Who doesn't love a precocious puppy, the one that starts easily, naturally? The Jacobs family prides itself on producing that kind of prospect, litter after litter. Setters of all stripes come in for a bad rap as "slower to develop" among folks who trade in stereotypes and cliches. Blizzard's Huntmore puppies beat that rap from the rip, with a genetic endowment that provides plenty of point, prey drive, and a quiet, malleable mind that easily learns to learn.
After that, it's all about thoughtful opportunity and owner/handlers willing to arrange steps in their "training" around positioning the puppy to have success. These are dogs bred for folks who want to train their own; the Jacobs family believes that puppies kept home, provided leadership in terms of basic manners, and offered adequate measured wild bird contacts (or careful work with flighty, intelligently presented pen birds) will, on their puppy's schedule, have the kind of field companion all that early promise suggested was there from the beginning.
To that end, the search is always on for committed owners who want to "roll their own" gun dog. The danger, sometimes, is that these puppies start so early that unfair expectations are placed on performance, stamina, even gun conditioning without taking reasonable, building block methods to shape that dog on the dog's schedule. We become victims of our own thrill with the puppy that shows so much early ability that we skip steps that we would commonly take.
In our opinion, maybe the worst mistake some owners make is to ship that puppy out for training as soon as it begins to push cover a little bit, then point and hold birds. We believe that doing time in a pro's kennel, especially too soon in a pup's development, can be confusing for the young dog, maybe even wrenching to be taken out of the home for a second time (first time leaving the Jacobs' family kennels) so soon. Time is money in a professional's kennel, his and the owner's. We believe that adds a pressure factor that works against the natural development of the puppy.
We love to hear from owners who enjoy doing their "yard work," manners training that builds a bond with the puppy. We get a great kick when puppies are introduced to manageable cover to get bird experience. Below is a 2019 puppy out of Bella by Rock. "Jake" was five months old when this message came in.
Blessed are those who have access to woodcock coverts or legal broods of younger upland birds that afford a puppy multiple, cooperative contacts with wild birds. Barring that, also blessed are those who understand how to present pen birds in ways that allow them perform in a facsimile of their wild cousins, with minimal handling and care that baby bird dogs don't catch them on the ground.
Blizzard's Huntmore Llewellins are smart, sensitive individuals bred and socialized to be confident proto-hunters willing to work with those who put in the time to bond with them, to pay the dues to establish leadership. That fast start is a wonderful bonus, but also a responsibility for the owner/handler to be honest about his or her commitment and investment, to expose without pushing, to keep expectations reasonable and manageable.
The writer in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 has much to say to the bird hunter developing his own all-natural performance gun dog: "For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: ... a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 ... a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, ... 7 ... a time to keep silence, and a time to speak..."
Take time. Enjoy every season. Celebrate and savor the great good gift of forging a connection with a talented young Llewellin setter who, if asked the right way, supported the right way, will give nothing less than everything.