Hey Steve and Linda,
We just wanted to share some 4 month pictures with you of Layla (from Boogie and Maverick’s litter). We can’t believe she’s already 40 pounds. She has already graduated puppy kindergarten (will likely be moving on to the next phase of training now), is becoming a regular once a week at doggy daycare (Stone Mountain in Blaine) where they said they’ve never had a better behaved, nicer lab, and will be attending her first dock jumping class in a week (labs probably don’t need classes for this but it’s access to a dock and a pond and we think she’ll love it).
Thanks again – she is incredibly beautiful and has the best personality. While she’s in her sassy teenage phase, she couldn’t be more fun to work with and have as a part of our family. I don’t know if you’ve had feedback from the other owners but we can surely say Boogie and Maverik made amazing puppies.
Hope you’re well!
Taylor Hilker
Blaine, MN
P: 763.514.9696 F: 651.367.2608
Steve and Linda Torgerson
Good evening
Several months ago you sold a black lab to my good friend Bryon Anderson of Sartell, MN. He named the dog Gunnar and planned to run field trials, retrieve pheasants and have a fishing companion. Unfortunately, Bryon died unexpectedly just a couple weeks after he brought Gunnar home. His widow and young children were in no way ready to raise a puppy so my wife, Debbie, and I took Gunnar into our home that night to train him for his new task – being a healing force in a grieving family. Debbie has spent countless hours training Gunnar to be a good citizen and companion – she’s a good and gentle trainer but Gunnar is a great puppy.
We don’t know anything about field trials and my plain old yellow lab (not to mention the various breeds we’ve rescued) have never gotten the full hang of retrieving, but I want you to know that Gunnar is an exceptional dog. He is the smartest dog Debbie has ever socialized and house trained. His temperament is the best we have ever worked with in terms of integrating a dog into a family, obedience training and teaching fun commands. He loves to retrieve so I don’t think I’ll have much trouble getting him to work in the woods. On top of that he is a great looking dog. We take him to Pet smart, for walks, to soccer games and comments are always the same: What a handsome dog.
Joy Anderson and her kids had never had a puppy before so we had to work with training them and Gunnar. After a few false starts, and a couple of months in our home, I think we have integrated a wonderful puppy back into that family for good. If they need a break from puppyhood, or the family needs to do the other work of grieving, we’ll share him for the next few months but he has all ready made a difference in that family. Gunnar is a real people dog. If you work the computer he’s by your feet. If you watch TV he’s sitting or sleeping by your chair. He loves to be near people and that is exactly what Bryon’s family needs, a friendly, playful and gentle companion.
All of this is to say “thank you” for breeding such a wonderful dog. Your work has touched a lot of lives. Thanks.
Phil and Debbie Godding
St. Cloud, MN
Steve and Linda:
Just wanted to send you a quick photo showing Leo’s first hunting trip, opening day Minnesota waterfowl season. Slow day but he did great. First official retrieve was a nice goose. Managed another nice retrieve on a wood duck as well that day.
This weekend was much better. He returned nine ducks to hand over the weekend and I have to tell you he is a natural hunter. His temperament is good and his drive is none stop. He by far is the best pup we have had to date. He is a wonderful family dog and a great hunting dog. Thank you so much for all you did for us to get Leo. He truly is a great dog. Keep producing those quality pups I am sure we will be getting another one in the future. Have had a lot of people ask where I got him and have been more than happy to refer them.
To date Leo has retrieved 3 geese and 13 ducks. Not a bad start to the year. Tony Speltz Winona, MN
