07/10/2026
Some nights you go to a gala.
Some nights you witness a moment that stays with you forever.
Saturday night was one of those nights. ❤️🐾🇺🇸
We had an incredible weekend at Quick Trigger (QTK), but what happened at the Roger Up 2026 Gala was something I will never forget.
Earlier this spring, QTK had the incredible honor of donating three Labradors—Chance, Pete, and Daisy—to Roger Up, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting veterans and first responders.
Through our partnership with Roger Up’s Service Dog Program, we have been given the privilege of watching these puppies begin a journey far greater than themselves.
A journey of purpose.
A journey of service.
A journey that can ultimately change a life.
Saturday night, I had the honor of bringing several members of our QTK family—the professional puppy snugglers—to the gala.
And then we met the people who had been loving our puppies for the past seven months.
Their foster families.
These families had opened their homes to our puppies.
They woke up with them.
They trained them.
They played with them.
They comforted them.
They watched them grow.
They celebrated their milestones.
They loved them.
And all the while, they knew something incredibly difficult:
One day, they would have to give them away.
Imagine loving a dog with your whole heart while knowing that the very reason you are loving and raising that dog is so that someday someone else can have them.
That takes a special kind of heart.
A selfless heart.
A heart willing to love without knowing how painful goodbye might be.
We listened to story after story about how our pups Chance, Pete, and Daisy had changed the lives of their foster families.
Chance, the oldest of the three service pups had already been placed with his forever family this spring. Chance’s family shared the impact he has had on their lives which was incredibly moving.
He is not only changing the lives of his own family—he is helping other veterans at Magnus Headquarters, too, by comforting them.
And when I walked up to Chance that night…
he remembered me.
Pete and Daisy were there, too.
And somehow, in the middle of all those people, all that noise, and all that emotion…
they remembered us from QTK.
There is something about looking into the eyes of a dog you helped bring into the world and realizing that they haven’t forgotten you.
Dogs don’t forget.
❤️🐾
I hugged those dogs again that night, and for a moment, everything else disappeared.
I wasn’t thinking about breeding.
I wasn’t thinking about training.
I wasn’t thinking about business.
I was thinking about why we do this.
Because these aren’t just puppies.
They are little lives with a purpose.
They are being given a chance to grow into service dogs who can provide comfort, independence, companionship, and hope to people who have spent their lives serving and protecting others.
And standing there Saturday night, surrounded by our QTK family, the foster families, these incredible dogs, and the people whose lives they are already touching…
I realized something.
We weren’t just watching a program succeed.
We were watching a dream come true.
All the early mornings.
All the late nights.
All the planning.
All the work.
All the worry.
All the love.
Every single moment that went into these dogs had led to this room.
And then came the moment that none of us were prepared for.
Mitch, the head trainer of Roger Up’s Service Dog Program, called the foster families and their dogs to the front of the room.
He thanked them for their dedication.
For their sacrifice.
For opening their homes.
For opening their hearts.
And for knowing from the very beginning that these dogs were eventually supposed to go to another veteran.
Then Mitch told them there was one final surprise.
He asked each family to look down at the dog standing beside them.
And then he said:
“These are not your foster dogs. These are now YOUR service dogs.”
For a second, there was silence.
And then…
the room exploded.
Tears.
Hugs.
Laughter.
Disbelief.
People holding onto each other.
Foster families crying into the dogs they had spent seven months loving.
Because the goodbye they had been preparing themselves for…
wasn’t coming.
They didn’t have to hand over their dog.
They didn’t have to walk away.
They didn’t have to wonder where their puppy would go or whether they would ever see them again.
They got to keep them.
And in that moment, something beautiful happened.
The dogs didn’t just find their purpose.
They found their forever homes.
And the families who had spent seven months preparing to let them go…
got to keep the family they had created.
I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room.
And honestly, I don’t think there was a heart in that room that wasn’t touched.
Because sometimes the greatest gift isn’t the one you give.
Sometimes it’s the gift of being told…
“You don’t have to say goodbye.”
That is what Saturday night meant to me.
It reminded me why Quick Trigger exists.
Why we put so much love into these dogs.
Why our QTK family works so hard.
Why Roger Up matters.
Why service dogs matter.
And why every puppy matters.
I am incredibly honored and humbled to be part of this journey.
Thank you, Mitch and Zach, for the incredible work you do through Roger Up and the Service Dog Program.
Thank you to the veterans and first responders who have sacrificed so much for all of us.
And to the foster families who opened their hearts and homes to Chance, Pete, and Daisy:
Thank you.
You were willing to love them knowing you might have to let them go.
That is one of the greatest acts of love there is.
But Saturday night, you were given something you never expected.
You got to keep them.
And watching that happen was a moment I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
This is why we do what we do.
This is the QTK mission.
These are not just dogs.
They are companions.
They are protectors.
They are healers.
They are family.
And sometimes…
they are the reason someone gets their life back.
❤️🐾🇺🇸
Quick Trigger Labradors — breeding with a purpose, loving with a purpose, and changing lives one Labrador at a time.
Kelly Petricka
Roger Up
