Minooka Graduate's First Love is Bouviers

Teegan Bartos, a 2007 Minooka High School graduate, has been the leader of the pack since she was a toddler.

Bartos' grandmother owns the highly respected Kasher’s Bouviers in Monee, where some of the best Bouvier des Flandres in the nation have been bred, born and trained.

Bartos has been around Bouviers since she was a baby and started showing this rare working breed from Belgium at the age of 5.

When she was 12, her own dog, Smoochie, was rated in the top seven in the nation for Bouviers. She has competed in the Eukanuba National Championships and has qualified for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, although she hasn’t attended the latter.

She can’t count the number of competitions she has won with her own Bouviers, her grandmother’s or show dogs people hired her to train or exhibit.

Bartos achieved all this with challenging learning disabilities. In fact, her mother and grandmother encouraged her to show dogs to help her with reading and math.

“It was something to be proud of, to build my confidence,” she said. “And because I love animals so much, it was a natural thing for me.”

Bartos soon discovered she has a real gift for training dogs. One reason is she has a lot of patience. She also has a gift for working with at-risk youth. 

Now 21 and a senior at Illinois State University, Teegan will graduate this spring after her internship as a counselor at Joliet Job Corps. 

I work with Teegan and I find her dog show stories fascinating. But I also love to see how she handles our most difficult kids. The woman is magic.

Bartos was diagnosed with dyslexia and memory deficit around the 4th grade. By 8th grade, she was taken out of special classrooms and mainstreamed. That she’s been able to work her way through college is a tribute to her.

“My mother and grandmother worked to help me stay focused, but I’ve always worked hard,” she said.

Working at Target and other stores while going to college hasn’t left much time for dog shows the last few years, but her 2-year-old Helios soon will be old enough for competition.

“Chicago is one of the most competitive areas in the nation for show dogs,” she said, adding that she used to go to dog competitions nearly every weekend.

“My grandmother is much respected in the field because she does a lot of health testing on her dogs and is very picky about who she will sell a dog to,” she said.

Bouviers, Bartos explained, are really goofy dogs until they’re about 2. Helios is her third show dog. 

“Bouviers are so willing to please," she said. "But they have to have a job. I do a lot of agility with him so he has that job.”

She’s spent a lot of time since she was a little girl at Stone City Kennel Club in New Lenox.

Her grandmother (Mary Kasher) now trains service dogs and has even donated some of those dogs to people with disabilities. One of them, for example, helps an autistic child while another is an aide to a woman who is both deaf and blind. Her grandmother has sent some of her Bouviers to Westminster where they’ve won merit awards but she has not gone herself.

The whole trip, Bartos said, is extremely expensive. And yes, it’s just like the beloved movie Best in Show, she said.

Teegan’s mother and younger sister show horses.

“My mom is so supportive,” Bartos said. “At my shows she would wear a T-shirt that says ‘Teegan’s mom. I drive and write the checks.’”     

While Bouviers are No. 1, her family has a little mixed breed dog from a pregnant dog they rescued. The family has had a vizla, white German shepherds and her younger sister has a Pomeranian. Bouviers demand so much time, she said, they should not be considered as a family’s first dog.

“They are incredibly smart and need a lot of grooming," she said. "They need a lot of exercise. You don’t want the dog to be in charge.”

With all the love she has for dogs, Bartos is convinced they are just a hobby. Teaching has become her first love.

Jan Larsen is the owner of one Siberian husky named Frosty and two Siamese cats. She coordinates volunteers at Joliet Job Corps and can be reached at janettellarsen@aol.com