Description:

Bruster is an AKC registered black lab. He has been my main guiding dog I have used at Mallard Manor for 2 duck seasons. He is 3 years and 4 months old and has never entered hunt tests, so I do not have a title on him but could. I just don't have the time nor interest in doing so. A professional trainer told me that he would be comparable on the scale of a Hunter Retriever to a Finished dog in trials. I will be happy to tell you all about him so that you can make a well-informed decision and him not be mis-represented in any way. He can handle blinds up to 400-500 yards. I ran a 300 yard blind on a dove with him a few weeks ago. He is an excellent hunting dog and loves to retrieve more than eat or being petted. He is all business when it comes to his job and has been a blessing to me. I don't want to get rid of him because I feel like I should enjoy the fruits of my labor training him but I have no need for two retrievers at this moment and I want him to hunt.
I have a 14 month old yellow female pup I am training and it is her time to shine in the field in order to become what he is today. Bruster is collar conditioned and will retrieve for anyone. If you purchase him, I will be happy to answer calls from time to time and help guide you through the process of getting acclimated to him and the commands he knows. He is in his prime now for hunting and is on a bi-monthly heartworm preventative plan. He was checked out at the vet on October 6, 2009 and free of worms and he is up-to-date on all shots. He is about a 65 pound lab. He retrieves snows and specks no problem. I have never used him on Canadas, so I have no idea how well he will handle them but he has the drive to do it without a doubt.

My purpose with the following information is to eliminate some questions and save your time and mine. Below is just a description of some of his abilities. Some of the different behaviors I have trained in him were to help me while guiding and some are just silly but yet help teach obedience. He rides in the back of a truck well but also can use a kennel just fine too. You can tell him to go kennel and he will run all the way across the field and go get in the truck as long as he is shown that the truck is what “kennel” is meant at the moment. You can take him and show him while hunting where you want him to be and tell him “kennel” and he will learn that that is his spot. Saying the word “kennel” reminds him to go back to his hiding place while hunting after bringing in a dove or duck. Bruster retrieved 30 ducks when he was 7 months old and has been dove hunting since 4 months old. Bruster has the ability to begin retrieving a bird, be stopped and sent off that bird and then begin on another. He can be running in a straight line to a bird and told no and keep him going past that bird to get a cripple swimming off. He does not run the straightest line but can be corrected to get him to his retrieve. I have been told that it would be an easy fix but I don't really care that I may stop him a few times to get him to a downed bird at 400 yards. All I care is that he obeys my commands and gets the bird. I am not into retriever trials much just hunting and guiding. When he has retrieved that bird, he can then be stopped with bird in his mouth in order to work birds and later bring him in. He can be told or shown with hand gesture to lay down 100 yards out in the field and he will do it while out from you or at your side. If he sits at 30 yards and you tell him to lay down he will lay down, if you then decide to tell him no and sit, he will get up and sit. A lot of the things I have trained in him have been just to teach him obedience. He was the alpha pup in the litter and had a lot of drive that I had to confront in the beginning but he finished well.
I do want to see him go to someone who will hunt him. He is an outside dog and has been all of his life, so I don’t know how he would do in the house. He might could be trained otherwise but not without some accidents I would imagine at first. Bruster is a great, solid hunting retriever. He has proven himself to me and many others that I have guided at Mallard Manor. A lot of people pay $800-$1000 for a puppy that they have no idea whether or not it will “produce” for them. Then, they spend another $350-$500 a month with a professional trainer trying to get the dog into hunting shape for several months a year. My point is that all of the major work is done with Bruster. The only thing that remains is some finesse work if you choose to do so. There is no ‘wonder’ as to whether or not he will be a good hunting dog. He is already proven and ready to go. His experience being a guide dog for me at Mallard Manor and being hunted more than a lot of dogs get a chance too counts for a lot. If you are interested, please feel free to give me a call (Kevin 662-897-9090) and I will be happy to answer any more questions about him….or you can call Clark, owner of Maximum Potential Retrievers for a cross-reference about his hunting potential (662) 809-5998. Thanks!
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VIDEO 10/12/09:I filmed Bruster this afternoon on a 300-350 yard blind. I don't like being on camera much, especially working a dog cause I am not a trainer but I figured that this would help put a face with how Bruster works. He does much better usually as duck season rolls on and sharpens up quite a bit. Keep in mind that 80% of the time Bruster works within a 100 yard range as you will notice in the video but he does have the ability to retrieve birds up to 500 yards that he didn't see go down. He just has to be told to keep going further. I have heard that getting him to line better and such would not be a hard fix but I really just don't care. Some days he will take off like a mad dog and go 150 yards without stopping to look at me and some days he may go 50 yards but the fact is that he takes the command and gets to the bird. That is all that has mattered to me. I wish that I had videos of him in the blind during duck season as this tells the real story of his ability. I was asking $5,000 for him but am willing to let him go for $4,500 cash to someone who will hunt him and enjoy him. Here are several videos to watch by copy/paste into your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbftJw5JM5E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pz75r8HO1I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmOF63k5q74
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUwYc7c2Rak