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They loaded up the dogs, packed the kennels, and drove down I-35 to see how St. Louis County stacks up against the rest of Minnesota. Turns out, pretty darn good — especially if your name is Dessa W. of Duluth.
Dessa and her dog didn’t just show up, they put on a clinic. Blue ribbon and reserve champ in Obedience Foundation, another blue in Rally Foundation, and then another blue and reserve champ in Showmanship Novice. That’s not luck. That’s hours in the yard, leash in hand, working with a dog until the two of you think alike. That’s commitment, and that’s what makes winners.
And she wasn’t alone. The county delegation turned the Minnesota 4-H State Dog Show into a northern invasion. Eli H. from Aurora came home with a handful of blues across agility, rally and showmanship.
Kaitlynn L. of Makinen kept collecting ribbons like she was shopping at Target.
Aurora’s W. siblings — Levi, Lexi and Maddie — piled on championships of their own. Rally Advanced, Agility Jumpers 3, Rally Masters, Agility Jumpers 2, Obedience Graduate Beginner — all fell to kids from our neck of the woods.
At some point you wondered if the metro kids were checking their GPS to see what county they’d accidentally wandered into.
Yes, 366 kids and nearly 1,300 entries made for a big, noisy weekend at the State Fairgrounds Sept. 20-21.
But let’s be honest: the story here is St. Louis County’s kids showing up, cleaning house, and hauling trophies back north. Duluth, Aurora, Makinen — these aren’t just dots on a map, they’re towns producing young people with grit, patience and enough dog-handling savvy to make the Twin Cities crowd a little nervous.
So hats off to Dessa W. and her county teammates. They went to St. Paul with their dogs, their nerves and their dreams. They came home with blue ribbons, championships and stories that’ll get told around dinner tables and dog kennels for years.
And if you’re asking me, the next time somebody wonders where the best 4-H dog handlers come from, just tell them: start in Duluth, keep heading north, and you’ll find out.
