Martin Cavill, GBR
- Will be judging:
- Small Team Agility
- Medium Team Jumping
- Large Individual Agility
- Intermediate Individual Final
Neil Ellis, GBR
- Will be judging:
- Small Team Jumping
- Intermediate Team Agility
- Medium Individual Agility
- Large Individual Final
Sascha Grunder, SUI
- Will be judging:
- Medium Individual Jumping
- Large Team Jumping
- Intermediate Individual Agility
- Small Individual Final
Nic Jones, GBR
- Will be judging:
- Large Team Agility
- Intermediate Individual Jumping
- Small Team Final
- Medium Team Final
Reetta Pirttikoski, FIN
- Will be judging:
- Medium Team Agility
- Small Individual Jumping
- Intermediate Team Final
- Large Team Final
Daniel Walz, DEU
- Will be judging:
- Intermediate Team Jumping
- Small Individual Agility
- Large Individual Jumping
- Medium Individual Final
Daniel Waltz
My name is Daniel and I am 33 years old. Since 2003 I am working with dogs, initially in the areas of puppies, companion dogs and obedience training. I have been practicing agility since 2007, and in the following years I have attended and led various courses in the fields of obedience and agility.
In order to constantly expand my knowledge in agility and to be able to make a positive impact on the further development of the sport, I decided to become an agility judge. Over the years my work as FCI Agility Judge helped me to build up a large network with friends all over the world for what i am very grateful!
For me it is a pleasure to design fluid, smooth and fast courses, that also contain technical passages. In my courses, handlers need to know good handling skills and how to handle the dogs line as well, as the dogs need to be well trained. The mixture of handling skills and “dog skills” distinguishes my courses.
Martin Cavill
Neil Ellis
I am truly honoured to be judging the FCI European Open Agility Championships 2024 in the UK. I began my agility career when I was 10 years old and when I was 12 got my first dog. Since then, I became more curious about course design and took my agility judges exam when I was 15 and since, judging has become a huge part of my life. Judging has allowed me to meet like minded people all over the world who I have become great friends with and who I am grateful to have learned from.
I enjoy the thrill of seeing a fluid combination of dog and handler, giving 110% on the course in front of them. I demand good skill knowledge from the dog and even better support from the handler to create the best opportunity of achieving a clean run. I care greatly for the safety of our competitors and the dogs and hope that the skill and safety combination is seen throughout my courses. Overall, I care about everybody having fun. I hope that you have a fantastic, successful event, but overall, an enjoyable event.
A massive best of luck to all competitors. Run fast, think faster!
Nic Jones
My courses are designed to test the skills of both the dog and handler. I set courses that test the handler’s understanding of the best options and fastest lines for their own dog. I expect a well-trained dog to run clean on my courses and a skilled dog that is well handled will win. Working with the One Mind Dogs group of international handlers, trainers and judges has given me a huge and detailed understanding of dogs’ line and biomechanics and has helped me to develop a holistic appreciation for agility that embraces a wide range of perspectives.
I have over 20 years’ experience as a Kennel Club Accredited Judge and was approved as a Kennel Club Championship judge in 2015. In the last 5 years I have fulfilled 20+ appointments, including 7 championship classes and Crufts twice.. I qualified as a Kennel Club Accredited Trainer over 10 years ago and since then I have trained and assessed approximately 250 Kennel Club judges.
I have trained and competed in agility since 1991, mainly with large Border Collies but also a small Jack Russell; I have also handled several other breeds. I have competed internationally, representing Great Britain at the FCI AWC & European Open and competed at Crufts and the finals of the Kennel Club Agility Stakes multiple times with multiple dogs.
Reetta Pirttikoski
If someone had told me ten years ago, as I received my judging license, that in 2024 I would be a judge at the EO competition in 2024, I wouldn’t have believed it. And so it happened, and here we are! My dream has always been to become a judge at major international competitions, and I worked hard towards this dream: I developed myself, learned new things, challenged myself and my own skills. Just like in other aspects of life, hard work pays off. Sometimes it feels like agility is my whole life, and there’s no room for anything else. I live and breathe it. I train others, practice, compete, and judge.
If you start breaking agility down into smaller parts, you’ll find my whole life there: livelihood, hobbies, friends, and most importantly, my beloved dogs Palo, Piika, and Pyssy. How could I imagine living my life any other way!
I am truly grateful and excited for this honor. I promise to bring challenges and intense moments to the competitions, but above all, fun and laughter. I hope you, the competitors, really push yourselves but with a smile, and enjoy the teamwork with your dogs. That’s what I’ll do too!
Believe in your dreams! I believed, and it came true!
Robyn Sinclair
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Sascha Grunder
First, I would like to warmly welcome all handlers and their dogs participating at the FCI European Open 2024 in Great Britain. I’m looking forward meeting interesting people, watching great dogs – a weekend of interesting and competitive agility lies ahead. I wish everybody a wonderful time, having fun with their best friends – may all your dreams come true!
Now let me introduce myself. I am 55 years old and was born in Berne, Switzerland. In 2000, I completed my master’s degree in environmental sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
In 2008, I had the privilege of qualifying as a Swiss agility judge and received the international status in 2010. Throughout my international judging career, I have had the chance to judge in more than 30 different countries including the Agility World Championship 2015 in Bologna (IT).
My goal as a judge is to design courses that challenge the competitors as well as their dogs. These courses should allow the dogs to show their precision and athleticism at a high speed. The courses should consist of sequences that can be handled in different ways and styles, so that the dog is able to move through the entire course smoothly, agilely and quickly. As a judge, I have not only the desire but also the duty to present courses that are attractive to the spectators, interesting and challenging for the human competitors and above all fun, enjoyable and safe for the dogs.
My second passion besides judging is running agility with my dogs. I started seriously training and competing in 2002. Already then, I was fascinated by the dog’s precision and speed. Above all, I was impressed by how much the dogs enjoyed running through the agility courses. As an active agility competitor, I look back most fondly on the six times I was able to compete at the FCI European Open and my participation at the FCI Agility World Championship in 2016. With Orio I became Swiss Border Collie Champion in 2015. At the moment I’m having tremendous fun with Shuriken my hrvatski ovčar in competition and with Saphira my mudi lady’s early agility training.
Finally I had the honor of taking on the role of team leader of the Swiss national team at the FCI World Championship 2018 in Sweden.