Last October, Chelsea and I were given the opportunity to send our young special, Tex, with longtime handlers Mike and Karen Kurtzner to begin a campaign in pursuit of letting him live up to his full potential.

In January, Tex and Mike took their first steps into the ring together and were awarded Best of Variety and a group placement that very weekend! In the months that passed, Tex quickly amassed some great BOV and Group placement wins, making him the #1 fifteen inch beagle in the nation for January and February.

Much to our delight, we also had the honor of exhibiting at this year’s Westminster Kennel Club dog show, to which Tex continued to make more dreams come true – winning Best of Opposite Sex at his very first Westminster.

Campaigning a dog is an incredible privilege and responsibility. It is something we feel incredibly blessed and grateful to experience and, when you have a dog you believe in as much as we do, you have to give them the opportunity to shine.

Campaigning a dog also comes with considerable costs – time, energy, travel, personal life and financial demands. While we had hoped to make the budget stretch until December, it has become obvious that this is not achievable for us at this time.

To this end, Mike, Karen, Chelsea and I talked openly and made the mutual decision that Tex would go to Westminster and then head back to the West Coast to live with me again. While we all felt sad, we also all felt this was the best decision given the parameters we had to work in.

Tex has touched down in California after a little stop with me in Seattle, and is doing great. Mike and Karen took incredible care of him, and he is in top condition, and will be shown by Chelsea as I can.

We are so incredibly proud of all that Tex has accomplished is such a short amount of time. All that would not have been possible without the hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and years of experience that Mike and Karen have poured into our dog. We are so blessed, proud of, and incredibly grateful for them.

… Onto the next chapter!