Hi John,

Our little Rupert continues to completely delight us in every way, including (of course) his hunting abilities. This past weekend I had him out for his first pheasant hunt, and he performed very well. He stays close, checking back with me frequently, even when he’s on a bird. I rarely have to call him back to hunt closer – he seems to have a natural range of 10 to 30 yards that he rarely exceeds. I’ve hunted with a lot of dogs, and it seemed like their owners were always yelling at them to hunt closer. With Rupert, I rarely have to communicate with him at all. He just seems to know what to do.

He seems to have an excellent nose, definitely has endless energy to go all day, and does just fine in heavy cover. A couple of times he took off running after hens that flushed in the distance and then ignored my whistle to get him back, which is a bit annoying. Normally he responds instantly to the whistle. But of course he’s only 9 months old.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I’m having a great time hunting with him. We enjoy him a lot both in the field and in our condo. Except for his habit of finding socks in the house and chewing them up. Oh well…

Best regards,

Bruce and Petra MN