Happy Holidays from DeCoverly Kennels!

This is our first newsletter and is being sent to friends and owners of DeCoverly English Setters. Included in this issue are news, training tips, events we’ll be attending, and some fun updates about our personal dogs and those of our owners.

At the very bottom of the page are links to unsubscribe or sign up to this newsletter, and at the top is a link to forward this to anyone you think might be interested.

We hope you enjoy this newsletter and look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at DeCoverly.

DeCoverly Staff

Everyone at DeCoverly specializes in a few keys areas of the business, but at one time or another can be found doing almost anything. Despite a diverse array of talents and interest, we’re all bound together by our love for the breed and our desire to produce the finest companions available today.

• Ken Alexander – Ken bought his first Ryman setter from the original Ryman Kennel in 1967, and founded DeCoverly Kennels in 1977. Ken is responsible for our breeding program, customer relations, and a host of daily activities.
• William B. Sordoni – Bill bought his first DeCoverly setter from Ken in 1982, and 10 years later became Ken’s partner. Bill brings 35 years of business experience to DeCoverly and has been instrumental in our sales, marketing and operations activities.
• William E. Sordoni – I grew up with DeCoverly setters and am now training and hunting my own setter named Clipper. I became involved in some of the day to day management and operations of the business earlier this year, including the publishing of this newsletter. My background is in management consulting and information technology, and I’m an avid upland bird and big game hunter.
• Bridget Bodine - Bridget Bodine brings years of experience training Sight-to-Sea championship Labs to DeCoverly. Her work includes pointing dog training, all-breed obedience training, and retriever training. Bridget manages our boarding business, is very involved in sales, and is the primary care giver for our puppies.
• Angela Uzdilla - Angela has been with DeCoverly for the past 13 years. She brings decades of experience in breeding and showing bench championship Sweetbriar Setters. Angela’s experience helps us to evaluate dogs in terms of their structural conformation. Angela also runs our puppy socialization program.
• Bill Reid – Bill joined DeCoverly as a pointing dog trainer in September, 2005. Bill is an impassioned upland bird hunter who has been gunning over DeCoverly setters for years. Bill is primarily responsible for working with our started dogs.

News and Events

• Hunting Trips – Ken recently came back from a few weeks of hunting sharptails in North Dakota and grouse and woodcock in Minnesota. Both hunts were excellent, with Ken limiting on grouse every day he was in Minnesota. Ken had a chance to catch up with some owners and friends of the kennel, and got some great work out of Davey, Cookie, and a new young girl named Dakota. Ken also spent a few days in Canada hunting grouse and woodcock, but unfortunately had miserable weather and only one truly good day of hunting.
• Vintagers – We had a great time at the annual Vintagers Show at Orvis Sandanona, and were glad to see so many of our friends and owners there. Vintagers always a great weekend to spend looking at guns and gear before the upcoming hunting season.
• Upcoming Shows - We plan to be at the World Fishing and Outdoor Exposition show again this year in Suffern, NY. The show is held from March 2nd through March 5th and is a sight to see for any outdoor enthusiast.
• New Merchandise - New merchandise is available just in time for Christmas! For anyone who hasn’t been on the “Merchandise” section of our website recently, we’ve added hats, mugs, and logo mats. Trade and limited edition copies of John Taylor's "A Gentlemen's Shooting Dog" are also available.

Training Tip

Introduction to Loud Noises – Gun shyness is preventable and is typically difficult to fix. Properly introducing a dog to loud noises is an important part of bringing your setter along as a gun dog. Two pieces of shortened 2x4 lumber are a great way to start this process. Bang the wooden blocks together when your pup is eating or doing something else exciting and enjoyable, and watch for any sign of a negative reaction.

Take your time and gradually work up to louder noises with the blocks, either by banging them harder, closer to the pup, or both. If the pup shows any signs of being frightened, back off and tone down your approach and after some time start again at a softer level. If you’re unsure of how things are progressing or of whether or not a given approach will work, give us a call and let us help walk you through the process.

Available Dogs

Pictured at left are just a few of the puppies and started dogs we have available.

The puppies were both whelped 7/24/05 and are out of Dillon and Only. The first is an orange belton and the second is a white, orange and ticked.

The first started dog pictured is Ranger, an orange belton whelped 5/20/04 out of Border John and Sandy. Ranger has had a bunch of birds killed over him and is ready to go right now.

The second started dog is Chase, a blue belton whelped 12/31/04 out of Dillon and Peaches. Chase is also being shot over and will be ready to go in the next few weeks.

Clipper's Corner

Clipper is my personal gun dog and companion. He was whelped on 5/28/04 and is out of Mo and Robin. My wife Jennifer and I truly adore him and can’t imagine not having a setter in our lives. He’s a comic in the house, a guard dog in the back yard (or so he thinks), a gentleman around guests, and a workaholic in the field. On the first day of Pennsylvania’s small game season he had four points on woodcock and two points on grouse.

If there’s a down side to having a dog that absolutely loves to hunt, it has to be the consequences you’ll suffer if he finds out you’ve gone hunting without him. When I return home from hunting alone, he's at first excited to see me and curious to smell where I’ve been, but then he gets depressed. It sounds a little funny to think of a dog as getting depressed, but there’s really no other way to explain it. A few weeks ago I hunted turkeys from dawn till dusk. That night Clipper was excited to see me, but as the night wore on became more and more somber. The next day, we got up and went about our normal Sunday routine. I went downstairs and got my coffee and let Clipper outside, and he seemed fine and happy to explore the backyard. When he came in he got a drink, went back upstairs, and got back into bed!

He stayed in bed and sulked for over 3 hours, never really sleeping, just looking at me with his saddest eyes. He looked so sad that I had to take him out for a run, and after 2 hours in the woods was back to normal. With deer season coming up, I think Clipper's in for more days in bed and I’m in for more of his famous guilt trips.

Owner Snapshot

We have a steady stream of letters and pictures from our owners about their DeCoverly Setters. We're always looking for pictures of any of our dogs in paintings, news clips, and anything else you’d like to share. We recently received this letter from Gary and Deb Bach from North Dakota. Their 13 month old setter Dottie is really enjoying her first season!
Gentlemen,

Wanted to let you know how extremely happy Deb and I are with "Dottie" our setter. We were expected a close to medium range working grouse and pheasant dog that's enjoyable to have as a pet in the house. So far, she's done everything we've expected. I exposed her to several wild pheasants last winter and this spring in our creek that had some good cover, and she easily learned how close she could get and hold pheasants. The ND Sharptail grouse opener on September 10th was her debut for real. Unbelievable. Less than 15 minutes into the first walk, she got birdy, went into her stiff legged slow stalk for about 20-30 yards and froze. Deb steadied her up, and I went in front and a covey of three sharptails flushed about 20 yards in front of us. I got a double and another hunter downed the other. Obviously in the excitement we couldn't find one, and Dottie found and pointed the downed bird, which was still alive, when it started flopping, she pounced on it, and held it, and gave it up easily. She did as good at 13 months as my seasoned 8 year old shorthair would have. We ended the day around noon with our limit of 6 sharptails all shot over steady to flush points. I had a training collar along that I didn't need, and I only used the whistle a few times, and she had the quartering down pat. She'd stay out in front about 50 yards and diagonal across in front of us roughly 40-50 yards to the outside, look back and turn. She'd cover as much ground as we would put between us. She's an eye catcher, and many people have asked us where we got her and we proudly say she's a Decoverly Setter. We also eventually want to add another Setter hunting partner for Dottie. Take care, and thanks again.

Deb and Gary Bach - Wyndmere, North Dakota