Independently owned since 1905
Local breeder's Boston Terrier headed to Westminster show
In Camas Prairie, there's a small farm where one woman is living in paradise. Laurie and Adam Cowhig moved to Camas Prairie in 2020, and they call their farm Paradise Found Farm.
Laurie has definitely found her paradise in northwest Montana. Cowhig breeds Boston Terriers. She has six of them at the moment, and one – Keaton – is headed to the Super Bowl of dog shows, the Westminster Dog Show, in February.
Cowhig is a preservation breeder. "We breed for health and to improve the breed, sticking to the standards of the breed," she said. The Boston Terrier Club of America sets the standard for the breed, and the club is more than a century old.
This will be the second time Cowhig has had a dog from her kennel, called Tre Run Bostons, in the Westminster Dog Show. In 2020, her dog Trinket, now 7 years old, won the breed. "In 2020, I never thought I'd have a dog worthy," Cowhig explained. "When Trinket qualified I knew we were doing something right." The show returns to Madison Square Garden in New York City this year, but Cowhig won't be able to attend as one of her dogs is expecting a litter of puppies soon. Keaton will be shown by handlers Braxton Hernandez and Braden Jones from Utah. Cowhig met them at a Helena show in 2024. She said that her dog Shimmer was winning a lot of shows and Keaton was on the back burner. She worked with Hernandez and Jones so that Keaton would have a shot as well. The two have been showing Keaton around the western U.S. for the past few months in order to prepare the Boston Terrier for the big show in February. "Keaton loves everybody," Cowhig explained. "He loves other dogs." He went from not being ranked in the breed to being ranked among the top 30 last year.
Getting an invitation to the Westminster Dog Show is a big deal. Cowhig said there will be 29 Boston Terriers, and nine of those are from Montana. The dogs must be champions, which means in other shows they have earned 15 championship points. The top five ranked dogs in each breed receive an invitation, and the rest of the dogs in each breed are chosen by a lottery system. Last week at Paradise Found Farm, Cowhig showed off her show acceptance letters, printed on golden yellow paper and mailed in a matching envelope. "We say it's like getting the golden ticket," Cowhig joked, referring to the ticket made famous in "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory." She keeps her Westminster golden tickets in the loft area of her Camas Prairie home, where the walls and nearly every surface are adorned with show ribbons, plaques and awards.
Cowhig said at Westminster, judges look at each individual dog based on that breed's standards. There will be nearly 2,500 dogs at the show. She said Boston Terriers are "pretty easy to keep in condition," which helps prepare them for showing. "They call them the American gentlemen because they look like they are wearing a tuxedo," she explained of the breed. She has been breeding Bostons for about 15 years, and her dogs have gone all over the country. She said Bostons are a brachycephalic breed, or "the smashy faced breeds." Cowhig became interested in breeding because her aunt raised English bulldogs and then she and Adam had a Pug rescue for several years. "They would send us the old lady Pugs to foster and we'd always end up adopting them," she said. Cowhig started doing agility with her dogs and researching other breeds that had the same look when she discovered Boston Terriers. "They are great at dock diving, fast cat, nose and scent work," Cowhig explained. At the North American Sport Dog Association (NASDA) regional competition last year, Trinket took third in the found items category. "Most people don't give them credit for being able to do it all," she stated. Trinket is a Grand Champion Gold Boston Terrier, a designation she will carry her whole life. She won the national specialty in 2020 as best of the breed. "That was a huge competition with about 200 dogs," Cowhig said.
"I've worked hard to get where I'm at," Cowhig stated, adding that the quality of the breeding has improved.
For the 2025 Westminster Dog Show, three dogs bred by Cowhig were chosen in the lottery. Trinket's pup Shimmer (owned by Cowhig) and Miles (who is owned by a family in Washington), were chosen along with Keaton. Shimmer will not be at the show as she is the dog expecting puppies. Cowhig said that Shimmer, who is almost four years old, "hasn't won big stuff, but she's won more than her mom." Shimmer was Reserve Best in Show at a competition in Great Falls in 2024, meaning she was the No. 2 dog among all breeds in the show.
Cowhig's oldest dog is Whisper, who is 13. She said she has a waitlist for her dogs of 2-3 years, but she doesn't just give dogs in the order of the waitlist. Cowhig truly is passionate about the animals and the breed, and picks the best fit for both the puppy and the family. "These very much are my pets," she said last week at her home as she sat on the couch with multiple dogs on her lap. Each dog has its own distinct personality, but it is evident that each is very much loved by Cowhig and returns the affection to her.
"These dogs are my passion," she said. Her husband Adam also is very supportive of her passion. "He is excited for my wins and supports me in my crazy," Cowhig said with a giggle. In 2022, she took her dogs and went on a two-month road trip in their RV, leaving her husband home to care for goats, pigs, sheep, chickens and other livestock on their farm while she attended dog shows. As if breeding top quality dogs wasn't enough, Cowhig also uses milk from her goats to make candles and soaps.
Having a dog win at Westminster is a pinnacle feat for a breeder. When asked if there's anything else she'd like to achieve, Cowhig said she'd like to attend the Crufts show in England. With her passion for the breed and love of animals, Cowhig likely will achieve that goal. You can follow Tre Run Bostons on Facebook, or watch for Keaton in the Westminster Dog Show. The Boston Terriers will compete on February 10, and the show will be broadcast on Fox Sports.
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