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Rusty's Page
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Young's Rusty Speaker of Fernhill MH ("Rusty") SR368103/01
Sire: AFC AFTCH Rosehill's Mr. Speaker MH OS FDHF CCA
Dam: Adirondac Hilfy of Fern Hill CDX OD CCA TDI CGC ASCA-CD SR017085/01
Born August 3, 2006
Hips: Excellent GR-100744E44M-NOPI
Elbows: Normal GR-EL22196M44-NOPI
Eyes: Normal CERF GR-44006/2010-44
Heart: Normal GR-CA18187/44M/C-NOPI
PRA: clear by parentage
Height: 23.5" Weight: 73 pounds
Available for stud service: contact owner Greg Young for details.
Rusty at the October 21, 2007 Hunt Test, where he earned his Junior Hunter title
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Rusty, whose baby name was Blueberry, was the first born and initially the biggest,
weighing a whopping 21 ounces at birth. Hilfy really looked relieved when he was finally out!
He was the first to open his eyes and see the world, at 10.5 days old on Sunday
morning, August 14. Even as a young puppy, he seemed to be an outstanding hunt prospect, very birdy with a strong retrieving drive.
On top of that, he loves people and is a particularly handsome dog.
He went to live with Greg and Lauren Young of Nashville, Tennessee where he is Greg's hunting companion and
shares the limelight with Greg's older, semi-retired dog Chase. He has been in professional training off and
on with Jody Ware of Razor Sharp Retrievers, who has helped Greg tremendously getting him ready for AKC hunt test
competitions. Rusty completed his Junior Hunter title in 2007, his Senior Hunter title in 2008, and finished up his Master Hunter title on
April 11, 2010. Master Hunter requires 5 passes on extremely difficult tasks, so this is a HUGE achievement! Rusty is Hilfy's first Master Hunter
offspring. Congratulations to Rusty and Greg!
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News about Rusty, 2010
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April 12, 2010:
Rusty got his 5th master pass over the weekend at Black Warrior Hunt Test in Alabama. He is officially a Master Hunter. He has also passed
all his clearances!
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News about Rusty, 2009
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April 16, 2009:
Editor's Note: These pictures are from our trip to Jody's to visit our Callie, Rusty, and Jed.
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Rusty with trainer Jody Ware |
Rusty comes flying
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Rusty with his half brother Jed
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Rusty at Jody Ware's, 3/7/09
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March 8, 2009:
Rusty is showing a lot of enthusiasm and Jody is doing really well with him from what I could tell.
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Rusty at Jody Ware's, 3/7/09
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February 9, 2009:
Talked to Jody this morning. Going to try to get Rusty out there this
week or weekend.
Rusty hunted last weekend of January in the Davis P. Rice Youth
Waterfowl hunt (I was there as a handler and guide). 172 kids. It was
the largest youth hunt in the nation, ever. Our group of 7 kids enjoyed
hunting with Rusty. Our group had a film crew and Rusty may be on TV -
probably in the East TN market. Not sure about the timing of the TV
stuff.
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January 15, 2009:
This duck season has been weird. Been 3 times and only bagged about 10.
Hunted in Missouri, Arkansas, and West Tennessee. Got skunked in West
Tennessee. Just have not been able to get on the ducks really good. I have
another hunt in Arkansas planned, and then I will be helping with a big
charitable youth hunt. Hoping to get Rusty on some birds then.
Despite the lack of birds, Rusty is still doing great in the field. No
real difficult or impressive retrieves, but hunting buddies are
consistently impressed by his blind manners. Rusty missed one cripple
in some thick buck brush / beaver hole - it was some rough stuff to slog
through. Duck swam away into thicker cover. We had to get out there
and shoot the duck again, and he locked in on it after that.
I have not been in touch with Jody since getting Rusty's SH. I need to
call him. Biggest piece of advice I can give you, Karen, about sending Callie to him, is to be very
patient and trust him. Remember this advice when you think...dadgummit
my dog has been there for months and I want him/her back. I tried to
look at it as a long term investment...spend money up front and miss
your dog for the first couple of years...but then you get an outstanding
hunting partner or hunt test dog for the next 10 or so years.
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News from the Youngs, 2008
October 28, 2008
Rusty looked great this past weekend. I was a
nervous wreck, but Rusty did great. He nailed all of the land marks and
we only handled on 1 of the water marks all weekend. He lined /
'1-whistled' the land blinds both days. The water blinds required a few
more whistles and casts, but that is to be expected and he responded to
each cast really well. Again, credit to Jody Ware for training Rusty so
well. I want to put Rusty back in training for a Master Hunter title
after duck season, but I have not gotten permission from Lauren
yet...we'll see.
Now it is time for hunting season! We have a place near Dyersburg this
year, and I am going to try to get up to Missouri, over to Arkansas, and
maybe even up to Kentucky. These are ambitious plans
considering that we have a 6-month old son (his name is Wyatt), and in
November we are moving to Franklin, TN (just South of Nashville).
October 27, 2008
NEWS FLASH!! Rusty passed the two senior hunt tests at the Central KY test this
weekend, and now has his SH (Senior Hunter) title. Details to follow soon!
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October 17, 2008
Rusty ran in the Middle TN hunt test last weekend and passed the two
senior hunt tests. It's a bad picture taken on a cell phone, but here
he is wearing the ribbons. We are running in the Central Kentucky hunt
test next weekend to see if we can get two more passes and the SH title.
Also, check out the
Oct/Nov issue of the Tennessee Co-op magazine (The Cooperator). They had a cover story on Jody Ware and Rusty is in a
couple of the pictures (table of contents and an ad for co-op dog food
on page 23). Again, the credit for Rusty's progress goes to Jody Ware
and I am glad he is getting some publicity.
Rusty with his first two Senior Hunter ribbons
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January 22, 2008
Just wanted to give you a heads up on Rusty's first hunting season. Dove season was a lot of fun.
Rusty picked up a bunch of doves. The duck season has been slow for us, but Rusty has done a very good job.
His blind manners are superb and many buddies have commented that he is a great dog to hunt with.
We got into a few ducks early at Reelfoot. Our lake blind was tucked away in some of the toughest
retrieving mess I have ever seen. If the ducks didn't fall in the open pool, then all of the dogs
(including a MH dog) had a very tough time bringing anything back. Rusty held his own and got out
there with a lot of heart and drive. He picked up a few ducks in the open pool and worked hard to
bring ducks out of the mess. January has been extremely slow at the Reelfoot blind, and I simply
have not been able to get out as much as I want. We had a slow hunt one weekend in the Missouri
rice fields, but Rusty was able to pick up a couple of ducks and his first speckled belly goose.
At another slow hunt on a farm pond Rusty picked up his first snow goose (and a few pigeons since
it was a slow day...) I am heading to Reelfoot this weekend to hunt our lease field (the blind is
probably iced out). Expectations are very low for anything, but we need to wind things up so I
figured I would try one more time. Although I am disappointed that we did not have more successful
hunts this duck season, I am very pleased with how Rusty performed.
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News About Rusty, 2007
October 21, 2007
I'm pleased to announce that we have a new title holder in
the group -- Rusty won his Junior Hunter title today with his fourth pass at
the East Tennessee Retriever Club hunt test over in Spring City, TN. We
were particularly pleased that we (breeders Karen and Jim) were able to go watch him on his title
run!
It was a terrific pleasure for us to be able to see Rusty work, as we
hadn't seen any of the puppies in person since they walked out the door at
7 weeks -- and I am very proud of how hard working AND BEAUTIFUL this boy is!
Greg says about the title: This weekend was a lot of fun...a little nerve-racking but still
a ton of fun. I think this is a great breeding and thanks go to Karen & Jim and Lori Jolly.
Also, Marty Kurzendoerfer [owner of older brother Beau JH. actually
handled and passed Rusty in the first two legs of the Junior title in Middle TN the weekend before.
Finally, and not to put out an advertisement, but Jody Ware also deserves a ton of credit for
Rusty's progress. I have been extremely pleased with how Jody has trained Rusty and recommend him highly.
Ready for duck season!
September 10, 2007.
Rusty is doing very well right now. Not
sure of his exact height and weight - I'd guess around 60 lbs. He is
slimmed down right now from training. I'd say he will range between
60-70 pounds.
Rusty had his first dove hunt opening weekend and did exceptionally
well. He picked up at least a dozen birds opening weekend, and a couple
more this weekend. Most of the retrieves were fairly simple marks
within 50 yards. I think he will be an very good hunting dog. Still
have some work to do on the transitional training, but I am looking
forward to duck season.
August 6, 2007. Rusty's training has finally taken that next step we have been
waiting for. Will be picking him up soon.
June 6, 2007. The trainer says Rusty is coming along nicely. He is in very good spirits
and I should get him back in the next month or so. Here is a picture of
him from a month or so ago.
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News from the Youngs, March 2007
Here is Rusty at approximately 6 months - his first snow experience.
This picture was taken just before Rusty went to train with Jody Ware in February.
I have been happy with Jody. His patience and ability to train Rusty as
an individual dog - not just shuttle him through a set program - is what
I was looking for in a trainer.
I plan to visit Jody and Rusty next weekend to see how things are going
and to get some training myself. I will keep you posted.
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News from the Youngs, December 2006
We are doing great. Went to the Lorie Jolly hunt training seminar in Kentucky in November and it was pretty awesome. I met
Marty and Beau and enjoyed hanging out.
Rusty is progressing very well. This morning he was doing 60-70 yard
single retrieves. He also loves retrieving the ducks I bring home from
hunting. He has actually been in the field with me a couple of times
though I was not really hunting. I just wanted to let him experience
the rice muck, riding on four wheelers and big gunfire (the gunfire was
from my hunting buddies about 100 yards away though). Obedience is
getting better and better with each session, but he is not rock solid
yet (which is just fine at this point). I am going to start testing
just how obedient he is by adding new distractions, etc. He went
swimming a couple of times when it was warmer, and with the warmer
weather this weekend we will probably try to find some place to swim
again. I had also planned to take him to the skeet range to get him
really comfortable around gunfire. Right now I am planning to send
Rusty to a pro trainer in February. Hopefully all of this preliminary
stuff will make his job much easier. All in all, he is a lot of fun to be around. On the bad side, he has
destroyed my backyard - it looks like moon craters out there!
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I'm MOSTLY good!
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Family Portrait, with Rusty & older pal Chase
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News from the Youngs, October 2006
10/23/06: Rusty is doing good so far. He is over 20 pounds now and has moved up
to a bigger crate. We went to the vet for shots last weekend - vet says
he's healthy. He is getting darker and even has a brownish red colored
patch down the middle of his back near his hind legs and tail. As far as
training, I have been keeping things fun and lighthearted. Here is an
update of things so far.
Housetraining / Obedience:
He is housetrained for the most part, although he has an occasional
accident. He is sleeping through the night. He knows SIT, HERE, DOWN and is learning
HEEL. He also knows KENNEL, but sometimes ignores me so I have to lead
him to the front of his crate where he will then walk in on the KENNEL
command. He knows the SIT WHISTLE and HERE WHISTLE. At times he is a
little loose on all of these commands, and I will probably start to
"formalize" the obedience over the next month or so.
Retrieving:
He is play retrieving a paint roller in a hallway in my house. I
position myself between the fall and his crate so that when he tries to
take the roller back to his kennel, he has to run in to me. Lots of
praise. I tried some yard/field retrieving, but if he is not on a check
cord he likes to prance around and chew the bumper rather than returning
to me.
Socialization / Exploring:
I have tried to do something new with him every weekend. He does fine
around other dogs, has experienced many different terrains, and has even
ridden on a 4-wheeler. I wanted to really introduce him
to water before it got too cold. For the last two weekends temps have
been in the 70's so I have taken him to a small, slow stream at a nearby
farm. We would walk around for a while to get him warmed up and then
head to the stream. The first weekend he just splashed around and was a
little apprehensive. This weekend he took the plunge and found his
sea-legs for about 15 seconds in a deeper section of the stream.
(Having an older dog has helped tremendously with the swimming and
exploring new terrain.) He has been exposed to small gunfire (starter
pistol) and reacted just fine - basically looked up and then went back
to his exploring. Next weekend will be a lot of people socialization as
we are taking him to a college football game tailgate with my wife's
family in MS. Not going to the game, just want him to be in a setting
with a whole bunch of people. Other "socialization" goals include a
boat ride at some point and decoys.
Birdiness:
He remains interested in feathers and went to town on an old beat-up
turkey fan at the farm this weekend. He also found a baby bird on the
sidewalk while we were walking one day by my house. He was on the leash and
all of a sudden lunged and pounced on something. I pried the bird from
his mouth and then tossed it a couple of feet away. He lunged and
grabbed it again. After one more time, there was not much left to the
baby bird.
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Rusty and Chase |
Flat puppy |
Greg & Rusty
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Rusty at Fern Hill
Blueberry going home with Greg Young, 9/23/06
Blueberry's going home portrait 9/23/06
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Puppy attack! 9/8/06
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5 weeks, carrying around a leaf, 9/8/06
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Blueberry & Ryan, 9/2/06
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Attacking the duck, 8/27/06
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Blueberry at 3 weeks, 8/25/06
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Sitting up & observing the world, 8/18/06
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Houston, we have eyes! 8/14/06, 11 days
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Blueberry, day 4
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Blueberry boy, one day old 8/4/06 |
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254 Babbs Road, Lenoir City, TN 37771
Tel: 865-300-7607; text or leave message for callback
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E-Mail:
edwardskc@gmail.com
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Fern Hill Farm All rights reserved.
Revised December 1, 2010
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