Looking at Blizzard's Huntmore Bella and the Rock, the female and male selected for the Jacobs' family's first Llewellin setter litter of 2019, there's the excitement that always comes with breeding a top notch female to a male likewise in talent and background.
First of all, these two young dogs pass the look test. Athletes, both of them, nicely gaited, with Bella's robust frame and the Rock's coiled spring physique built to go all day in our tough mountain coverts. Classic heads, beautiful tail sets, pleasing markings - each of them the total physical package.
In terms of performance, both Bella and Rock have earned high marks in Eric's work with them, each showing excellent ability in the bird field, the Rock, especially, seeming to own what Eric believes is an extraordinary nose. When asked what he means by that assessment, he's quick to answer.
"Just little things," Eric says. "A nose and the brains to use it. They must work together. Typical for Rock to wind birds(pigeons )and point at often far greater distance than most dogs. Sometimes double. He's smart about how he uses the wind and goes about his business high headed."
Eric notes that, "Yesterday I had a frozen quail at the kennel for retrieving with a client dog. Rock stood on his hind legs trying to locate it when I laid it up high. He even started whining!"
And then there's the blood. Bella, a Blizzard royal heir from the heart of the Noe family's Shoeleather kennel, the Rock, likewise from one of the strongest, proven nicks in the "new Huntmore" program, a Parker x Dixie son, Shoeleather on the top side of his pedigree, Old School Huntmore through Bleu, Toby, and Bull on the bottom with a strong two lines to Highway Dan. Parker x Dixie continue to impress as early bloomers who develop naturally with great drive on the hunt, crackling intensity on point, and a strong instinct to retrieve.