09/25/2026
Where to start, I honestly don’t know. I’ve typed this caption multiple times, deleted, started over and still can’t find the exact way to describe the feeling or way to tell the story without sounding cliche. It’s truly been a dream come true week! I didn’t get into training dogs for ribbons, it was never the purpose. I wanted to stay home, be a dad, be a husband and have successful dogs come out of the kennel I would be proud to hunt over myself! To add a grand pass to my resume, it’s huge!
The Grand is special. The way it’s ran, the committee, judges, other handlers, there’s no venue I’ve found that’s similar. It’s truly in its own class just my opinion! With that said, thank you to all of them for what they do. We faced multiple challenges and walked out feeling proud while also knowing after attempting this mission twice before, there’s luck involved. You don’t need good luck to run, you just don’t need any bad!
I was humbled each series as I walked off the line remembering where all I’ve been, the sacrifices not only myself made but Kevin, who owns Brooks, my wife, my two girls, my parents and friends and former clients who helped get us to this point. It’s remarkable the team behind us! Also in that team came a training group that welcomed us, supported, cheered us on like there was no other option. Competitors in the same business pulling for Brooks and I, giving us the little pointers they were seeing from the line, truly doing everything they could to help! That alone was huge! I consider them all close friends and couldn’t be more thankful. I want to make sure in this post to express how honored I felt to have all the support I did as it made a difference without doubt!!!
With that said, I’ll wrap this up by saying this…. we wrapped up the fall Grand in the upland series and less than a hour later, Kevin and “Brooks were Canada bound! 48 hours after stepping off the fifth series upland test, Brooks was in the decoys this morning retrieving cranes, the ribeye of the sky and having a blast! Congratulations Kevin and Brooks, may the rest of the trip in Canada be glorious and he gets to do everything we’ve worked for again and again. I don’t believe there is a greater reward for a dog who just accomplished this this week!!