Leslie's Blog

My name is Art Stoner (dinger2b on the Blog). I picked up the first pup, old yellow, and got to see all of your dogs as well. It is no surprise to me that you are happy. I live in Denver Colorado, and my daughter drove down with me to pick up my guy. On the way back she suggested that we set up a Blog so that everyone could share their stories about raising their pups. Not just when they are puppies but as they grow up as well and either hunt or enter competition. My boy Hombre will be doing hunt tests and field trials. I asked Leslie and she thought it was a good idea for a Blog. I was not so sure since I had never done any thing like this before. However I dug in and we have it set up. But I would encourage everyone to let either Leslie or myself know if there is something that you would like changed or deleted or that we could do better. For example I am going to a Mike Lardy workshop Feb 21st to 24th and will take both of my guys with me. I plan to post a slideshow for each day and hope it is of value to some. Let me know what you think. Got an idea for a poll questions, let us know. My older dog is named Maverick as well. Thanks for sharing your puppy with the rest of us!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Making His Own BED !

Hello All !

Rex has gone on a major growing spurt ! He is retrieving from a Bumper Boy launcher @ 75 yards with ease and holds the bumper all the way back to my hand... No formal yard or collar training yet... He teeth are breaking through he gums so I'm not pushing him,... He fell into the pool last Saturday by accident and I had to save him ! Then so we would not end the session in disaster I went in with him and showed him how to swim,,, then threw in a Doc kin Training bird and he retrieved it and brought it back to me on the stairs like a pro... This dog has a working dog brain and uses it well , Very proud of Dreammyer's Dean - A - Sourous REX... !

About the bed... I got him a nice fleas ed pillow for him to sleep on... Well, he decided to use it as a chew toy and took those baby teeth to the next level of destruction ! It was in 1000 pieces yesterday and April, my daughter and I spent the rest of the day stuffing it into a trash bag... He seems to have PLENTY of energy !

Rex's Boss, I think ?

Cowboy Discovers Bubbles

Cowboy Weighs 43 Lbs...

Cowboy weighed in at 43 Lbs...
I would like to know what is everyone else feeding?
We have been trying Solid Gold Wolf Cub.
He has a good temperament, he is well mannered and a pleasure to live with.
Cowboy does turn on the heat when playing or retrieving.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Rose





Rose weighs 27 lbs at 4 months old so she will be about 54 lbs full grown.
She will also be Fast and intense like her Mom Echo and Aunt Gracie.
She already has their same Love of Everything with the capacity to be sweet and very calm when not playing or retrieving.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Almost Four Months Old! Thinking back . . .



Hi Everyone! I hope each of your puppies is doing well! I found that I had never puplished these pictures, so I wanted to send them. Maybe Art can put them back in chronological order. Please keep updating! If you weigh your pup on 4/15 (four months old), this should be 1/2 of his/her grown weight. Let me know! Best wishes, Leslie & Echo

Friday, April 4, 2008

Cowboy's Photos Feb-April 2008

Cowboy's First Days at Blackwater Farm

Cowboy's First Days at Blackwater Farm

Cowboy came to us as the puppy in "Blue" on February 12, 2008. He is the most well balanced retriever we have ever had the good fortune to have in our home. Cowboy is growing very fast, and he has a friend named Big Boi, a Hairless Chinese Crested, that he lives and plays with, they have become fast friends. He is calm when asked to be calm, and turns on the heat when playing or retrieving. With his first gunshots, and taste of training with other dogs, he was calm and watched the other dogs, one after another, contented to be learning. When called upon to get his own "Birds" he happily retrieved like the "Big Dogs" he had been watching. He is quite a pleasure to have around the house, and is very well socialized. Thank you Leslie!

Ric

Thursday, March 13, 2008


As you can see, Rooster is growing. Here he is at 12 weeks and over 25 lbs. Our Vet says he is in excellent condition and will most certainly make a great companion.
Rooster had his first experience retrieving live quail a couple weeks ago and it was an interesting experience for Rooster and Charlie. He learns quickly and is doing quite well with "sit, come and fetch".
He continues to be Alice's lap dog and good friend to Elmo. Although Alice must say, when he climbs onto her lap, she gets prepared to sit a spell. He is acting like a typical puppy by digging and chewing. Our back yard will never be the same but that is a small sacrifice for the pleasure he is giving us.


Sunday, March 9, 2008

Easton

A few shots of Easton at 10 weeks. He loves to follow us around the house and rest at our feet when he's tired. (Hard to take pictures when he's active! He loves to jump at the camera. . .)One of our sons came home from Canada yesterday and met Easton for the first time--wonderful to see them get to know each other. . .friends for life! Weather in Chicago has been mild---we enjoy taking short walks with Easton.





Friday, February 29, 2008







My name is Nancy Meyer of DreamMeyer Labradors.

My username is: DreamMeyer

and it is all about "DreamMeyer Echo's Rosey Gates" or "Rose" > the only girl in this crowd...

Rose and Marty arrived together from 60 degrees in TX to -2 degrees in MN with a gusty wind and wind chill of "oh my Lord it is freezing!"

Their kennel was a little poopy and we were not allowed to open it inside the airport.

Melissa and I carried it outside. Mellissa had gotten some paper towels from the bathroom and wet them so we could clean the babies up. Well the towels froze the minute we got outside and it was like trying to clean with ice cubes.

When I got Rose home my other dogs just looked and her and said "Oh another dog, OK"

Gracie was thrilled to steal all the toys away from Rose and Rose was thrilled to chase after her as she did it.

By early evening Gracie had wore Ole and Rose out.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Easton





Easton, the black "teal" puppy, is now a member of the Raley family in the Chicago area. This is Debbie & Bob---we have four children ages 12-21. We have been looking forward to getting an Echo/Gates puppy since November. We truly enjoyed the Dec/Jan pictures of the puppies and couldn't wait to see the new pictures each week. Easton is more wonderful than we ever could have imagined---he has a bright, playful personality and is very smart like his brothers & sister. Easton will have a wonderful summer running, playing catch, swimming. . .he loves going out in the snow right now! (his black coat looks beautiful against the white snow) He came to Chicago two days ago and everyone at the airport wanted to keep him! Easton handled Ohare Airport like a pro. . .he wagged his tail at everyone!

Rooster

Here's Rooster - The chocolate with a peach colored ribbon. As you can see, he has made himself at home.

Allow us to introduce ourselves - we are Alice and Charles Melancon who live in The Woodlands, TX along with our 8 year old dachshund, Elmo.

Rooster and Elmo are having a great time adjusting to each other. Charles is beginning to train Rooster as his hunting companion and Alice is training him to be a lap dog. Thanks for the Blog and we look forward to getting updates about other puppies in the litter.

Maverick & Hombre

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Maverick


Jon and Jennifer Peters here. We picked up the red black male lab, "Maverick." He has made himself at home here in San Antonio. Maverick is a great dog and full of energy, he has definitely lived up to his name thus far. Maverick has already started retrieving his toys, and smiles as he does so. We enjoy every minute with him and look forward to many years of having him as our hunting companion.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Hombre




Well my name is Art Stoner and the wonderful male puppy that I got is named Hombre (he is the yellow one in all of the pictures by Leslie). He is shown at ease in his yard on a stake out. He did very well as he will need to be on a stake out for much of the time at Mike Lardy's workshop (when he is not being googled over that is). He is 8 weeks and 4 days old.