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CC HAILEY (SAMANTHA)
Date
: 02/2008
"When I got Samantha I vowed never to leave
home without my camera because you never know what will happen
that needs to be captured.
Today was one of those days! I took
Samantha
out with me to get some puppy food and chew sticks, because
my wife loves the legs of our furniture! As I opened the
front door,
out of nowhere, a hawk swooped down from above us. He
grabbed a dove that was flying by us about 20 feet away!!
Now
that
in itself
was amazing, but suddenly, in a puff of feathers, the
dove came free and fell in a neighbors yard behind a tree.
Samantha is
only 8 weeks old and I have only had her for 2 days,
but
I thought, "What
the heck?" You have to seize those sudden "training
opportunities" as
they come right? So, I put Sam on the trail and had a wonderful
time watching her find and flush this injured bird!
Once
she got close enough to the bird to really smell it,
she wasn't sure what
to do at first. But as soon as it "took off",
boy was she hooked! Talk about natural ability!! The dove
could
only
half fly, half hop across the street and went behind a
bush that was
up against the house. Sam followed her into a small opening
behind the bush, crawling on her belly, but the bird, being
smaller,
made it out the other side faster. He went across the driveway
and behind
another bush faster than Sam could crawl out of the hole.
I thought the fun was over at this point
but Samantha put her
nose to the
ground and tracked this dove across the driveway,
behind the second bush and out to the flowerbed where the dove
flushed
and flew for
the second time. This time Sam was on it!! She chased
it
across the yard and retrieved the bird at the edge
of the grass! I
was so proud!
The Braque du Bourbonnais is an awesome dog!
I have
read about the natural ability of these dogs, but to
see it first hand
is really a joy. Thank you Larry an Mary for doing
such a wonderful job with your dogs and with my pup."
Shane
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Submitted by Jim owner of Cactus
Country Gambel's Hunter
Date
: 02/2008
"Well, I took Hunter out this morning to catch the sunrise about 18 miles southeast
of Florence. I have hunted this place in years past, and there is generally a
good population of quail. I usually hear them while uncasing the shotgun and
getting my gear together.
This morning, I heard nothing. I've always
been able to at least kick up a couple of coveys, and I've
always seen the little goobers
running through the brush. Today; nothing! But guess what,... that did not
stop Hunter from doing what he does best. That little dog hit
the ground running with
his nose locked in position. He did come to a point once, although I did not
get my camera out of my vest in time to get a shot. What he found (and unearthed)
was the remains of a dove or quail. There wasn't much left of it and it was
partially buried. I tend to think it was a quail, because dove
aren't as 'smelly'. He didn't
point for long, only a few seconds, but HE DID IT!
We kicked up a couple of
cottontails at around 35 yards. Too far in the thick stuff
for a clean shot, but I did fire
off a few rounds to check his reaction. It was as though that 16 ga. was
never fired. He shows no sign at all of being even slightly
gun-shy.
The cow pond
in the area was full due to the recent rains and Hunter
didn't hesitate his first
time in retrieving his dummy, although his second time in he only went
chest deep and wandered around a bit. I can't really blame
him, as there was a
thin ring of ice around it when we got there at sunrise.
I can't say enough about
this wonderful little dog. He never ceases to surprise me. .
The best testimonial of all: I LOVE THIS LITTLE DOG!"
Jim
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CC Baxter and CC
Bree (aka Tony)
Date : 05/2006
"Both dogs are from the same litter and actually
live 5 miles apart. They are frequent playmates. They are
sometimes together for days and the action is nonstop.
Both dogs are awesome. They are very affectionate and
extremely intelligent. Baxter was trained by a trainer for
basic commands. She said it would take several one hour sessions
to train him. Halfway through the second session she said
we were done!
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Recent picture of Bree (fawn)
and Baxter (liver). They live together in California.
click image to enlarge |
I have kept working with him and he just keeps getting better. He is
an excellent watch dog. He is always on cat patrol and chases every
bird he sees. He has caught several, after pointing them, and always
brings back the feathers.
Everyone in our office building knows Baxter and takes
time to pet him and talk to him when he is out on his rounds.
He loves going to Lowes or Home Depot and rides in the cart,
sniffing at everyone. Most people think he is a stunted German
Short Hair. I tell them about the Bourbonnais! Both dogs
are excellent with new people and other dogs.
We may have had other dogs in the past, but we love our
Braque du Bourbonnais."
Al
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CC Brandy
This was a phone call received from
a family prior to leaving Arizona
Date : 05/2006 "Brandy is absolutely
the best dog we have ever had. I stay home and take care
of 2 children and run a small day
care. Brandy is so protective of all of the children.
She will stand between them and the door when someone
rings the doorbell. She would never let anything happen to
any of those kids.
My husband comes from a family of hunters
and they are all amazed when they go out in the field with
Brandy. She's
just the perfect dog!"
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Recent picture of
Brandy
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image to enlarge |
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CC Rugby (Elaho)
Email from a perspective
puppy owner
Date : 04/2006 " I do in home boarding of dogs,
walking and training and just recently boarded "Rugby"(Elaho) --yes,
your baby owned by a family in Whistler!!!!!) and she
was so perfect!!!!! Sweet and friendly, underfoot but
not in
your face. Wanting to "work" but not obsessive.
Compact and athletic. Alarm bark but not protective.
Close range. Wonderful!
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Recent picture of Rugby(Elaho)
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I feel ready to cancel my deposit on the Weimaraner (I
had also considered a Griffon for the last couple of years)
because everything is feeling so right about a Braque du
Bourbonnais puppy! "
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Kodi (Elvis)
Date : Christmas 2005
" Hope all is well with you. I thought
I would fill you in on Kodi's first Pheasant hunt. It was on
March 10
at a private club in the Suisun Marsh. The weather was cold
and windy with scattered hail showers. The field was wet
with occasional puddles. He did fantastic.
A long time friend Dan had six birds
left on his card and offered to let me use Kodi and leave
his two German Shorthairs at home. He says that his dogs
would give Kodi bad habits as he has problems controlling
them.
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Two days prior I had introduced Kodi to a dog trainer
Steve Klassen at Blue Ridge Kennels in Dixon. This is only
25 minutes from the pheasant club. We plan to leave Kodi
with him for a week when we vacation to Mexico in April and
I did not want that experience to be to hard on Kodi. This
is only the second time in my life of boarding out my dog
and I do not enjoy the worry it causes me. During the two
days at Blue Ridge Steve worked Kodi on Bobwhite quail and
for some reason Kodi would not point for him. Instead he
just caught the birds. Steve liked his boldness and said
he thought he was a good looking dog and not to worry about
that. I told him that Kodi pointed for us on wild birds and
I wasn't worried.
Well enough about that back to the hunt. Kodi worked the
area with ease and always kept in contact with us to the
point my friend Dan said what a pleasure to hunt and not
have to yell at the dog. On the first bird Kodi locked up
less than three feet from the bird and about 30 yards from
me. As I approached to about 10 yards Kodi jumped and caught
the bird. He brought it right to me and I let him mouth and
sniff it for about three minutes in my lap as this was the
first pheasant he had seen.
The next bird came in less than five minutes and this
time he held his point a 90 degree right hand turn until
I kicked the bird into the air. As it flew he charged after
it and I shot at about 30 yards and he was on it in less
than three seconds. This time he did not want to bring it
back so fast so I did not rush him. About five minutes later
he gave up the bird and we continued hunting.
The next bird he went on point at about 30 feet from the
bird as the weather was improving and sent was traveling
a little farther. He held his point until the bird flushed
from me at about 30 feet from 90 degrees to the left of Kodi.
This time Kodi brought the bird right back to me and I let
him mouth and sniff the bird in my lap for about 15 seconds
and we were off hunting again.
All remaining three birds were pointed by Kodi and he
held until the birds flushed. On the last one he was about
40 yards in front of us and about 20 feet from the bird.
When I reached Kodi the bird flushed straight away and low
I did not shoot as Kodi was following to close to the bird.
Finally at about 45 yards the bird lifted and I shot it.
Kodi brought it right back. I think this last bird reinforced
in Kodi's mind that he his not going to get these birds without
me. What a day we had."
Ernie
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CC Bella (Buffy)
Date : 07/27/2006 " Bella is doing great! Our Vet and
the girls at the vets office adore her.
She's pointing and retrieving on a regular basis. I was working with
her in the back yard this evening. She was retrieving a frozen dove
that I shot last year. She has a fantastic nose. She comes back to
a whistle.
She loves the water. The kids and I went to the lake a
few weeks ago. We decided to take her to see if she would
like it. I found a stick and tossed it a few feet into the
water.
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Recent picture of Bella (Buffy)
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She jumped in without hesitation. It was about 4 - 5 foot
of water. After that first time she was hooked. I threw it
out about 15 to 20 feet out, and she retrieved it with no
problem.
After a while she would swim out to the kids
and grab the strap on their life vests and didn't let go until
she
got them back to the bank. Guess she was playing
lifeguard! They even had her jumping off the back of the
boat into the water. Maybe she'll turn out to be a duck dog
too. We'll see this year.
She goes through a rawhide every two days. She always has to be touching
still. She's the most loving companion that I've ever seen.
She talks to us to tell us when she needs to go outside. If we don't
take her out quick enough, she starts to bark and talk. She looks like
she's chewing gum when she does that. It's the funniest thing you've
ever seen.
We're very happy with her. I'd love to have another Braque. I don't
think Patty is up for that yet.
Maybe several years down the road when we retire.
I'll send more pictures soon. Dove season starts in September, quail
and pheasant in October, and Duck in November. Hopefully I will have
some good pictures.
Take care. Have fun on your trip to France. Keep up the good
work on the web site. Please keep us posted when you make updates."
Tom
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Submitted by Larry owner of Cactus Country Fargo
Date : unknown
"I discovered Cactus Country Kennels
late last summer. I had heard and read about the BdB and
felt that they could be breed I would be interested in so decided
to make
a trip to see them. I went to Larry and Mary's home and met
their "herd" as
they affectionately call them. They introduced me to each
dog in the kennel by bringing them into the house. They were
curious,
friendly dogs but even the youngest members were calm and
easy going. They do not seem to be a demanding dog really seem
to enjoy
being with people. They certainly appear to me that they
would be excellent companions - a criteria that I have for
my next dog
too by the way.
I returned to Tucson shortly after Christmas to hunt quail
and made arrangements with Larry to see these dogs hunt too.
We ran
Brock, Lanie and JJ together and I really had an opportunity
to see some excellent dog work. I was pleasantly surprised
at how
intense these dogs became when it was time to go hunting.
They cover ground easily and seemingly effortlessly; they
search hard;
but always stayed at a reasonable distance. Brock was clearly
the most mature and accomplished hunter, and it showed, but
I was impressed
with all three dogs and how they worked. We were fortunate
and did find a few quail. I saw instances where all three
dogs would
be locked up tight on a covey (there was no creeping at all).
On one occasion, two of them located a bird together and
locked up
on it while the other one backed, which was impressive to
say the least. I was also impressed with how these dogs would
work after
a bird was down. They "hunt dead" hard and retrieve
to hand pretty naturally.
I know everyone is different and has different requirements
but I am sold on these little dogs."
Larry
Submitted by Larry owner of Cactus
Country Fargo
Date : 02/2008
"Its hard for us to imagine how we could ask for more with
BJ. As a hunter, he has tremendous drive and desire and he
flat
just never gives up. Its amazing how intent he is and how
he is always
ready to do "just one more hunt". He is pretty young
yet, but he has demonstrated that he can do pretty well on
all counts. I've seen him point wild birds with tremendous
intensity
and he seems to have a great nose and is pretty darn good at
finding the "lost & dead" ones too. I'll take
those attributes any day.
That having been said, this is just the hunting side of the
equation. On the home front, he is probably the most affectionate
dog we've
ever had, so now having established he is also a wonderful
addition to this family, I don't see how he can be beat or
how you can
beat this breed. He loves being with us, is relaxed in our
home but is very playful and has fantastic attitude a wonderful
temperment.
Did I already say that I don't know how this breed can be beat????"
Larry
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CC Dexter
Date : 05/2005
"Dexter has come along nicely, he's
gotten to be very birdy, as you might be able to tell by the
upward gaze he has in nearly all of the photos.
He spends alot of time in the pool and
playing hide and seek with our brit. We love him, and we're
very thankful for the chain of events that led us to you."
Jim
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Recent picture of
Dexter
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