We are so happy with her and yes she still comes in to sleep on the bed every night with her own blanket imagine that. ha ha ha
 
In the future we would love to get another one from you guys maybe even two.
 
We would appreciate it if you would put her picture on your photo album on your website as we are so proud of her, and she is a perfect example of how your bloodline is doing in New Mexico, I don't think there are many out this way.
 
Thanks and have a good day.
 
Lisa & Anthony Griego
Katie Bondhu
Molly & Randy

The only retriever training I ever gave him was play retrieve with various toys. Never with a wing or dead bird until he started hunting. He is a straight out and back retriever of both quail and pheasant. He is soft mouthed unless another dog is competing with him and then he is out to keep the bird and retrieve it rather than let the other dog have it.

Sent: Monday, November 10, 2003 8:09 PM
To: kingllewellin@alltel.net
Subject: Our Llewellin Puppy Update 

Hello Drenda and Alfred,

I wanted to write and let you know how our puppy is doing.  We picked him up back in September....he was out of the 3X litter.  We decided that he really looked like a Henry so we're calling him Hank for short.  He is already 38 pounds and is just now 5 months old.

From day one, Hank has been an absolute joy.  He is extremely smart and very attached to us (and us to him). 

I've never had a dog respond to training this well.  He is definitely still a puppy, but he learns everything so quickly and is crazy about anything that flies.

Hank and I go around our farm (50 acres) about 3 times a day.  He stays in front of me and watches for me to change directions.  I like to hold my arm out when I change direction or want a dog to hunt in a specific area.  Hank just picked up on this after 3 days of being here...at 3 months old!

Here are some pictures of him from today's trip.  And, of course, some extra pictures of Hank to show you that we are strictly adhering to your "Never ever spoil your bird dog" motto.  ;-)

Llewellins are truly wonderful!  I can't wait to see him point his first covey.

Thanks so much!
Holly and Steve Shelton
Mulberry, Tennessee

I know your pedigree is exceptional and there are not a lot of pups that have been bred as true to line as you have; BUT remember, when you start to feel overconfident ask Tuppy what happens when you get too cocky.  Tell Mike and Carol Hello for us and always be nice to them. 

Don't forget that you are due for the rest of your shots on the 15th. 

Your loving godparents (or is that grandparents?),
Alfred and Drenda

From: Mike Ramsey
Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003 
Subject: letter home

Dear Wily and Daisy,
     Thanks for everything.  I won't be home for dinner anytime soon.  I hopped a jetliner to Oregon Thursday and have a new name. "Keeper".  It has taken me 24 hours to take control of this household and show the existing muts some Southern style.  The pictures should give an Idea of what I am saying.  Tomorrow we leave for a few days in northern Nevada where I can possible charm the members of the Humboldt Hunting club and their cooks.  I'll keep in touch.
Bye for now

Sorry I haven't written you guys sooner.  Wanted to update you on our boy Pete.  What a wonderful little dog.  We picked him up from you on 12/27/02 at 6 weeks.  from 02HH litter.  He looks so much like his Dad Roy.  He's
just over 5 months now & his training is going great.  We get out to the field at least twice a week & he just loves to hunt.  At first he was kind of casual in the field but in the last few weeks he's been hunting like a mad man.  It's hard get him to even stop for a drink.  We cover about two miles every time out.  I do anyway.  Pete probably covers about 10-20. We've bumped into pheasants twice since we've been doing this.  Just started planting quail for him last weekend.  He wanted to move right in on them the first time & had to be whoa'd with the check cord.

The second time out he would point from 10-15 yards out & would hold them pretty well.  I know that will just continue to get better.  He'll come to both the whistle the tone button on his collar.  Will also quarter & whoa to the whistle.  Even after everything I read I still couldn't believe how quickly he caught on to everything.

Attached are a few pictures.  We have so many its hard to pick the best. These were all taken at about 4 months.  I have one of a beautiful point in the field on Sunday night that I'll send tomorrow.  Don't have it with me here at work.  He really looks like his dad in this one.

Also, he loves to play fetch at home & did a pretty good job in the field at first.  Now he won't have anything to do with the quail dummy in the field but does a good job in the yard still.

Is it just time to move on to retrieving real birds?

Thanks!!
 

He's looking kinda tired.  Must have been  to the field earlier in the day.

Pete Loves watching birds with his cousin Maddi

From: Jon Junge
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 
To: Drenda King
Cc: Alfred King
Subject: RE: Pete

Last night was the third time we've worked on birds & he continues to amaze me.  He seems to be quarting & hunting cover better after having a few birds under his belt.  That's not to say he was doing bad before, he's just doing an incredible job now.  I wish hunting season were here.  We tried & few live bird retrieves last night & he did a pretty good job.  He doesn't
always bring it all the way back but pretty close.  Nice soft mouth too. We'll continue to play fetch daily.  It's usually Pete's idea to play fetch with one of his toys.  He's even got the neighbors playing with him almost every day.

Below is a picture from last Sunday.  This was his second day on live birds & his first point on a live bird without being whoa'd with the check cord.

I appreciate all your advise.  Thanks again for such a wonderful dog.

Jon

Dear Al and Drenda

Hello, I hope that everything finds you happy and healthy. I purchased Louie from you a little over three years ago and as you can see he has grown up to be a beautiful dog. He is also very impressive in the field. I could not be
happier.

God Bless
Kyle Streitmatter

         Best wishes,
         Wayne McWhorter
         Marshall, Texas

March 13, 2002

Alfred and Drenda, 

It took Scout about 24 hours to establish his control of the Henry House. He's now 10 weeks old (see below) and my daughters, Regan and Delaney, are in love with him. As with all puppies, especially males it seems, he has a little biting problem when he plays, but the girls are learning how to discourage him and stick a rope toy in his mouth. 

He's now only getting up once in the middle of the night to be let out of his kennel to piddle outside. He's an absolute lover when he's not terrorizing the girls or the older dogs. Yesterday evening, after he played for a couple of hours with the Brittany pup next door, Scout and I did the half-mile circle around the block with him towing his 30-foot-lead rope all the way. He's a stout little guy, and his legs have grown about two inches in the last week.

Maggie (11-year-old Llewellin) and Katie (9-year-old Viszla) are tolerating him better, too, now that Scout finally figured out that Maggie is not interested in nursing him.

Scout's going to make a good dog, and I couldn't be more pleased with him. I've had him up to the office a couple of times, and he just sleeps in his kennel while I work. He's charmed several people in the office about the
breed and King Llewellin Setters, so you'll probably be hearing from them soon. Ashley Fors is looking for a setter pup for herself and one for her dad, who's a bird hunter.

God bless and hope all is well in Arkansas,
Warren Henry 

Dear Drenda and Alfred,

We hope all is well with you and yours. I'm sure you'll enjoy the attached picture -- I protested to Stephanie that there was no possible way to get three dogs and two little girls to hold still for a Christmas picture, but
Stephanie insisted that we try, and, once again, she was right.

Pretty amazing picture. Regan is now 8 and Delaney is 6 -- and, left to right are....
Dottie (7 months), Maggie (13 years, and still healthy) and Scout (2 years).

I thought it was pretty cool to see three generations of dogs --
Maggie Bomber/Gladstone, 13 years old and still healthy),
Scout (Bondhu/Royacelle, 2 years old) and
Dottie (Bondhu/ Bondhu, 7 months old) is the ultimate princess -- very delicate and smart.

At a Christmas party last night, I had an interesting conversation with a bird-hunting guide who insisted that "real" bird dogs should never be treated as pets. No, he's never owned a Llewellin.

Have a great Christmas.

J. Warren Henry

Dear Mr. King,

I hope that you and your family are doing well.  I wanted to write you about my llewelin setter, Joe (General Bombers Joe).  Joe is our 4 yr old llewelin that we bought from you.  As you can see from the pictures below, he's a
wonderful dog, both in the home with the kids and in the field (I've hunted him every season).  He has a great nose and wonderful instincts in the field.  He's a real gentlemen and loves to be around dogs and kids.

I have a real problem in that my company is transferring me and the family to Japan for two years.  It's a great opportunity, but one that will force us to find a temporary home for Joe for those 2 years out of the country.
We currently live in Memphis and will return as soon as the Japan stint is finished.  Leaving Joe has been the toughest decision in the world to make, but if we can find a good temporary home for him then we will feel much
better about the situation.  We are talking to friends and family, but so far, we haven't found the right fit yet.

If you know of anyone who may be interested or if you have any suggestions please let me know.

Thank you very much for your help in advance,
David
 

Dear Al and Drenda,
   Here is a picture of "Magnus Bondhu Shantih", the Autumn Wishes daughter that we got from you last year.  We want you to know how pleased we are with her.....she is quite a handful, but is turning into a good bird dog and a
terrific pet.
    We shot over her several times in her first season.  She finds and points beautifully, recalls well most of the time, takes directions well, and will retrieve a bumper, but not a dead bird yet (we haven't pushed for this).
    More to the point, I think Calvin likes his bird dog better than me. She is perfectly housebroken and understands complete sentences.  She has a wicked sense of humor and gets along with our Sheltie and cats well.
   Anyway, her birthday is tomorrow and we wanted to let you know she's doing well and we think she's terrific.
Thanks for letting us have her!

Beth and Calvin Smith
Knoxville, Tennessee
 

David and I thought you might be interested to see how our pup is progressing.  His name is Bagger and he is a high strung little monster but we love him to death. He is 3 months old now and all I think about is the time I spoke to you when he was unable to fly and you told me he was running around like a little terror.  Boy Drenda you were right!!!

Thanks for all your help and of course for Bagger!  We hope to bring him to Arkansas someday.  David would love to hunt with him there.

Take care enjoy the picture!
David, Casey and Bagger
Sun City, CA

Dear Alfred & Drenda,

         We just wanted to let you know how our new addition is doing.  His name is "Blue". He is out of Irish King Bondhu Ashly and Countess Latett Bondhu.  He is now 5 1/2 months old and is doing great.  We could not have asked for a better dog. 

        Here are a couple of recent photos.  He is pointing well and is steady to wing and shot.  With a little more conditioning he will be ready for his first real hunting trip.  His first trip will be to south Georgia in mid-February.  I'll send you a report when we get back.
                                                                                                                    Sincerely,
                                                                                                     Jonathan & Amanda Rackard
 

Alfred, my name is Warren Henry (friend of Tom Stephenson from Dallas) and a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since I last spoke with you. Stephanie and I purchased Maggie from you almost 11 years ago (!!!) and she
(Maggie, not Stephanie) continues to be a treasure. But she's  (Maggie, not Stephanie) getting up there in years, as is our Viszla, Katie, so it's time for another dog. Being an absolute convert to the Llewellyn religion, I need to come see you after the first of the year. I'm going try very hard to limit myself to one puppy, although I'll need another one in a couple of years.

We're now living just north of Oklahoma City, although we still spend a lot of time with the Stephensons, who are still in Dallas. By the way, their King Llewellyn, Shadow, is also doing great. He's as pretty as ever and as well-mannered. We're now on an acre with an electronic fence, so it's as good as it gets in the suburbs for dogs.

As I said, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge. When we bought Maggie, Steph and I had not yet married. Now we have, resulting in two gorgeous little girls, Regan (6) and Delaney (4) (see attached). God's been good to us.

Back to business. I need another dog. This time a male -- I'm so completely outnumbered by females in my house, I need some back-up. What I'd really like to do is get a clone of Shadow, Tom's dog. I'll send you his particulars Monday, when Tom faxes them to me. Shadow was also whelped in ate winter 1991, and he's a classic blue belton, thin chest, small long head type Llewellyn. I'll try to e-mail you pics of both Maggie and Shadow in the near future.

Maggie, on the other hand, remains a "big-boned gal." Her number is 1382999, and she's out of King's Black Gladstonyo 1330913 and King's Gladstone Sherri 1324680. Referring to your website, she looks exactly like King's Gladstonyo  Jacki, with the tri-color and black saddle, but Maggie's a little bigger across the head, and her chest is a good third wider than Shadow's.

Anyway, my first choice would be a male out of Shadow's line, my second would be a male out of Maggie's. (I'll take a female if you have one you really like. I'd pay anything to clone Maggie.) Mainly I want a solid quail hunter that will be a great pet for my girls -- in other words, a Llewellyn.

I also continue to be tempted by one of the Russians, but I want to stay with a Llewellyn, not a full English Setter.

In terms of color, I love them all. The blue belton is the prettiest, but the cinammon belton is too, and of course I'm emotionally partial to the tri-color because of Maggie. I think I might like to go with a less heavily colored dog than Maggie, but it's not a big deal.

In terms of age, it might be better from a hunting point of view to go with an older, "tested" puppy, but for my girls' sake, I'd like to get a very young one. I want them to have the whole experience of growing up with a puppy and dealing with all the issues. We got Maggie right at 8 weeks. By they way, she still has the cloudy ulcer spot on her right eye, right at the top of the iris. We've had it checked over the years and it's never been a problem. As for getting a young pup, Maggie and Katie will mother it.

I'm still quail hunting, but not nearly as much sicnce Regan and Delaney joined us. My dream someday is to have a place where I can hunt within sight of my house. As it is, I have a deer/quail lease in NW Oklahoma, about 2.5
hours away.

Anyway, please advise as to timing and what you would recommend that I do. I want to get the next puppy before Maggie and Katie get too old to hunt a little with it. (I don't hunt them much, maybe an hour at a time, maybe
twice a day, given their age. Does that seem reasonable to you? Maggie will hunt until she collapses, if allowed. Shadow's the same way.) I'll come pick him up. I was thinking I'd like to come get a pup in January or February,
but if you have dogs now and won't then, I could do it sooner. Or I could wait until March or April. You tell me what's best.

By the way, what should I expect in term's of Maggie's life expectancy? She's always been very healthy, although she has a slight heart murmur that has not worsened in the last couple of years. She was not spayed. We've kept her weight at a pretty good level, in the high 40s, sometimes as high as 52 pounds. Again, she's a big girl -- she's always been bigger than Shadow.

I hope you and Drenda continue to be well -- the picture of your grandson on the home page is priceless. We have certainly been blessed over the years, and Maggie's been a very important member of the family. Steph and I are so
pleased to have found her. She's literally been a member of the family -- I tell people that Steph bought Maggie as a ruse to get me to marry her for her dog.

Look forward to speaking with you soon.

JWH
J. Warren Henry
Dobson Communications
 

Dear Al and Drenda,

     Sorry that it has been so long without a status report. Molly is doing well. She was 33 1/2 pounds at 18 weeks so she is certainly  enjoying her food. She housebroke beautifully using the original shipping crate and gates to keep her in the kitchen. Her 3 or 4 mistakes  were our fault and she quickly achieved perfect control. Our vets and
 their staff all fuss over her. A minor problem with giardia cleared up in a week and she has been in excellent health.
     She is very intelligent and has adapted to our family schedule easily. She comes when called, sits on command, kennels willingly in her new full size crate and retrieves naturally. Her socialization is progressing well. She enjoys contact with other dogs and likes people.  She has been a bit nippy, but only in play or to get your attention.
     We go happy timing in the woods of a nearby state park 2 or 3 times a week. I am comfortable with her off lead since she checks back with me frequently and recalls well. She is comfortable in the water and splashes and plays in it. She has learned that she can swim by jumping into water over her head. No problem.
     I have been reasonably active on the Llewellin forum and posted several pictures of her. Perhaps you have seen them. She is beautiful.

 Thank you for our wonderful dog,
 Peter and Judy Christensen

Alfred

Boomer pointing a quail behind and then on top of the wood pile at 3 1/2 months.  Quail got away.

Playing with Boomer is the best way I can think of relax at the end of the day.  Great pup.

Erick

This is Lizzy's very first planted bird in the bird field at almost seven months. (just got home and got them loaded on here) I am just amazed with her!!! She pointed and let me walk all the way around her and take four pic's before jumping in. She is just bird crazy!!! I'm just letting her chase them right now after I step in and flush (firing off my blank pistol) or she flushes them, so I haven't shot a bird to retrieve yet but when I do I'll let you know. You sure did a great job in breeding with her. I remember you told me that your royacelle 4 was the most natural you'd seen before my purchase and I am just a very happy royacelle owner. 
THANKYOU AND DRENDA!!!!

Alfred

I thought I would give you an update on my puppy.  He is now 14 weeks old and is doing great.  He has been extremely easy to train.  I have two very smart Golden Retrievers, but I have to say, I think he is just as smart.  We sit down everyday to watch his dad on OLN and I think from these poses you might say he "favors his dad". 

Thanks again for all your help and advice, you have gained a loyal customer.  I'll be back for another one of these great dogs in the future.

Darrell Gillespie
Anthem, AZ

Thought you would like to know how she is doing... in short,,, fine.

Janet Gaddy

Hello Alfred,

I have enclosed two photos of one of your dogs. The first is the best point I was able to capture on film. He has had many a good looking point, I just have not been as good with the camera. The point is on a quail single after an immediately previous covey point, flush, shoot, retrieve and bag. This particular day was warm and windy. Not the ideal hunting conditions and it did not matter for your dog's performance.

The second is of a pheasant retrieve. One of the better photos of his retrieves as it is in a cut crop field.

I have influenced 9 others about your Llewellins. Four have come back and told me they have or showed me one of your dogs. The other five did not inform me of their decision. Feel free to continue to use me as a reference.
I do not oversell the dogs and provide as objective of an evaluation as possible. Nonetheless, my next dogs will come from you.

The one question that has set a trend is which strain is my dog from. The answer has been it does not matter as I did not choose a strain, I selected the breeder. However, the other answer and the one that is wanted is the dog  in the pictures and on the web site article is from your Dashing Drenett Bondhu, Irishking Bondhu Ashly line, litter 93-MM. Filed Dog Stud Book Registry # 1414849

Good Hunting, John Wenzel 
913-773-8110

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