Gabe
Yellow male from May 2007 Peanut/Newdle litter
Owned by John & Leslie H, central Oregon

Note: Gabe is a pup that we trained as a basic retriever and sold at the age of 11 months to John and Leslie H. who live in central Oregon and hunt southern Oregon and northern California. This is a diary of Gabe's first season in his new home...

10/15/08 (Age 17 months)...

I just got home from Gabe's first hunting trip down at Tule Lake. I had a hunch he was worth it. Well, I was right! He is the real deal when it comes to hunting and has come a long way behavior-wise in the home. He's had 23 retrieves to date, 4 of which were blind retrieves, his longest has been about 75 yds. All of this is from a boat (at first a bit hesitant), starting to jump out on his own, going through tules out in open water. He has a very soft mouth and is very calm and steady in the boat. I've had 3 labs and he has proven to be the strongest swimmer of the bunch.

He really has come a long way and is such a joy to have as part of our family!!

Update (11/7/08)...

96 ducks, (1) 11 lb honker retrieved so far. He's done singles, doubles and triples. Longest retrieve swimming over 150 yds. Longest retrieve through flooded rice 200 yds. He has doubled on two ducks, swam in a circle pattern for close to 4 minutes on a diving teal. No quit, very calm in the boat and around the blind. Has never broken before sent. Absolutely unbelievable.

Update (11/28/08)...

128 retrieves. Took Gabe pheasant hunting, he kicked up 5 birds, we got one rooster... he retrieved it very well. He worked the field like a pro. Had 3 big-time retrieves. All 200-300 yards where we took him to a rice check, worked him upwind and he came out with 2 crippled mallards and a bull sprig. Hope your hunting is going well.

Gabe says "Happy Thanksgiving" woof....

Update (12/22/08)...

He is up to 211 retrieves. Had a great 11 days in Colusa. Shot with 2 to 3 guys per hunt. He got to do all the work. 200 yd retrieve into a dense fog that he marked as it disappeared, he sat still and waited to be sent, went straight on line then faded into the fog and was gone for about three minutes before reappearing with a big greenhead. My friend sailed a mallard down the check while we were out of the blind. Took him a couple of hundred yards to a spot. He started working it. A mallard popped out and he chased it and then it dove on him. It reappeared, going under a thin sheet of ice. He worked the area for 3-4 minutes then returned to the original spot. I figured he picked up the original scent but the duck had doubled back and he got it. Absolutely no Quit. This is absolutely a no-brainer. For prospectve hunters this is a testimony to you and your training skills. Hope all is going well with the litter.

John and Gabe