Janurary 3, 2007

Steve, Just wanted to let you know how well Barkley is working out for me. He has been a pleasant surprise and it is hard to believe that he is just now 9 months old. He has been great around the house and around the kids. I was a little concerned about his retrieving in the field, but I was worried for nothing. The pheasant opener around here was tough with all the standing corn, and he seemed more interested in chasing sparrows then anything the first morning. We did manage to find one rooster that I shot. It took him a few seconds to figure out what to do with it and he picked it up and brought it right back to me. I've been out with him 22 times this year and he has had a part in 35 pheasants. He's run down a few winged runners and even found one that someone else must have wounded that would not fly. He has retrieved every bird that I have shot and brought them back to me, except one, and that was my fault as the bird was winged and I called him off of it and by time he got back on the trail it had gotten away. He hunts with tremendous drive and desire and gets excited as soon as he sees my hunting pants go on. He responds well to the whistle and although I did use my electronic collar on him the first few hunts, I no longer even take it along. I'm still working on heeling off leash, especially in the field, and will begin some blind retrieve stuff in a couple of weeks. I'm really glad that I made the choice to get a field bred springer. He's turned into a great pheasant dog.

Phil R. - Marshalltown, Iowa