Chloe

Don,

Just wanted to say hello and let you know that Chloe, Matt and I are all still in Tampa, Florida. Chloe adjusted quite well to the heat. She finds it a little hot in the summer but loves the pools down here. It is weird people let there dogs swim in pools down here.

We get stopped all the time by strangers wondering if they can just pet her and ask where we got her. I run her every day. She still looks like a puppy and is a very healthy dog. We couldn’t imagine our lives with out her. She is part of our family. So Thanks again, keep up the great work.

Hope all is well.

Sincerely,

Tanya, Matt and Chloe Hill.

Late Hunting

Hi Don,

Hope that all is well with you. I never managed to fool another pheasant for the last day of the season, but I’ve been having some success ducking over near Canning. I was doing very well until Ruby seemed to hit her limit with retrieves. I am not sure if the cold just got to her or if something else happened to scare her but she flat out refused even very short retrieves. She would run down to the water and then when I gave her the fetch command she would get scared and run away from the water. I tried calm reassurance and encouragement but she was having no part of it. I brought a decoy retriever pole and used that to hook the ducks closer until all that she had to do was put her front paws in, but we were losing too many ducks when the tide came up to continue this method (once I could not reach across the channel with the hook we started losing birds). I think it may be the ice/slush in the water that freaked her out (one day she crossed to get a cripple running of the far bank and then had a bit of a hard time getting back to me in the current/ice). I will train there a lot next year in good conditions and also work her more in cold salt water on this side to try to get this resolved for next years. I’m hoping to get her used to all sorts of currents and more cold water so that she can make consistent retrieves there next year – very productive spot but we were just losing too many birds to keep shooting. Still, we’ve had some muddy fun! Here are some photos.

Hope you had a good holiday. We’re off to NB to go skiing for New Years. Happy New Year!

Cheers,

-Dave

Bella's Litter Pictrures

Hi Don,

Attached are pics of the puppies we took last night. Thanks again for letting us have a peek. You can tell where you are standing in the room by looking at Bella's eyes. Pretty cute.

Ed

Cash

Hi there: Yes I have been meaning to get over, it has just been such a busy time as you can imagine. we are having such fun with Cash, such a smart little thing. He is soo affectionate. He can sit, stay, shake a paw, roll over, and fetch. We are working on fetching as the item is not aways brought back but most of the time he does. He is very calm, a little nippy at times but just soooo loveable. We are both just thrilled with him. Here are some pics I took this week. We are off to England tomorrow for 5 days so I will drop by when we get back, I have one of Pierrette's books as well to return.

How would you feel if we came out this morning? Is that convenient for you guys? Do you want us to bring Cash?

Cheers, Robyn

Tucker update

Hey Don & Pierette,

Tucker is still doing well.

We have started playing the baseball game and doing mutliple retrieves, he is getting better at this everyday.

I have taken him out hunting a few times, he put up a couple grouse, but someone did not get them....
The only time he does not like to listen is when you tell him it's time to go in.

Here are some pictures of him playing today.

Have a good Christmas,

Evan & Sara

Rain

Hi Don, Merry Christmas!

I have been meaning to write to you for some time. I just wanted to say how happy we are with Rain, who is now just over a year old (a pup from Rose and Joey). In my mind, this is largely due to her excellent breeding.

I was a little nervous when we purchased a pup without having met you face to face and seeing the dogs first hand (we live in Ottawa). I was not sure sure if adding a dog to an already crazy household of three young kids (aged 7, 5 and 3) would tip the balance. And, finally, growing up both my husband and I have had many dogs -- let's face it -- I dreaded the puppy stage. I can honestly say with Rain it has been effortless! She was house trained to a specific spot in our backyard in under two weeks and had learnt her basic commands very quickly. Plus she hasn't chewed a thing! Please note: this is particularly impressive for several reason -- 1. there are always kid toys everywhere, 2. we are renovating our house so we have no closet for front door shoes and no kitchen cupboards (the bread is at dog level) and 3. she has had the run of the house at night and when we are out since she was 5 months old.

I am mostly impressed with her disposition. She is such a happy easy going dog that is always ready for anything. She is perfect with the kids (and other dogs) and puts up with all the kids at the bus stop with perfect manners. We are so lucky to have her! (My research payed off!) Don you are doing something right!


Attached is a picture of Rain with the kids.






Merry Christmas and Thank You!
Lisa

Christmas (Santa Dog)

Angus Two as Santa

Cutting down our Christmas tree w/Jasper

Hey Don!

We had a blast in Milford today cutting down our Christmas tree. Jasper
had SO much fun running around and driving in the back of the truck.
Everyone was patting her and she was giving lots of kisses!

Hope to see you both very soon! The busy weekends have begun!

Angie Johnson :)

Pictures of Tuuk

Hi Don.

A couple of pictures of Tuuk for you. She’s doing well. We’ve been in obedience class and she’s proving to be quite stubborn. Teething like crazy right now.

Dave.

Tech drying out

As you can see he still manages to get in and actually fit in the dryer.

FIRST FLIGHT By Deborah LoGerfo

Zarah my service dog and I recently completed our first plane ride ever when we flew on an INTERNATIONAL flight from JFK in New York to Nova Scotia, Canada.




We left JFK airport over Labor Day weekend. Something I'd consider differently if we did this again! When we entered the airport through the revolving doors, the lines of people which began at the ticket counters block our way. I've never seen the airport more crowded!

They say emotions travel down the leash, so I tried to be as casual as possible, but it was quite a scene to get through.

After navigating our way through the sea of people, we found airport agents to help us, and from that point on we had someone assigned to us to help us through security and walk us to our gate.



Even with all the training that Zarah went through, I still didn't know exactly how she would actually behave when the plane was taking off!

I worried about the noise and vibrations, the liftoff, her ears, etc. etc., but this too turned out to be a more of a test for me than for her!

Once we boarded and got to our seats, Zarah simply assumed her position at my feet, and that was it. The takeoff caused her to slide down under my seat a little bit, but she readjusted herself and actually slept on and off the rest of the way. It was difficult to imagine that this was her first flight!


One flight attendant confided to me that Zarah was better than some of their passengers!




The airline personnel in the U.S. and Canada were all wonderful to us, and I really can’t say enough about the people who went out of their way to help us.

Nova Scotia welcomed Zarah and I everywhere we went. Our gracious host, Don Bates of Doindogs Kennels, the breeder I got Zarah from, was quite impressed with all of her training- and recently sent another pup to the United States just last year. This other pup, like Zarah, was also was trained at C&G K-9 School in Uniondale, New York, but this pup’s mission was to help a woman who has MS.



Anyway, as you can imagine, it was still a great deal of hard work walking a dog through two international airports, clearing customs, riding in elevators, going in and out of ladies rooms, jumping in and out of taxi cabs, AND taking pictures along the way. However, I could not have asked for a better traveling companion…and with no baggage!!!

While in Nova Scotia, we attended a CKC Dog Show as guests, and we had this picture below taken for a newsletter.




Canadian Kennel Club Dog Show (above)



We spent six wonderful days sightseeing throughout a country that couldn’t have done more to make us feel at home everywhere we went. Even our hotel welcomed dogs. I can’t tell you how really great that makes you feel!


Zarah was remarkable. She was the most wonderful Ambassador for a Hearing Dog that anyone could ever hope for, and the two of us educated people about Hearing Dogs every step along the way of our journey together.






Zarah (above) in Nova Scotia!!!


And so that’s the story of our first trip. We’re only just beginning!

Deborah LoGerfo

Brook

Here is Brook and I on a little duck hunt in early October near St. John's.

Craig

Zoe

Hi guys,

It's been a long time. Hope all is well. Thought we would send pictures of our kids. Zoe is doing so well and is as beautiful as ever. She has turned out to be a wonderful dog. We welcomed our newest a yellow we named Dallas. Very different to Zoe...much less active and is not very fond yet of the water unlike Zoe. Now I just need to convince David of a chocolate!!!!!!!!!

Let's get together soon...
Say hi to Pierette.

Pam Reid

I took Jay and Tanya out.

I took Jay and Tanya out. We were hunting that blind on the Avon with not a single waterfowl in the air but roosters cackling up and down both sides of the river. I have never hear anything like it. Perhaps something to do with the pending storm. Anyhow – by half-hour after sunrise we couldn’t stand it any longer. We swapped camo for orange and steel for lead and hit the dykes for the long hunt. We put up two hens then finally a nice rooster that ran back past us through the ditch with Ruby hot on its tail. When it flushed it was behind some trees and Tanya and I both missed. This was her first shot at anything live and I think she found it quite exciting. By great good luck it circled right over Jay who was on the next hedgerow over and he took it with a clean shot (his first wingshot bird ever!). We then went to Grand Pre and worked very hard along cornfield edges to push out 3 more hens and three more roosters. We should have had two of the roosters but Jay’s Mossberg pump jammed on him again. I got one just as it popped out of one cornfield and flew across the swale into the next. A difficult but good blind retrieve of a wounded bird for Ruby. We packed up just as the first sheets of rain came down.

Hope you both had good weekends and got a few birds!

-Dave

She's Back

Hi Don,



Sable just spent 1 week at C&G. We left her with Joe, to fine tune her a bit. She is long & sleek looking. Sable is a dog now.



I am glad she is home...I missed her. I think she missed me too. Sable ran in to the house, like a freight train...hunting me down. Then lots of wagging!!!



Thanks for my great dog,

Janette

Opening Day

Hi Don,

I hope everything went smoothly with your trip to Maine to pick up Bella. We were at our spot at 5:30 this morning to stake our claim. Just as well – after our first pass we ran into a solo hunter and then a party of 4 with two dogs. Ruby flushed at least 13 individual roosters and 3 hens. Total flushes was over 25 – we stopped counting. We both got our limit early on, and then stopped on the way home and picked up a pair of woodcock as a bonus! What a great day! Ruby was very good once she settled down, but ran after the first rooster despite my commands. It was only by sheer luck that she did not flush any others when she did that. She also got after a runner and flushed him out of range, but other than those two incidents I was very happy with her. My proudest moment was as we were walking back towards the car with 3 roosters – we were following the four other guys hunting with a Brittany and some kind of pointer. They were working an alder hillside only about 20 feet wide and so we were sure it would be empty as we followed them along. Ruby found some scent and flushed a big rooster that they had somehow missed and we got it to finish our limit!

-Dave

Ruby & David (Woodcock/Grouse Hunt)

Hi Don,

I took Ruby out for woodcock/grouse this morning. Craig Blackie (my photographer friend – you met him at the university once for a slide show) came along and took these shots. I think that they tell a pretty nice story. I especially like "show bird".

Cheers,

Dave

Angus Picture

Hi Don!

Just sending along a new pic of Doindogs Angus, Yew's pup from Sept ’06. He couldn't be more loving and sweet (and handsome J ).

Please give our regards to Pierette and your furry gang!

Theresa