Judges Choice"
Alicia Slater, Utah
4. It will make your dog(s) happy. True, they probably don’t care much about crating area decorations per se. But they’ll respond to the lightheartedness that those decorations induce in you as their handler — so they’ll have even more fun with you than usual, which means they’ll run their hearts out.
2024 crate contest winner: "Joy in the Journey"
Renee Culpepper and Alicia Bennett from Louisiana celebrated their Louisiana roots and journey.
5. You’ll earn bragging rights. Not everybody can make the podium at Cynosport, but Deck the Crates is a totally level playing field. Even the greenest newbie could score a win! Besides, who doesn’t enjoy having another chance to go home with a prize?
2025 crate contest winner: "Most Creative"
Jennifer Goldberg: "Nova Scotia Duck Blind"
There you have it: a convincing quintet of reasons for you to participate in Deck the Crate at this year’s Cynosport World Games, coming up November 11-15 in Tucson, Arizona. Now it’s time to put on your thinking cap and start checking out Amazon and your local dollar and/or crafts stores for inspiration and decorations. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!