ENNIS — MacKenzie Moore is 16-years-old and is 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.
Meet MacKenzie and Slim - watch the video:
Even if the competition has gotten tougher, MacKenzie and a Sussex Spaniel, named ‘Slim’, has kept up and excelled! When MacKenzie was 13, she went out competing 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.
“His tail never stops wagging, he rolls around, he sits up … sometimes trips on his ears, and he sleeps… I mean any serious time its’ either his tails 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’, winning overall best junior over many other competitors to do so.
“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.
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 didn’t make it to the top two, MacKenzie and Slim sure made Montana proud!
“I am extremely proud, to be able to go on that big of a stage and just be locked in to what I was asking him to do was – even if he fell asleep once or twice in a lineup,” Moore said.
Needless to say, the future looks bright for these two rising stars!
