From Dog Rescue to Lake Como: Jason Tartick's Love Story Gets a Ring

Sometimes the best love stories start in the most unexpected places. For Jason Tartick, that place was a Nashville dog rescue organization, where he adopted a golden retriever named Teddy in March 2025. The woman running that rescue? Kathryn Hurley, who founded the Nashville branch of Wags&Walks and serves as its executive director. Fast forward through a year of red carpet moments, Super Bowl weekends, and European getaways—and Tartick just proposed to Hurley under the Italian sun last month, making their rescue-dog origin story feel like the perfect rom-com setup.

The proposal happened outside the Grand Hotel Victoria in Lake Como, Italy, where Tartick kept things intentionally intimate and private. After Hurley said yes, they celebrated with a romantic boat ride before video calling their families and closest friends with the news. It’s the kind of moment that feels designed for Instagram—and Tartick delivered, posting a carousel of professional photos Monday with the caption, Right where we belong 💍. But what really seals the charm? Their celebration didn’t feel complete until they got home to their rescue dogs. That full-circle moment—from meeting through a rescue organization to celebrating their engagement with their pups—captures something real about who they are.

Tartick’s path to this engagement wasn’t without detours. He was previously engaged to fellow Bachelorette alum Kaitlyn Bristowe before the pair split in 2023. This time around, things seem different. The couple quietly started dating in late 2025, made things Instagram official that December, and have been steadily building their life together ever since. They’ve hit all the major milestones—public appearances, high-profile events, international travel—but the throughline has always been genuine: two people who met through their shared love of dogs and found something deeper.

What’s worth noting here is how Tartick found his way off the Bachelor/Bachelorette conveyor belt entirely. He met Hurley in the real world, through an actual shared cause, not through a dating show or the celebrity ecosystem. Their love story had quiet months before becoming public, and it’s rooted in something tangible—a rescue organization, actual rescue dogs, a real community. In an era when reality TV romance often becomes part of the brand, there’s something refreshing about a couple whose connection predates their Instagram announcement by months.

Congrats to the happy couple. And if you needed a reminder that meaningful connections still happen outside of apps and algorithms, well—there’s your proof, complete with a golden retriever named Teddy.