ENNIS — MacKenzie Moore is 16 and no stranger to the dog show ring. She began showing boxers when she was two years old, and has continued and excelled in the sport
“I think the older you get, the tougher the competition is because you start competing at different age levels. Like for me, I compete in junior handling, so that ranges from 9 to 18,” Moore said.
Watch MacKenzie talk about Slim and their journey together:
Even if the competition has gotten tougher, MacKenzie and a Sussex Spaniel named Slim have kept up and excelled. When MacKenzie was 13, she competed with Slim and won a ‘Specialty’ competition in Washington state.
“Immediately, I ended up falling in love with the breed; he always brought humor to the truck,” Moore said about the Sussex Spaniel.
Thousands of miles away in New York City, Slim's humorous personality was on full display at the recent Westminster Dog Show.
“His tail never stops wagging, he rolls around, he sits up, sometimes trips on his ears. And he sleeps… I mean, any serious time it’s either his tail wagging, he’s sleeping, or he’s doing some weird thing that he’s learned over the past six years,” Moore said.
The journey to get an invitation to Westminster was no small feat. Moore said that a handler must have 10 ‘Best Junior Handlings’ to win overall best junior over many other competitors.
“Getting that letter was huge, because being the only one in Montana and the only one showing a Sussex Spaniel was a lot. It was really cool,” Moore said.
RELATED:Historic win for Doberman Penny, handler Andy Linton at Westminster dog show
MacKenzie was the only Junior Competitor from Montana and the only competitor showing a Sussex Spaniel. The pair made it through two rounds of cuts, and although they didn’t make it to the top two, MacKenzie and Slim sure made Montana proud.
