Competition rules

Recognised by the FCI

The Agility European Open is an Agility competition which is officially supported by the FCI and is based on the FCI Agility Regulations of 2024. The competition is open to all dogs, with or without pedigree. All National Member Organizations of the FCI or National Organizations with a close relationship to the FCI are invited to participate in this event.

All competitors must be citizens of the country which they represent, or they must have their main residence there. For all participating dogs a record book or a license must be presented, issued by the sending National Member Organization of the FCI or a National Organization with a close relationship to the FCI. All dogs must be 24 months or older on the day of the competition. Each handler can compete with maximum of four dogs.

All participating countries will receive an allocation of 32 dogs (max. eight in any one category). The organizing country can send one team extra per category. All these allocations are valid for both the Team and the Individual Event. The EO winners of previous year in Individual are automatically qualified without imposing on their country’s number allocation.

Each National Organization has the right to nominate competitors to the extent of the available allocation and to send the entries to the organizer at the latest by May 31st.

A list of reserve dogs and handlers can be attached to the entries (A country can send one reserve dog per four dogs, in each category). The reserve may take the place of an original entry, should the original competitor have to be replaced. The reserve may also be allocated an entry in case of an available spot after the closing of entries. If countries choose to have a selection process, this must be open to all dogs (with or without pedigree).

All entries must be sent in by the respective National Organization or an appointed Team Leader. Any and all communication between the organizers and the countries will be done through the Team Leaders. The direct sending of entries to the organizer by single competitors is not possible. Countries in which the national qualifying results will only be available after the closing date, must let the organizers know before May 31, how many entries they intend to send. In these cases, no late additional entries can be added. A complete list of all competitors needs to be handed in by 20 June 2024. No changes are allowed after this date.

All handlers entering this event must confirm that they agree to abide by the FCI rules.

During the attendance check the identity of each dog will be checked.

The dogs that fail the veterinary inspection are not allowed to take part in either practice or the competition.

All dogs which have not been measured at previous FCI World Championships, European Open or Junior Open Agility World Championships will be measured to check whether the dog is entered in the correct category. Dogs entered in the wrong category will be removed from the competition.

The qualification for the Team Event takes place on Friday and is held in the categories Small, Medium, Intermediate and Large.

Teams in all height categories consist of a minimum of three and a maximum of four handler and dog teams. Mixed Country Teams may also compete (one Team composed of members from different countries).

In the Team Event one Agility round and one Jumping round will be run as qualification for the EO Team Final.

For each round, competitors will be ranked according to faults and time. The first placed handler and dog will receive points according to the number of competitors in that round (= number of Teams x four), the second placed handler and dog team will receive one point less, the third placed team two points less and so on. A disqualification receives 0 points.

The points of the three best runs of each team will count towards the Team result for both rounds (= sum of points received). The 12 Teams in each category with the highest point score after both rounds in each category will be qualified for the EO Team Final. In the case of a tie, the points of the 4th team member will be taken into consideration. In case of a further tie the highest individual score of a team member will count.

The qualification for the Individual Event takes place on Saturday and is held in the categories Small,
Medium, Intermediate and Large.

A Handler with more than one dog should have minimum 20 dogs between each dog (if possible by
the number of competitors).

In the Individual qualification an Agility round and a Jumping round is run in all four height categories.
Both rounds are scored separately for faults and time for all competitors.

In all categories the first 18 placed competitors in both the Agility as well as the Jumping round will
have qualified for the Final. Where a team qualifies for the Final in both the Agility as well as the
Jumping round, the worse of the two scores will be scratched and the next ranking team in that class
will move up until all 36 places in each category have been filled for the Finals. In case of a double
qualification with the same score in both rounds the Jumping result is scratched.

In addition, the competitors of every country will be ranked separately according to the total of faults
and time of both runs in each height category. This ranking determines the internal, country-specific
selection order for the EO final. If no team (handler + dog) of a country finished the qualification
without elimination in one of the two runs, the lower number of faults in the other run decides. In the
case of a tie (elimination in one run + same number of faults in the other run, no matter in which run
the elimination happened) the better score in the overall result list of the run without elimination
counts. In the case of a further tie the better Agility-run will break the tie, finally a draw will decide.
A team with two eliminations will not qualify for the Final.

The top team from a country qualifies in each height category for the EO Final, if no dog from this
country has already qualified directly for the EO Final as “Top 18” in the height category. The
qualification for the Final is not transferable to another team.

Furthermore, the EO Individual Winners of the previous year in all four heights have qualified for the EO
Finals, without imposing on their country’s number allocation.

The winners of the Final will be the “Agility European Open – Individual Champion 2024” in their respective height category.