Emails from puppy owners

11-10-07
Harold,
Just thought I'd drop a quick note to tell you that Katie is doing just great!  Thanks again for a great dog!  The family just loves her!
Tom
11-07-07
Harold,
We check your website occasionally and wanted to send this picture of our Lucy from the Missy/Jake litter of 6-30-05.  Our family adores her and doesn't know what we did without her!
Thanks,
Lori

11-28-04
We just wanted to let you know how Daisy is doing.  What a great dog.  Alan's parents moved up to Wolverine (north of Gaylord) recently so we have been able to let Daisy run.  She is so happy.  She has about 40 acres she is running free in.  What a good dog, we let her go and when it is time to come in, she responds to my whistle immediately.    Alan's dad, who hunts regularly, just loves Daisy.  She is so well behaved and keeps him company on his walks.  He said if he was ever to get another dog, it would be just like Daisy.
Erin
09-30-07
Harold,
We picked up the male Brittany from you on Friday.  He is doing very good.  he is a very well behaved dog.  We absolutley love him, and he is getting a lot of attention.  He is easily trained and listens well.  The videos you gave us are very helpful.  I really appreciate it and will keep in touch.  Once we get some good pictures we will send them to you.  Oh, by the way, we named him Brownie. 
Thank you very much for everything.
Jeremy

09-14-04
Harold- Jake(Center Ridge's Jake-California) went on his first of many hunting trips. He is outstanding, loyal and always wanting to please. He is always by my side. Jake was impressive he pointed the first chukar and flushed it right out. He loves the river and couldn't be happier hunting his heart out. He gets along great and works the field right along side Sierra. The two of them together are the ultimate hunting machines. We got six Chuker in a little over an hour. Jake is outstanding, he gets compliments from everybody who sees him. He is growing fast, but he still thinks he fits in my lap. Here are some pictures of our hunting trip. Both Sierra and Jake had to be in the picture with all six chuker together, they do have a little rivalry when it comes to getting attention. Thank you for an excellent hunter, friend, and family member.

Robert

06-24-04
I can't thank you enough for Twister, he is one great dog.  He is always at my side, it's like he is glued to me.  I take him out all the time and he loves being out in the field.
Jim


04-21-04
Hi Harold - Just wanted to let you know that Henry has settled into his new home and is a real joy to be around. He took to his crate right away and goes into it without hesitation to take a nap during the day.  He's about 90% housebroken and is sleeping about 6 to 7 hours at night. I don't know what you did but you produced some of the best pups I've ever seen. Give Holly a big hug of thanks for us and let her know that she raised some great pups!

03-24-04
We just wanted to drop a line and let you know how Avery is doing. She has adjusted very nicely to her home and to her brother and sister (Sage and Bear). Avery and Bear are like peas in a pod, I don't know if they could get along without each other. Sage remains very independent of the other dogs (she thinks she is human). Avery has a much more mild personality than Sage and she is very affectionate. Once she is out of the puppy stage, I think she will be a very calm dog. Sage and Avery are two completely different dogs, its funny that they are 1/2 sisters. We haven't pressed training too much but we have taken her out into the field and let her play. She looks very good and her nose is always to the ground .


03-15-04
Just a short note on the progress of CR's "Top Gun" or Gunner as we call him.  Let me just say first of all that I am very impressed with this dog both in the field and as a loving pet.  His favorite resting position at home is on my lap in our easy chair on his back with his head on my shoulder...unbelievable!  He is so responsive and affectionate...I rarely need to raise my voice to him which is amazing for a pup his age.  We still having happy time in a large abandoned field near here in which I run the dogs every weekend.  He is gorgeous to watch in the field....his speed and tenacity are amazing.  He chases everything that moves and runs big but will always come back to check on me and responds well to a double whistle return.  We're working on hand signs and he's picking up that very fast.  He is a retrieving maniac and will return a ball to my hand every time and beats the other two dogs consistently.  He is a beautiful pup and is really filling out nicely.  His coat and markings are beautiful and he just looks very regal.  I've picked up some pigeons and a launcher and will start soon with him on a check cord.  He points birds all the time in the back yard so it the learning should go fast.  I'm using a starter pistol around them in the field and so far he shows no sign of gun shyness.  I want to get him on quail here soon but don't want him to get into cactus until he's older.  He's real sensitive and I don't want any negative experiences in the field yet.  South of town is an area without cactus and has birds but it's a couple of hours to get there.

Best Regards,
Kent


Elliot Rocks !!!  11-10-03

I just wanted to make that statement about my dog.

This past weekend was the small game opener in Indiana that includes ringnecks and quail.  I  On Sunday,  we went to Pigeon River FWA just south of Sturgis,  MI in Indiana.  We put 9 ringnecks in the air (6 hens and 3 roosters), Elliot pointed 8 of the 9 with picture perfect points, the only one he didn't point was a rooster that was up in the top of an oak tree (never seen that before).  I cleanly whiffed on one of the roosters and the other one flushed before I could get into shooting range (probably because of the beeper collar).

He also nailed a covey of quail.  I shot one that was streaking across me toward a pine thicket.  I nailed it just as it hit the edge of the thicket and it disapperard into the tangled mess of thorns, dead pine trees, and everything else that would prevent me from getting to it. Elliot was right on its tail.  He was at top speed and did a superman leap about 5
 feet from the thicket right into the thing.  After about 30 seconds, here he comes, bloody face and all, trotting over to me with quail in mouth. I was absolutely ecstatic.  My buddy said there was no way in hell he would have guessed any dog would have found that bird in that thicket, which was about the size of a small house.

Elliot didn't just impress me with his pointing and retrieving, it was his hunting style. He had a perfect range and a perfect hunting pattern.  Yesterday, he looked like a finished bird dog.  Every once in a while we'd pick up a lone hunter by himself and invite him to join in and he hunt with us for a half hour or so or we'd join up with another small group of  hunters with dogs to push a big field.  Everyone was impressed with Elliot and absolutely shocked when I told them he was only 13 months old.


Update for C/R's Ringneck Ripper (Elliot) 6-11-03

I just picked up Elliot from his Puppy School at Pine Hill Kennels.   Justin  McGrail, one of the professional trainers, repeatedly stated how amazed he is at Elliot's natural ability.  The puppy school was three weeks and after that time he is pointing all of his birds, shows no adverse affects to gunfire, retrieves to hand, and covers ground very well.  Justin was especially impressed at his tenacity at retrieving, stating "you don't train that,  you're born with it!!!!"  He will chase a wounded bird and not let up until he has it nailed -- no matter how long it takes and no matter how thick and nasty the cover.  He retrieves to hand almost every time, with barely a feather displaced on the bird.  I will be working the rest of the summer on his strength and stamina and he will return to Pine Hill in August for more formal Gun Dog training (formal whoa, backing, etc...)

He progression is absolutely amazing.  Each day he looks more and more like his dad.

ELLIOT (C/R's Ringneck Ripper) UPDATE 4-01-03

While working Elliot in my habitat area last evening, he came across a planted bird and locked up on point.  I was able to get a marginal picture (windy and dark so it was a little blurry).  He held the point for 15 seconds or so and then the bird moved, so he took off on chase, --  we're still working on "whoa".  But that was really his first exposure to birds and he hit the point dead solid -- I was amazed.

What a thing of beauty!!!!, okay, so I'm a little biased, but I was impressed.  My Older Brittany was amazed too, she just kind of laid there at my feet and watched him (not really backing, just watching).  Elliot runs her into the ground when it comes to playing, I have never seen a dog with that much energy.  He will run until I get tired of watching.  This past weekend, I took him over to a friends house where he ran a 4 year old  yellow lab into the ground.  Elliot ran around for almost 5 hours with nothing  more than a stop for water and "nature calls".  By November, he'll be  running me into the ground and I run triathlons!!!!.


Harold,

We named our Brit, Rosie, after a famous scientist.  She is doing wonderful and gettling along with our golden retriever great.  Rosie pointed her first bird, a turkey on the roost Jan 3.  She responds to voice commands well, and when the weather warms a bit we will have her in the field more.  The vet reported she seems to be in excellent  health and constantly remarks about her steady frame and attractive  appearance.

Thanks for the remarkable dog, I can't wait for pheasant season this fall in Iowa.

Alan and Elizabeth


Time for another Riley Update.

 Our local Pheasants Forever chapter held our annual Youth Hunt Saturday.  Originally it didn't seem like Riley would see too much field time due to his age and expected attendance by a sufficient number of finished dogs.  To the contrary, Riley was as busy as I let him be, considering the warm weather.  We had about 30 kids from 12-16 years old show up.  We had a sporting clays tower, two fields planted with 100 chukars between them,  a pond and picnic area to run the event.  After shooting some clays, groups of about 6 were put together to  go through the fields behind pointing dogs.

The first bird up in front of a group would come out of a launcher as a demonstration  of what was about to take place in the field.  I was asked to use Riley for the demo, as it would be very controlled and a good training exercise for him as well as the kids.  There was some concern that a pup that young (5 1/2 months) would run around playing and bust all the birds during the regular hunt.  He was check corded, as were all dogs that day.  This would also be the first time he would be shot directly over.  He has exhibited no concern to loud noises in the past and the clays being shot a couple of hundred yards away earlier in the day never turned his head.   For the demo, I brought him up down wind of the launcher and boy, he threw out the anchor.  He whoa'd-up right nicely and held tight as I positioned the first kid for the shot.  The bird went up, the shot rang out and the bird fell.  I held Riley with the check cord and a couple of soft 'whoa' commands and I released him to take up the retrieve.  He went out, searched a bit, pointed the still-flapping bird then went in.  The scenario was replayed about a dozen more times with planted birds that day.  I was a proud papa.  Harold, you should be a proud grandpa.  You have definatley captured some sound instinct and passed it along.  I have a trip planned the first  part of October for the U.P. and another to South Dakota toward the end of the month.  I'm sure Riley will have a ball and by running with a few more experienced dogs, should 'get it' even more.

Good luck this season.   Stay in touch.

                 Tim

Had a great long weekend training with my uncle near Traverse City.  We picked up some quail and Riley took to them quickly.  We played in the  yard with a few point and flush scenarios.  The following morning we had 13 flushes on woodcock - not all in front of Riley (my uncle has two Brittanys), but he was in on  few.  Saturday we went to a local NAVHDA training ground and set some more quail out just for Riley.  He had  some great points and was pretty steady on the point.  He is taking to  'whoa' real good.

We had a beautiful point by Riley and a great honor by my  uncles 4 year old in the edge of some corn.  We peeled back the stalks to see  the quail about 12" from Riley's nose and about 18" from Muff's.  The darn camera was in the truck!  We had some more woodcock encounters on  Sunday morning with Riley finding a few on his own.  The switch has been  flipped!

Last night after we got home, I ran him out in my PF cover and bumped 4 pheasants.  Riley was about 10 yards out and he watched them take  flight. He then went snooping around the launch pad and two more took off.   After a little chase he came back and scoured the area.  He was on fire again.   All I can say is thanks for all your hard work and for pairing up some  great parents who passed on the genes for  what is bound to become a good hunting partner.

Tim


HAROLD,

BO IS 19 INCH TALL AND WEIGHS 28 POUNDS.

SO FAR (by 7 mths old) HE HAS LEARNED TO

SIT
DOWN
STAY
ONE WHISTLE STOP
TWO WHISTLE COME
LAND RETRIEVE DEAD BIRDS
WATER RETRIEVE DEAD BIRDS
HONOR
DIRECTIONAL HAND SIGNALS ARE WHAT WE ARE WORKING ON NOW.

AFTER THAT IS PURE EXPERIENCE IS WHAT HE NEEDS

JEREMY


Hi Harold:

Wow, I've been thinking of you and the new puppies.  They are beautiful.  I
only have an educated guess on Lucy's weight and height.  She weighs apx.
20 lbs and is 18-19 inches to the shoulder and 22 inches to the top of her
head.  She is a wonderful puppy/dog.  She has quite a personality and we
love her.  Take care.

Sandy


Hi Harold - Tex is 29 lbs but I am not sure of his exact height. All is great,
he loves to run and is showing natural instincts with the birds. He  rules the roost!!!

Karen


Harold,

I just wanted to let you know that the puppy is doing great!  The first night she slept all night not a peep out of her.  We
had to look to see if you was still there.  Sam (other brittany) wasn't quite sure at first by she is getting use to Abby
following her around.  She loves to play in the back yard.  She eating well and sleeping sound.  I took her to the vets
along with the stats and pedigree papers from your web site.  My vet was REALLY impressed with the whole thing.  He
said he has never seen that before and the puppy was is in excellent health.  She will be getting her shots next week and
he also said it was the first time a puppy came in from a breeder without any worms!!   Thank you once again and we
will send pics soon!!!

Melissa


Hi!
Just thought you might want an update on Tex. He's doing great!!
Tomorrow is his first vet appointment. He's been eating well and loves playing
outside. Doesn't really like his collar though. This is going to be a great
Christmas as long as he stops chewing all the ribbons!

Thanks again!
Karen