Chad Stephens (Wired Up Beagles)
For Chad Stephens and his family, raising beagles and running rabbits has been a tradition for generations. From the time he was in grade school, Chad tagged along with his grandpa nearly every weekend on his rabbit hunts.
As he grew older, he took over his grandpa’s beagles — who were non-papered at that time — and was looking for ways to keep them busy in the hunting off-season. That’s when he decided to branch out and get his first papered female and begin seeking out American Kennel Club (AKC) field champions for her to breed with.
Soon, he had four pups to raise – all with AKC field champion bloodlines. Having run them noncompetitively, his friends were impressed and encouraged him to join the beagle club and enter them in field trials. In Chad’s words, this is when he “really got the itch.” It wasn’t long before he was training twice per week and climbing his way up the competition ladder under his newly formed team — Wired Up Beagles.
Today, Chad and his team of Wired Up Beagles are members of three beagle clubs and are well-known on the circuit — competing in roughly 20 field trials per year, as well as in the United Kennel Club (UKC) and AKC Nationals, having raised several field champions, including Sam I Am, Jo-Jo and Honeybun. Now, Jo-Jo’s offspring — Wired Up Nutmeg, Cool Hand Luke’s Hamlet and Wired Up Little Jo — are all competing in field trials, looking to be the next in the family to reach nationals.
And in true Stephens fashion, not only are the beagles living out a multi-generational tradition of competing, but so are Chad’s 8-year-old son, Luke, and 12-year-old daughter, Cadence. In fact, while Chad is often tied up judging at a field trial, Cadence will handle the competing dogs. In Chad’s words, “she’s as tough as the guys running through the briars and thickets.”
The switch to Native
Over the years, Chad has tried a number of different dog foods, but was never really sold on any one brand. When another member of his beagle club suggested Native, he decided to give it a try.
“As soon as I opened my first bag of Native, I could just tell it was different and that it was a better dog food,” says Chad.
He started with the Native Level 2 (26 protein / 16 fat) and saw immediate results. He was also curious, but apprehensive, about moving Jo-Jo to Native Level 3 (30 protein / 20 fat). He had witnessed other brands of 30/20 making beagles too high strung to successfully compete. But after trying out Native Level 3, Jo-Jo handled it incredibly well, maintaining healthy weight and energy.
Others are taking notice too.
“When my dogs are competing, people often ask what I feed them. I’m proud to tell them Native,” says Chad.
With roughly 20 competitions on his schedule each year, be sure to follow along as Wired Up Nutmeg, Cool Hand Luke’s Hamlet and Wired Up Little Joe vie for their spots in the winners’ pack.
Favorite products of Wired Up Beagles
Native Level 2 | Native Level 3 | Native Puppy
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