Letters from Satisfied Customers

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Page Updated March 26, 2004

Topics included on this web page:
* Hunting Update from Louden and Gypsy
* Letter from Pika's family

-----Original Message-----
From: Louden Butters
Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2003 10:42 AM
To: puppies@huntersheart.com
Subject: Hi from Gypsy and Louden

     Hi Carla and Gary

     I trust you both had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year.

     Gypsy had a great year this year. She had no trouble with her neck at all, boy are we relieved. [Gypsy seriously injured her cervical spine while hunting in 2001 and had to take some time off to recover.]

     Gypsy had 30 pheasants shot over her this year and has become quit a star at my gun club. She seems to be able to find birds after everyone else has hunted an area. She has also become quite the finder of injured or dead birds. I addition to the 30 birds she pointed and we shot (plus numerous birds she pointed and I missed), she found 5 dead pheasants and retrieved an additional 3 birds for other hunters.

     So far this season she has found and retrieved an amazing 19 crippled or dead ducks, these are ducks that neither myself or anyone I was with shot. One day I shot 1 bird and Gypsy retrieved 4. Needless to say we are very pleased with her but a little disappointed with some of the hunters in the area leaving such a large number of unretrieved birds.

     She is still a little rough with the birds as they are very hard for her to hold and she had a couple of fights this year with pheasants that did not want to be retrieved. She seems to want to grab them and do 1 bite to finish a bird off, I can't blame her as I received some pretty good cuts this year from a pheasants spurs myself.

     Gypsy seemed to put on a little weight this year, she is up to 26 pounds. For the first 2 years she stayed in the 22-24 lb range. It seems all she wants to do is hunt and sleep.

     There is still 28 days of duck hunting left (for us this is the best time of the season) and I have a feeling I will hunt most of the weekends as Gypsy climbs up on me and whines until I take her hunting on Saturday and Sunday mornings. All I know for sure is that if I do not come down in the morning to let her out wearing a suit I had better have plans to go hunting.

     I hope you both have a good year.

     Regards
     Louden Butters
     Coquitlam, B.C.

     Christmas, 2002

     Dear Carla and Gary,

     Well it has been a little over a year now, that Pika joined our family. She has a great disposition and despite some occasional rough play from Liam (now 6 yrs) we have yet to see her angry. She certainly stands up for herself and the more robust Liam plays with her the more she "lets him have it". When we put a stop to it, she'll go and get one of her dollies and attempt to entice Liam into more play. We do need to watch for overly excitable behavior (jumping and nipping) especially with young children. No doubt, she thinks kids are pups and has yet to learn her boundaries.

     She is not a barker but does tend to be very vocal (rufrufs and many strange sounds) especially around visitors (girls are her favorite) and when I get home from work. We have not had any major problems with chewing, digging or trying to escape our backyard. She will on occasion find a spot in the yard that she wants to dig and does dig madly on the beach when trying to hide something. We have kept her in full supply of chewing toys which seems to have satisfied her needs. She used to chew the liner out of my slippers but now, prefers to haul family items to her pillow, and lie contently with the prized possession. Pika housetrained easily, almost immediately when she understood where she was supposed to do her business. When asked, Pika loves to bring slippers, her toys or leash to us. A good summary of Pika is that she is always willing to please. She does very well in her crate where she spends nights and quiet times and understands "outside" and "pillow", where she waits patiently (with reminders) during mealtime. We have restricted her to the kitchen and family room although when opportunities arise, she will hurry to explore the other areas of the house, no doubt in search of a prized possession to haul down to her pillow.

     Although Pika likes to test her boundaries, she is very sensitive and needs to be handled with a soft hand. For commands that she knows well, a low and gravelly tone works best. For fun stuff an excited and encouraging tone works best. Early on I tried to force her with the "down" command and had little success (can't blame her - the grass was wet), but with patience and encouragement she now does very well. Pika loves to fetch on land and swims for sticks now. She progressed slowly from a single repetition at a few feet to 3 or 4 repetitions at eight or ten feet. When the water is calm, she bounds happily through the water at chest height, but is still timid when waves are rolling up on the beach and tends to be easily spooked when she sees or feels fish, cold currents or strange objects in the water. However, on hikes she eagerly follows me everywhere and doesn't shy away from rapids or rough water.

     Pika loves to chase birds but has not had training on the hunt. She madly chases gulls, ducks and other shore birds and bounds like a deer through long grass in the local fields. She shies away from bush that is too thick but runs swiftly and effortlessly through forest undercover. I have seen a strong point on a couple of occasions. When grouse or pheasants are nearby, Pika runs about excitably, moving on without stopping to pinpoint the scent. Often I have walked into an area of interest and flushed the bird. I have recently being trying to work on a "whoa" command hoping to get her to hold when she picks up a strong scent. I thought it might be worthwhile to take her to a game farm and perhaps have a trainer work with her on holding a point. Pika has become accustomed to coming across deer on our walks and has learned that they give her the utmost respect and are a formidable opponent in the chase. The opposite occurred when we came across an ostrich on one of our walks. She was more than content to stand well behind me. Happily, we have not come across any bears and I need to remind myself that cougars are a threat on the island.

     At around 5-6 months we took Pika to puppy kindergarten. Well, she was not the star of the class, being much more interested in socializing with the other puppies than attending to her studies. Nevertheless we did make progress and the classes reinforced the training that had already been started at home. Pika has a good "come" although often insists on getting in the last sniff before responding. She used to be easily distracted when other dogs were around but lately she is quite intent on our activity with her and ignores them. She heels quite well off-lead but requires reminding and will not hesitate to try to lead you if she can get away with it. She learned the basic sit, down, roll, and shake commands very quickly. She has a remote (emergency) down but tends to take an additional stride before dropping. Pika is trained to stay in our unfenced front and does not stray unless faced with the unbearable temptation of a friendly human or playful puppy.

     In terms other health, Pika stood just over 19 inches at the shoulder at one year. On her last checkup at the vet (9 months) she was 14 kg and had put on 1 kg during the previous 3 months. She is slim and in good shape and has no weight problems. She had a cut in her pad, either on barnacles or a piece of glass) at about 4 months which healed quickly. At 6 months, she tore a claw out of one paw (we think she probably caught it between decking boards). This injury showed signs of tenderness for quite a long time, but appears to be fully recovered now. Pika had an ear infection at 6-7 months, but this responded very well to treatment and now she seems to have developed more resistance. We continue to clean her ears with a saline solution and she has completed her one-year treatment for heartworm disease. Pika has not shown any indications of eye or hip problems. Pika travels very well in vehicles, and has never had a problem with carsickness. We had her spayed at 6-7 months and she came through the operation very well. Up to her 1st birthday, we used the puppy diet recommended by Hunter's Heart, which was a 50/50 mix of puppy grade Innova and Eukanuba. We now feed the Adult Maintenance, 50/50 mix of the same brands. At our vet’s advice, we replaced her cheese rewards with homemade liver treats. These, along with plenty of praise, provide all the motivation that is required for us to do almost anything with her.

     Pika participates in most of the family activities including hiking, swimming, running, hiking and rollerblading. If she could play tennis or strap on ice skates, I'm sure she would. She has been a wonderful addition to our family. We are so pleased with her, we love her and it is clear that she loves us. Thank you for the great "head start" that you gave her. We love to hear about her brother and sisters and are willing to let you share our update on Pika.

     Happy Holidays to you and all the best in the New Year!

     Bob, Rita & Liam Shaw........and Pika
     B.C., Canada