Critter Collars are a “Must Have” in your box of whelping supplies!!

Hi, Trina and Wayne,

I have made a couple of great decisions in my life, and driving to your Montana kennel and selecting Chloe from your 2007 litter of Boykins/Braque Francaise pups is up there as one of my most outstanding choices. What a dog! Here is why I am so pleased to have her away out West in California :
Hunting abilities:
She has a fabulous nose (last month I placed two chukar carcasses about 40 yards apart so that she would pick up the scent cone of bird A, retrieve it, then go back out and find the cone of Bird B and retrieve that one….great practice, great plan…except it didn’t work out that way. She immediately found Bird A, as usual, but as she was joyfully bringing it back to me, the wind shifted and she also caught scent of Bird B. She stopped dead in her tracks with Bird A still in her muzzle, stuck her nose up into the air, the light went off and the bell clanged, and she then quartered and got the 40 yard distant Bird B, within 10 seconds, all accomplished with Bird A still in her mouth. Then she brought them both back to me with her mouth brimming with chukars. Unbelievable!)

• Her stamina is greater than all of the proven dogs of my friend, who I previously thought had the most relentless dogs in California . She is the Energizer Bunny of dogs, and just goes and goes and goes. She does need lots of water, though. As long as she is hydrated, she is relentless.
• She always chooses to initially hunt the roughest pheasant and quail terrain (and yep, that is where the birds will usually be). As I walk a trail through broken ground, she always heads first for the most tangled vegetation in the area to search for birds. Other dogs seem to first hunt the less difficult areas first, but never her. She didn’t learn this from me; the first time that I took her pheasant hunting with my buddies and their dogs, we all noticed the different types of vegetation that the various dogs were gravitating towards, and Chloe always went to the jungles first.
• She likes to work close to me. Occasionally, she will go off on her own, but usually she naturally stays nearby. Gotta work on that some more.
• She intelligently picks her way through broken terrain, with her head down as much as possible, with sure-footed leaps and bounds. She does not usually crash through brush, but prefers to nimbly explore from the edge if a small clump, but then will submerge into it if a large jungle. She is quite Ok with bull-dozing if there is a chance of finding a bird, however.
• She points. Naturally. Classic. Steady. One paw up and cocked. Omigod. She is a pointer, naturally, not a flusher.
• She is not gun shy in the slightest.
• She is visually interested in birds, and will intently track a wounded (or ahem, missed) flying bird until it disappears from sight, and if down within her vision, will race off to retrieve it. I initially decided to get a hunting dog because I was mortified when I would lose a downed bird but couldn’t find them, and realized that I needed a good nose to find them. So she brings both her fabulous nose AND her eyesight to the table.
• I take Chloe duck hunting as well as upland birding, and her swimming skills need work. Usually a “fair” but not a “great” swimmer, she occasionally swims vertically, and then vertically splashes like the Titanic going down for the last time, until she rights herself and swims naturally again. I dunno, she swims well most of the time, but not always. Gotta work on that, too.

• Social skills:

• She is even tempered to the max. She has never growled at anyone in anger. Even when she has been scared of someone she didn’t know and then quietly “woofed” to scare them away, she then hid or went up to them to be petted. She has never bitten or nipped anyone in anger. She is definitely not a guard dog.
• She is affectionate, and enjoys human contact. She is one of the family. Loves kids. Loves cats too, but then there is no accounting for taste.
• She has learned to be both a good house dog as well as an outdoor kennel dog. She patiently stays without complaint in her outdoor kennel and awaits being let out to play, and stays calmly inside the house when weather is bad outside. She willingly allows herself to be tied up when necessary. There were a few socks/shirt chew incidents as a puppy, but nothing has happened in almost a year now.
• She quickly learns to act on command, and accepts limitations on her freedoms when given instruction. Very trainable.
• She rides in her carrier very well. She is completely quiet during car trips.
• Overall, with her incredible energy in the field, I was worried that she might be too high strung to come into the house… Wrong. She is a delight in the house, with playful but not destructive energy. What a dog!
  How she turned out:
  38 pounds and she has just about filled out now at 25 months. She may gain another 2 pounds or so with age, but she is about fully fleshed out now.
  She is visibly an absolute stud. Her stunning musculature is plainly visible under her short shimmering coat, and she draws audible gasps from people that chance upon her. I cannot take her anywhere without most folk coming up to gaze at her in admiration. Her coat is a shimmering, high lighted, sheeny delight. No kidding here, she is as glorious looking a dog as you could hope to gaze upon. It is hard not to write too extravagantly about Chloe’s extraordinary appearance, but you have to experience the crowd appreciation that she receives from everyone to understand. She is an absolute crowd magnet. She is elegant, sleek, shiny, and completely feminine looking.
  Her coat is almost completely chocolate brown, with a few areas like her rear toes and a couple of teeny, teeny patches on her chest and knees where her Braque francais dad’s grey coat color shows. But she is about 99 ½ % solid chocolate brown. No “feathering” whatsoever like a Boykin…her coat is completely smooth and short like the pointer side of her pedigree, except in those teeny grey areas of coloring. She never picks up burrs in her coat. We tramp through some hideous weeds out here, and upon exiting the most gnarly and stickery patches of weeds, she simply shakes her coat a couple of times and she simply shakes off, not pulls off, any of the few burrs or thorns on her. I have never pulled a single foxtail out of her ears. The only areas of concern to me are her toes, as she does accumulate nasty things between her toes every 4 or 5 trips. I have not taken her out in snow or extreme cold yet (this is California , after all), so I don’t know how her short coat will hold up in extreme conditions. Also, her belly is either denuded or with very sparse, very sharp fur, so I would expect her to have a difficult time in extreme conditions. She does shiver in moderate to cold water conditions, so I think ice conditions would not be good for her.
  *Physically, she clearly takes after the Braque Francais the most. She has a
  · square jowels and log nose;
  · long, elegant legs;
  · short coat without any feathering;
  · long body;
  · huge pads under her huge feet;
  · she points birds instinctively;
  She takes after the Boykin side, as shown
  · when she was 2 months old by her immediate and instinctive desire to pick up and carry anything and everything from here to there;
  · enjoys going into water
  · intelligence
  She takes after both breeds in that she is a “soft” training dog. When training her, simply appeal to her natural instinct to please and do something right. Never try to use tough love or punitive training methods; punishment simply NEVER works with her. Praise usually will the first time, and always by the third time. Punishment never works. Ever.
  This year, I will work on long and blind retrieves. What a dog.
  I am absolutely delighted with Chloe, and I offer this glowing testimonial as evidence of my unqualified happiness that we found each other.
  Thank you,
  John
  August, 2009

Hi Wayne and Trina,

When I got Charger (aka Maverick) from you I told you I would keep you up to date on his progress. He is growing into an absolutely beautiful young dog. I'm at work now, but was planning to send you some pictures shortly. He started his training on May 5th with Rick Meyer from Meyer Kennels in Overbrook Kansas. He is a pretty highly awarded trainer that runs mostly short haired pointers. He has the winningest female of all breeds in NSTRA history. www.meyerkennel.com is the site. Maverick has unbelievable bird drive, and absolutely no fear of the gun whatsoever. To this point, he has been mainly letting him chase and trying to get consistent points out of him. He's not pointing too well yet, but he is showing the ability. The check cord is getting a pretty good work out right now trying to keep him off the birds. The next 10 days are going to be more handling instruction and possibly some light whoa breaking. He still hasn't figured out the difference between junk birds and game birds. If it's in the air, it's fair game. He spent 10 minutes and about 5 trips around a 60 acre field last night chasing a Kill-deer bird. Once he was done with that, he worked the quail fairly well. He's not scenting at a great distance yet, but it's pretty green here and scenting conditions are tough. I think he'll do pretty good once he gets a little more of the pup out of him and realizes just what it is he's looking for. The trainer loves the drive, we just need to see if we can gain some control!!!
Hopefully I will get you some pictures on the way tonight.
Brad
May, 2008

Solo is doing fantastic. He tips the scales at 55 pounds - he's just the right size. We've had him on sharp-tailed grouse, prairie chickens, doves, and pheasants this fall. We've even taken him duck hunting and even though he's a pointer, he's probably retrieved more ducks for us than any other bird. His points are incredible - he locks up hard and holds it until he is released. He has an incredible amount of heart; he gives 100% and not once has he stopped hunting before Greg stops hunting. But best of all is Solo's disposition. He is very well mannered and quiet in the house. He has a lot of energy (like any pointer would), but it's never over-bearing. He goes ice fishing with Greg in the winter and he just sits quietly and watches for the fish to swim by Greg's spear hole. He's the same in the field when they're hunting ducks - sits still and watches the sky and the ducks until shots are fired. He's incredibly sweet and really likes to cuddle up to us when he's inside. Here's a couple photos we took this summer when he was about a year old.

I'll be happy to pass information along to some people that have hunted with Solo and were impressed with his "stuff". Greg (my husband) very much so wants another male. We want to make sure they have the same short, solid liver coats though. I'm sure they will since every puppy in the 1st batch was identical. Do you know a due date yet? That might also be helpful for letting people know when they will be ready.

Bridgette
January, 2009