UKC updates Elite Shed Dogs calendar across Midwest and Ontario

UKC’s refreshed Elite Shed Dogs events calendar gives handlers a June 22 snapshot of where the circuit is headed next, and the practical takeaway is immediate: start mapping travel, entry timing and class choices now. The page stretches across the Midwest and Ontario, with late-spring and early-summer stops in Bloomer, Wisconsin; Cokato, Minnesota; Fortuna, Missouri; and Adrian, Michigan.

The calendar is doing more than listing towns. It spells out class formats, entry limits, fees, day-of-entry rules, secretary contacts and direction notes, turning the page into a working planning tool for shed dog handlers. Several stops use single-entry formats, and most fees land between $30 and $35. At the June Adrian event for Southeast Michigan Shed Hunters, youth entries were free and there was no day of entry, details that matter when a handler is trying to line up a dog, a truck and a weekend without surprises.

That level of detail fits the way UKC has formalized the program. The forms-and-rules hub now carries separate event report forms for Working Shed Class, Champion Shed Class and Youth Class, along with a 2026 Elite Shed Dog Series Rulebook effective April 1 and a Dog of the Year 2026 document effective March 23. UKC says the series is built to identify, select and classify dogs that hunt in an appropriate style for shed antler recovery.

UKC also describes Elite Shed Dogs as a family-friendly program that trains a dog to search for and recover shed deer antlers, with a wide variety of breeds able to participate and minimal space needed for training. That accessibility helps explain why the calendar leans so hard on local clubs, from Badger State Shed Dogs in Bloomer to Whispering Echos Farm in Cokato and Richland Creek Antler Dogs in Fortuna, with the June run feeding into a September stop in Minnesota.

The broader season structure has shifted as well. On March 6, UKC said Season 10 would be shortened while the program moves from a Nationals-to-Nationals cycle to a full calendar-year format. On June 16, it opened Season 10 nominations for both Ambassador of the Year and Club of the Year, another sign that the sport is being organized around awards, club recognition and a steadier annual rhythm.

UKC’s 2026 Shed Dog Nationals were set for March 20-22 in Altamont, Illinois, at Ballard Nature Center, with advanced entry only, a maximum of three dogs per handler for each class, $95 entries for Champion and Working, free youth entry and a $20 banquet ticket. Spectators were welcome, and vendors were invited to apply for booth space.

With June dates already set and fall on the horizon, the calendar now gives handlers the exact class, fee and entry details needed to build the rest of the season around the sport’s expanding footprint.