MORE LETTERS FROM PUPPY BUYERS
Robin, My name is Dave Read. I just found your website.
We purchased a dog from you about 6 years ago. WE named her Keisha. She is a daughter of Falco, and Franka.
Dear Robin,
Believe it or not, the day you shipped Igraine into Tallahassee is still the coolest day we have had. We have never run the air conditioning in October, until this year. And they say the weather is not changing.
Igraine is proving to be every bit the "pistol." Last weekend the basset hound was instructing her on the finer points of digging a nice cool hole to lie in. Then she dug herself a similar spot. She had a blast; dirt was flying everywhere. A few hours later we were all in the house. I heard this splashing out in the laundry room. When I got out there, Graine had her front paws in the water bowl, and she was "digging" the water out of the bowl. There was water everywhere, but all I could do was laugh.
She has developed into quite a "vent hog." This is an animal who lies on top of an air conditioning vent, cooling themselves but not letting any cold air into the room for anyone else. Igraine has learned to listen for the outside cooling unit to kick on, and then she dives, head first, for the nearest vent. She can be in the middle of anything and when she hears the a/c nothing else seems to matter. She is also an ice-aholic. Anytime someone opens the refrigerator, she goes running to the refrigerator and waits until you give her an ice cube. Some days I think she has 20! (Every time she does a lovely sit, so this command should not take much work.) Her attitude of excess extends to her playthings as well. We keep a small basket for her toys in the family room, and if any other dog expresses an interest in "her" toys, she will go to sleep with her head in the toy basket
We went to the vet on Friday. Igraine was exactly 14 weeks old and weighed 30 pounds. She no longer gets adult food, but instead has been switched to senior for a couple of weeks.
While her looks never mattered to us, she is turning out to have a lovely face and ruff. She seems very bonded to us all, and greets us all with great enthusiasm, however short our absence has been. She is already barking protectively, although sometimes with amusing results. She is in no position to take on any of the neighbors' big dogs, and the great dane has had to go to her rescue a couple of times. So far, its great!
Thanks. Jo Ann
Hi Robin,
I have been meaning to drop you a line about my beautiful boy "Spirit". He was born
July 2001 from Falco and Emma. He is the embodiment of a German Shepherd - he is intelligent, loyal, instinctually protective, affectionate and fun. I can't take him anywhere
without people commenting on his beauty, dignity and poise. I just wanted to thank you
for breeding such wonderful animals. He has been a blessing for my family and me.
I've attached a picture of him from this past January 2004.
Take care and again, thank you for my "beautiful gift".
Cathy DeVito
Robin,
Just a quick note to let you know that Seamus (the black/silver pup born
8/10) is doing great. He's a lean 70 lbs at six months and is VERY handsome
and noble-looking. He is extremely well-behaved, very calm (unless my 8 yr
old is winding him up), suspicious of strangers but still friendly, and
seems to be very intelligent. We couldn't be happier.
This picture is from a few months ago. I'll send you an updated one soon.
You've given us a wonderful addition to our family.
One question: only one testicle has dropped at this point. Our vet said
that they both need to drop by six months or else he would need to be
neutered. Do you agree or can we wait a bit longer?
Thank you so much for the picture of Falco-what a dog. I have a friend with a digital camera who's a pretty good photographer and I'm going to have her take some pictures of Dax and send them to you on the computer. He is such a wonderful dog, smart, loving, calm, friendly, playful, and eager to learn along with a natural protective instinct that's balanced with a stable temperament. I guess I don't have to tell you all this you bred him, but I have to brag about our bunny bear-that's his nickname-once in awhile. We nicknamed him that because he's all black and big like a bear but loveable and snuggly like a bunny! I have owned shepherds before and they were all great but he is the best example of what the breed is meant to be that I have ever seen and had the privilege to be owned by! :) Thanks again for the picture, Dax's Mom and Dad.
Hello Robin,
It has been sometime since we last spoke and I wanted to give you an update on Nicco. Kerry and I could not be happier with Nicco. He is simpy the BEST. He will be 1 year old on 2/5 and at our last visit to the vet was a 103lbs!!! His temprament is outstanding and he is a most loving dog. He has become a "big mush" with family and friends but is ever alert to strangers. Case in point, Kerry has been running with Nicco on a daily basis when the weather allows. Two weeks ago while running, a man in the neighborhood was "checking Kerry out" as she ran by. Nicco stopped running began barking and gave the guy a look of hey don't bother her... He got the message. I promise to send updated pictures. We were comparing pictures of Hawkeye and Tina and of course Nicco is a perfect cross between both of them.
We have been training with a professional dog trainer and it is working quite well. We hope to continue in the spring with the CGC training and are shooting for the summer or late spring for the test. We will keep you posted. Thanks for all your efforts in continuing the most perfect breed of dog. We are so fortunate to have found you and Nicco. Sincerely Brian and Kerry Long Island, NY.
Hi Robin, hope everything is pulling together for you since the foundation collapsed and the loss of Falco. We've been thinking of you and hope things are going well.
Just wanted to let you know Dax and I are still doing well in class. In fact, we've had a special invitation. We were invited to get together with some of the instructors from kennel club this summer to continue our work. This is a tight group of 3 or 4 who compete in obedience and conformation. They have been getting together for years on their own and are very serious. My instructor called me aside and said Dax and I have really clicked and should start preparing to compete. I explained I had never been in competition and the advanced obedience classes don't start until fall. So she invited us to join them this summer, and told me they get together to help each other prepare and I could pick up a lot of pointers and help. We are going to go for it! These are really nice people who are serious about training their dogs and are willing to help if your serious and willing to put the time and effort into it. Plus your dog has to have potential and Dax certainly has that. He really enjoys working and picks things up so quickly we both look forward to this. I have to admit I'm a little shy and usually like to find a corner to hang out in, but with Dax that's impossible! He really turns heads and people come up just to watch him in class. Last week in the middle of class one of the other students and her kids stopped working their dog to come over and pet Dax while he was at a sit stay! Thanks again for breeding such wonderful dogs, it's a joy to be owned by one! :) Tom, Renee, & Dax Lustig.
Royalair's Trisonic Valkyrie (Falco and Kira 9/6/00) finished her open title today in Hamilton, OH with a nice score of 1921/2 (big time lag on the F8) and a red ribbon. It was a difficult venue with an especially tough ring set up.
We got our first two legs back to back the first two times in the open ring in Indianapolis in February and then had a dry spell which included 7 consecutive NQ's.....mostly just attention issues.
She is a great dog, physically powerful and at the same time gentle, smart but with a great sense of humor, fierce when she has to be but loving to all,,,,,,,she can work outside with me all day long at the farm or be just as content lying at my feet in the office all day (like she is doing right now),,,,,,,she loves to ride in the truck for 15 minutes or 15 hours it doesn't matter to her,,,,,,,she loves to train and seldom has trouble doing what I ask of her (as long as I am clear as to what I want),,,,,,,,I would be hard pressed to find a more enjoyable companion.
I think we will take a couple of weeks off and see what we can do in utility this fall. She needs some polishing, but is in general ready.
Thanks for your emails, I really enjoy reading them.
Later,
Mike and Valkyrie CDX
Hi, Robin!
I hope this finds you doing well. I will have new pics soon, but I wanted to drop you a note while I was thinking of it and had a minute.
Biscuit is doing GREAT! She's five months old today, and weighs about 45 pounds. Lately she has been eating ravenously, so I suspect she's about to grow like a weed (again). She is beautiful and such a joy. We have just bought her another bigger crate--we now have 5, in various sizes! I just can't stand to crate her up when the crate is getting too small for her.
She passed puppy kindergarten, as you know, with flying colors. She is signed up for the second puppy class, but that got postponed til the end of July, so I've arranged for private lessons every other Saturday until then--just something to keep us motivated. We'll be focusing on the CGC test skills.
The other morning I was getting dressed upstairs, and instead of waiting downstairs as she usually does, Biscuit braved the wood stairs all by herself, and you should've seen the proud look on her face when she reached the top! She was just beside herself with her accomplishment, prancing around the second story like she'd just reached the top of Mt Everest!
Her coat is still changing all the time, but she still has the racoon eyes, with brown legs and a dark sable back. Her tail looks all black but with light brown on the underside. Her bottom area is all fluffy light tan--like a buck! There are some very light parts on her chest. The colors do keep changing, though. We'll see! Her nose is all black. Nearly all of her teeth are in, or are coming in now.
She is reliable about loose-leash walking, sitting at corners and when meeting people, and is gentle with children. (She is friendly with nearly everyone, once she meets them; the only person she didn't warm up to was the vet who spayed her--he has a very odd voice due to throat surgery, and it scares her a bit.) She is very fast at chasing the rabbits out of our yard, and is also a skillful digger--too bad for the lawn! She loves to "help" in the garden by toting around my pots and trowel and gloves. :-)
Well, I hope this hasn't been too much info. It had been awhile since I wrote, so I thought I'd bring you up to date.
Have you heard how mom Rainy Daze is doing in the nursing home? Give dad Haweye a hello from all of us over here in Illinois.
All the best,
Betsy
i Robin - just a short update for you. Her nickname is "Pig-Pen" (from Charlie Brown). She goes out to the dogyard and digs, especially if there's a puddle -then she comes in with clouds of dust surrounding her - or drops of mud falling from her belly. Tuli was spayed on the 27th and came home with an elizabethan collar. Two days later she had destroyed it!! Her incision had a blood tinged discharge so we went and had a vet check it out - she was having a "suture reaction". I told the vet about the e-collar so she brought out a "Bite Not" collar. Plastic wrapped around her neck from just behind her ears to her shoulders. It closed with velcro and had a 1" wide elastic strip that wrapped around it to securely close it. There was a 1" web strap that went from between her shoulders to wrap behind her front legs, across her chest and back to the collar -to be tightened. Well, she thought about it for 2 days, and when alone for 40mins. she totally destroyed it - chewed off all the straps and the foam liner was in pieces that were no bigger than a quarter!! THAT'S what happens when a super intelligent girls is bored!!!!! She is way too smart.
When I take her out in public, people just stop and watch her - eventually they say "what a magnificent dog (she's usually seen as being male)" They all think she's big, but she's down to 80lbs. (I didn't want extra weight on her for the surgery) Her face is absolutely beautiful. I can't begin to tell you how many people wanted a puppy from a mating between her and Jalo.
Now about Jalo! He is my nighttime guardian. He sleeps on my bed, but let there be a strange noise and he's right up to check it out - grumbling way down deep in his chest. Sounds very formidable! He has finally decided that food is good for him, and is up to 90lbs. He doesn't walk, he bounces, like he has springs in his feet.
I have done a LOT of research, and have decided that beyond their puppy shots, they will NOT get boosters. The Lyme and Giardia shots cause more damage than Lyme disease, or giardia will cause. Parvo is implicated in DCM. I will send some info in another post later today.
Irene
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm, and sung with exultation - this is to have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
My daughter and I just got back from Dog Fest at the Voice of America Park in West Chester, Ohio. I can tell you for certain that Jackson and Willow were the best looking and behaving German Shepherds at the festival. People kept approaching us and inquiring "Where did these shepherds come from?" One man brought over his pitiful looking, angulated back skinny poor shepherd, and proudly told me how he had had it imported from Germany. I felt so sorry for the dog and the man. The superior dogs are from Iowa. I gave out your web site to many people. Keep breeding those gorgeous well mannered shepherds. The world needs them. Jackson and Willow had a big day socializing and are now napping. Marcia