Accolades

From time to time we receive letters from our buyers letting us know how their dog is doing. We truly appreciate each and every one. We become attached to the dogs and when they leave us we often wonder how they are doing. Its difficult for us when shipping day arrives and we have to say good bye to our little four legged friends. Knowing we may receive news makes it a bit easier. We would like to share some of the letters with you. Permission has been granted by the authors prior to our posting them here. To those of you that take the time to share your stories, photos, and hunting tales, we thank you.

(Note: Charger is one of the older black and white male pups we had available.)

Lee & Betty, 3/15/04

Charger is my buddy. I took him out for pheasants today. When I got to the hunt club he just went nuts when he saw the birds in their pens. From that point on he had two things on his mind. How do I get them and where is Blair? I kept him on a lead for the first twenty minutes then turned him loose. He quartered, checked back and generally looked like he was having a good time. I had three other dogs with me and he joined in with the pack. Conditions were very tough, 25-30 mph wind, gusts to 35-40. Ty would hit scent then loose it. Suzie finally got on to a runner and forced it out the end of a tree line. I couldn't get a shot but marked where it went down. Ty was about 40 yards in front of me when he locked on. He was rock solid but the bird wasn't and flushed before I could get in range. All four picked up scent where it landed on the other side of the trees and tracked it to a woodchuck hole. I hate it when that happens. We finally found the other bird I had released, and I missed a long shot. I healed the dogs and we went after him. I brought the dogs in from downwind in the general area where the bird landed and all four went on point. I could see the bird zigging and zagging with no where to go. The dogs couldn't see him and lost his scent in the high wind. Finally Charger saw him and locked up solid with Katie. Ty and Suzie had started quartering to relocate him and the wind was so high that the both ran right past him within ten feet and didn't scent him. I flushed him and missed two shots. He flew into a field that was off limits.

Still, I came home with birds. I couldn't get out in the morning because all the fields were reserved. Suzie went on point then cocked her head from side to side. Next thing she was bringing me a still warm chuckar that someone from the morning hunt had shot and lost. A little while later Ty presented me with a pheasant that was still warm. With these dogs I don't even need to be able to shoot to get game.

Charger is going to be just fine. Considering I've only had him four days I think its pretty amazing I could trust him to come and hunt close and not take off for Montana. When I looked at his registration papers I realized that he was from the same litter I originally wanted a pup from last summer when we visited you. I wanted the liver-tri female and she was sold just before I called you, so we took Sam and Suzie. Funny how things work out sometimes.

Lastly, Charger is starting to play with the other dogs. You can tell he's starting to feel more comfortable.

Blair

February 4, 2004

Dear Lee,

First and foremost, Thank You so much for providing me with a terrific animal companion and an outstanding bird dog to boot. Secondly, my apologies for taking so long in keeping my word and letting you know how my Hunrunr French Brittany, Asa du Hunrunr turned out. Lee, he is simply an amazing dog.

I have enclosed a number of pictures and as you can see he has turned out to be a handsome dog. I am a bit biased. The truth is I'd love him if he was as ugly as a mud fence, based on his true heart and STRONG field work. I've been lucky to hunt blue, ruffed and sharptail grouse, band-tailed pigeons, wild bobwhite quail and pheasant over the rock solid points of the Asa dog. Growing up in Montana I was blessed to be around upland birds, waterfowl, and bird dogs from the time I was knee high to a grasshopper. Now in my early thirties, I've learned as much, if not more, in my 3 years with Asa as I did in the 20+ years before him. I have your words ringing in my ears every time we head into the field, "Let this dog teach you to hunt".

I can't emphasize enough the quality of this dog. I know that you know, that's why you choose to breed them. However, I am going to tell you anyway! In the field he is biddable, focused, tremendous endurance, athletic- I have witnesses to him going straight up a 9 foot bank on the Musselshell River, and as birdy as any dog has a right to be. At home he is a joy and gets along with all types of four & two legged characters.

So, again thanks for such a quality animal. Asa has been such an addition to my life - in the woods & field, flyfishing,, on the road and at home.

I hope this finds you and yours happy and healthy.

Sincerely-

TCM-Colorado

Hey Deb,

Just wanted to let you know that Cassey (cody and Missy Nov 4 2001 liver tri) is the best dog. She has become my wife's dog. She loves us all but she loves to be next to my wife, especially on her lap. She is very gentle and loving. My wife who never had a dog before is now a dog person and says we will never find a dog like Cassey again because she is so special. Thank you so much for allowing us to add her to our family.

Even though she is so gentle and sweet she is all business when we go hunting and she can't get enough. She and our other dog Quincey have put up quite a few grouse, now if I could just hit them. Sometimes we go for walks on a back road/trails in the woods when its not hunting season and the walk is four miles long. She must do at least 10 or 12 miles because she is all over the woods on both sides of the road.

We still check the Hunrunr web site quite often and enjoy looking at the dogs.

Hope all is well with you and your family.

Chris and Ann - NY

Lee & Betty,

Hope you had a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. Just wanted to let you know that Ty (out of Pete & Sister) and Suzy ( out of Pete and Dee) are the best hunters I've ever seen. Both have fantastic noses. They hunt dead and will go into any kind of cover to get the birds. They've pointed every bird I've had released on my hunt club membership. They even found the runners that went from the mixed grass and bramble cover into woods and tree lines. I've been able to harvest 19 out of 20 birds. ( I passed up a long shot on a bird Ty was tracking when it flushed 20 yards ahead of him. I thought it was going to settle in some heavy cover about 200 yards ahead of us but instead the bird made a hard left and flew off a quarter of a mile into an out-of-bounds area.) Ty was steady to wing and shot on every bird, marked them, and went to each bird shot. Suzy is such a natural (and aggressive) retriever that she wouldn't let the other dogs have them. (We'll have to work on that.)

I had the opportunity to watch a variety of other breeds at work -- labs, German short hairs, American Brittany's, and Springer's. I wouldn't trade my Hunrunrs for the whole lot. One of my friend's son has a short hair that is ranked 8th in the state. He was hunting an adjacent parcel with his son and grandson. I was hunting with just Ty. It took Ty fifteen minutes to find all of my birds. The other group hunted for almost 2 hours and didn't find all their birds. I also saw their "ranked" short hair bumping birds that were out of range. It was amusing watching them hunt a tree line and come up with nothing. The day before Ty had pointed a fugitive pheasant in that tree line. Ty was about 45 feet from the bird which was sitting on a branch about 6 feet off the ground. I just followed Ty's nose and eyes to the bird and harvested it as it started to fly. Ty finished off the point with a perfect retrieve to hand.

Ty and Suzy also like to watch the Outdoor Channel. I've seen them track a falling bird and then run to the TV and paw at the screen. They also perform better in the field than most of the TV star dogs, and all of this at 17 and 8 months.

The bottom line is that Ty and Suzy are performing as advertised and can only get better. Thanks for breeding such great dogs. Hunting with Hunrunr French Brittany's is almost like cheating.

Sincerely,

Blair & Kathy

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to give you a quick update on Tuckers progress. First let me say that he is about the nicest dog I have ever had the pleasure to be around. He is a very affectionate dog who loves people, especially kids and is wonderful in the house.

In the field he runs well and covers ground while keeping in touch with me at all times. As for finding birds, his nose is good, but he is still figuring out how to use it. There were a few birds bumped this fall, but he is learning quickly. Now that this years hunting season is coming to an end, we will be working on steadying his point. That said, his strongest area is swimming and retrieving. If the water is not to cold Tucker will retrieve until my arm is tired from tossing the bumper.

I hope all is well.

Troy

Lee,

We are constantly reminded how huntable Hunrunr dogs are! As you can see in the picture, Alf has surprised us as being an aggressive duck retriever as well as a sharp-nosed pheasant dog. Here he is with a few of the ducks he retrieved last fall. At about 2 years old and expertly cobby, he tore right into the cattails to get ducks. My hunting partner still gets chided about how Alf beat out his highly experienced, 7 year old Golden when they both charged into the cattails at the same time for a wounded duck. I can still see the shock on his face when his dog came out empty with Alf right behind proudly launching himself into the mud and water to bring us the duck. Our 3 year old Hunrunr, Finn doesn't like water quite as much but he is a champ at pheasants, grouse, and woodcock! - Ron and Kathy W.