Happy New Year 2026!
As 2025 comes to a close, all of us at USDAA want to express our thanks to everyone who has supported the USDAA dog agility community throughout the past year. Your time, encouragement, dedication, and contributions have helped fuel notable growth over the past year. We’re excited to continue that momentum as we enter a milestone year for our sport.
In 2026, we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of dog agility in North America, highlighted by the 2026 Cynosport World Games in Tucson, Arizona, November 11–15, 2026. These dates come 40 years after the first competition of record in the United States, held November 8–10, 1986, in Houston, Texas, when the Dallas Agility Working Group (DAWG) and a group with competitors from El Paso, Texas, Alamogordo and Las Cruces, New Mexico, competed in the landmark event that helped launch organized agility in this country. From that beginning, agility grew rapidly, leading to a start-up of training groups, clubs, and communities across the nation.
To honor this occasion, we are planning some special activities throughout the week of Cynosport, and we look forward to celebrating 40 years of dog agility in North America together with the people who have made it possible. We know travel can be difficult from larger distances, but we hope you will be able to join us on this momentous occasion.
2025 has also brought meaningful progress. With the help of volunteers, we have made a comprehensive revision to the rules and regulations, integrating the many rule changes and key policy statements from the past decade, broadened tournament recognition by offering Strategic Games awards, implemented the core phase of our online event entry system for beta testing, and relaunched the USDAA@Home! program with modifications needed for website integration and some enhancements requested by users. This progress has been possible with the help of competitors, organizers, and judges in identifying workable solutions on several fronts that serve the broader community.
Volunteerism remains crucial to the success of our sport at the local, regional, and national levels. On behalf of the dog agility community, thank you to all volunteers who stepped up, providing their time and energy to help events run more smoothly for the enjoyment of all.
We hope you have been enjoying the holiday season. We look forward to working together in 2026 as we celebrate this historic anniversary and continue building for the future. From all of us at USDAA, we wish you a healthy, successful, fun, and rewarding New Year!