Subject: From Mike Morton about the pup I bought from you
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:25:02 +0000

Hi there,

Just thought I would drop you note to let you know how things are going, since it is obvious you guys really care. The pup I bought from you (Pippin) is doing great. I joined a national club in spring called the "North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association", or "NAVHDA". (they have a web site, just search "navhda"; also the chapter I belong to has a site too; search "semi Navhda"; "semi" is for "southeast Michigan".) I have had Pippin out a lot this last spring and summer, working on getting her started, and she does great. She is a beautiful dog with a lot of potential, and she has her own little fan club within the club.

Pippin (and I) had her first test on Saturday. It was a "natural ability" test (on the navhda website you can see the criteria for the test) and she scored 98 out of 112 for a prize 3! She had perfect scores in everything except search and cooperation, because she caught a couple of the birds during the test, and wouldn't come to hand so I could take them and start hunting again, but that is simple obedience training, and easily correctable. She was the youngest dog in the test, and some of the dogs didn't even score a prize at all; and some of them were well over a year old; Pip is only seven and a half months! Some of the prize 2 dogs even had lower overall scores than her.

In short, she did great! I could have ironed out the obedience part of it, but I chose not to be too heavy handed on such a young dog (I'm such a softie). Just so you understand, had she simply come when I called her, with or without bringing the bird, she would have been a prize 1 dog. Prize one only requires 99 points, but it requires a perfect score of 4 on the search category, and she only got a two, due to the disobedience.

Being a new trainer, and this being my first ever bird dog, this result at such a young age is great.

I have had at least five people ask me where I got Pippin, and I always tell them where, and give you guys a shining recommendation. Not every breeder cares about their dogs, and that makes all the difference. There are breeders out there (many were at this test watching dogs from their litters) that only care about titles, so they can charge more for their pups. In fact, many give their buyers money back for placing well in these tests, only so they can boast another title in their line. But it's not many who care as much about their dogs as they do about the money as you guys do. Pippin was worth every penny.

The test results will be in Navhda's magazine, which I get, and I plan to scan it in and send it to you. Also, the results should be on Navhda's web site as well. You should look up the test criteria when you get a chance; that's the "natural ability" test, so you can understand what she had to do.

She is one great dog.

Mike Morton

P.S. please e-mail me back when you get a chance, so I know that you got this. Also, let me know when you are having another litter; I'll pass the word around. Pippin is starting to turn into a walking advertisement for you, and it only gets better from here, when I start to train her for the utility test.

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Sincerely,
Michael F. Morton