Chad,
I wanted to let you know what a pleasure it is to have Toby as a part of our family. He is turning out to be more than what I expected. His obediance is excellent but not robotic like other dogs I have seen trained that show no personallity. He also has excellent manners and really responds nicely not only to commands but to the tone in my voice. The wife and kids love him and he fits in the house just like another person. We hunted wild birds in North Dakota this year on three seperate occasions and he had numerous nice retrieves to hand with no downed birds missed. I've owned and hunted over numerous other dogs that have not showed the poise and talent of Toby at just under one year of age. I'm very pleased with the breeding his tempermant is excellent he puts up with my two year old son and four year old daughter which is quite the test. Your hard work has definitely paid off. I would recomend your services and especially this breeding mix to anyone and have under numerous occasions. I look forward to bringing him back to you to finish him so we can play with some of the hunt tests.
Sincerely,
Jeff Lerfald
Scandia, MN
Phone # on request
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Dear Chad,
Hunting season for birds just closed yesterday out here in Nevada, and I wanted to drop you a note to tell you how much I'm enjoying my new little lab. She has been everything I could hope for, and more, in a bird dog and a companion. As you predicted, my family absolutely just loves her to death. At home she picked up on all of the "ground rules" of expected behavior willingly and so quickly it was phenomenal. I think it is her intelligence and intense desire to please that drives "Hank" in such special ways. It is obvious that your work in the obedience segment of your training is right on target. Yet, as you know, her personality has in no way been diminished in any way. What a fun dog to be with!
In the field, on Gambel's Quail and the Chuckar we hunt out here, she has really done an outstanding job. She is a tireless worker in the hills. I really like that she will hunt close (in range) and quickly adjusts on command if I think she's too far out.
Probably one of the most surprising things about Hank, to me, is the great nose she has. Labs are not always known for their scenting ability, but Hank's almost like she has radar on birds. Now that we have had enough time together it's now easy to tell when "body language" says that it's time to be ready for a flush. When I down birds her work on retrieves is all but flawless. We have yet to lose a dead bird. On cripples, if we can get to the spot before they run too far and in a reasonable amount of time, she hasn't missed yet for me. Sometimes she'll follow the trail for 20-30 yds. and come up with a live bird in her soft mouth. I watched one wobbly chukar coast down into a draw and made mental note to, if practical, take that route back to the truck for lunch. A friend and I were able to drop off of the mountain that way at least two hours later and Hank came up with that bird! It had crawled under a sagebrush and died. It's legs were underneath it and it was already starting to get stiff. She really had to dive and bore to get the bird, but she was one little black auger. That was it for me!! And my friend, too. All this, and she's not even a year old yet!
THANK YOU CHAD,
Gary |
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