Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

Dave, that is because you haven't seen Tom Tom yet. Jason, I bet the Chicago airport is like another planet. I was in downtown Chicago one summer several years back and it was like being in another country. I saw some strange sights. Wendall, I believe that Moose has plenty of character already and Buck is quite a character also. I don't know if we could stand Buck if he was any more of a character. Have you heard the story of when he left Poor Pastor Mike wandering around chasing dogs in the Boy Scout Camp all night

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Registered: Oct 2004
Location: Hardy,VA
Posts: 736

When Buck is along you don't need any entertainment. He is the best truck man east of Chicago. He may have let Mike wander but he did pick him up, that's all that matters. Can't wait to see the Moose go. If Buck can't get'er Done I will be there to back him up.

You are right Richard..... quite a show with all the folks rolling by here in the airport...... Ain't like home that's for shure.

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Smith Mountain Lake Redbones

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

We had another good night of hunting and outstanding dog work. Mike and Buck just took off to Eau Claire to pick up Jason so it won't be long before he gets to join the crew. We're expecting Scott some time later today and then we'll be hitting the woods again tonight.

Last night it was blowing hard and drizzling with some snow flakes mixed in for good measure but it went good. We had 5 tracks and bagged 3 big coons with one track ending in a barn and another in a GIGANTIC grub pile...that was a real treat trying to get the dogs out from under.

We'll have pictures and if I can figure this out...maybe even some short video

Buck is enjoying the process and his smile is getting broader with every track and tree...I think he's looking forward to some interesting times and maybe to some help now and then from good friends...eh?

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Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

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Registered: Feb 2008
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 1182

Sounds like you guys are having a great time and some good luck to boot. There aint nothing like it, time spent with good friends.
Jason and I are going to get to spent some time together for the next couple days. We hope to finish or tests these next couple nights and see just what we have our hands on.The future is looking pirty darn good for Team Deuce.

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Registered: Oct 2010
Location: Christiansburg,VA
Posts: 6289

I have never heard the story about the boy scout camp I guess I am behind time

Buck we need a night about 10 degrees a light wind and a moon light night and me you and Moose will head to purgatory

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

Where is everyone? Did Jason, the Pro handler, keep y'all out too late last night? I stayed home and built a fire last night. It got down to 30 degrees here.

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Registered: Jul 2004
Location: WI
Posts: 72

Wait until you here this story, KR! Pastor Mike was multi tasking last night. It was another late night of success

I believe Jason enjoyed his short stay here. A lot of hunting done in 2 nights. I do not know what happened to the camera/video guy. He did not get the job done while I was guiding the Cartel on Montana Ridge of Buffalo county. He must have fell asleep at the keyboard

We definitely enjoy the company of the Virginia Cartel every year. Thanks for coming and have a safe ride back.

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Registered: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 462

Mike/Buck, you guys need to stop in here one of these times you go up to Tom's. You go right by my house. I don't have the fame, fortune, and dog power of Tom & you guys but the hunting is as good or better (definetely flatter). With my mediocre dogs, the coon population is good too! Our season opens 11/5. I am anxious to see if I can tree at least a couple this year.

Jason, I worked in Chicago the last year and a half. Across the street from Midway Airport. It is absolutely a different breed. I did live trap a coon or 2 though!

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Chad Cartwright
Indian Creek Kennels
Home of:

CH.GR.NT.CH Indian Creek Red Chaos (CH.GR.NT.CH Woody X GR.NT.CH Trip)

CH.NT.CH. Indian Creek Misfit Molly
(GR.NT.CH. Dudley Do Right X NT.CH. Samantha) Cast Winner 2020 Winter Classic & 2021 ARD

PR' Indian Creek Red Queen
(GR.NT.CH.Pistol X NT.CH. Rhonda) 2021 PKC Breed Top 16

NT.CH. Indian Creek Crazy Lady
(GR.NT.CH.Buck X GR.NT.CH. Wendy)

Past Home of:

GR NT CH PKC CH Rocker's Mississippi Dew (GRNTCH Rocker X DUAL GR Missi)


2007 NRD Winner NT.CH. Moonlight Wizard (NT.CH. Doc X DUAL GR Pepper Ann)

GR.CH.GR.NT.CH. S&R's Treein Red Miss Ruby (CHGRNTCH Red Cedar X CHGRNTCH IPOD)

GR NT CH Branch River Ice Age Rage
(DUAL GR Rabble Rouser x GRNTCH Paige)

GR NT CH Hoss' Ponderosa Hooker

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Registered: Oct 2008
Location: Rocky Mount, NC
Posts: 293

What could be better, waittng for a T-Top 7 month old pup started by Tom coming to your kennel. I know that you will miss him Tom, but I hope Buck dosen't try to keep him. I(Moe) think he will like this old flat land and swamps.


Browntown's T-Top Big Moe is headed to NC very soon'

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

The action has been fast and furious...to the point where I couldn't keep up

I've got some video but I have to edit it down to manageable size for uploading so it's going to take a bit yet.

I got some good pictures in summary and a few to catch up on.

Moose and Frog Dog have the same tree style...

Frog has the devil in her eyes...


Nice shot of Yank...


Thursday night's harvest...


Jason, Mike and Buck with the last coon on Thursday night...weighed in at 30 pounds right on the head...


Mike, Buck, Jason and Dave with Yank, Frog Dog, Zoe and Moose...


Dave, Mike, me and Buck with the same dogs...


Look out Virginia...this is a pair to have to deal with...


Mike held up Friday night's hunt...but with good reason...eh?


We did some pup training yesterday afternoon with the 3 Moose and Leinie males, the Yank and Angel male and the Ace and Cherry male...The older pups out of Moose and Yank are ready for the woods...they graduated this stage of training as of yesterday. They did a great job of tracking, locating and treeing and Gun was right with them start to finish.

We got some real good video of the action but...I have to edit it down to a size that can be uploaded and viewed in a reasonable amount of time...I'm working on it.

This last week was great, I enjoyed it to the max. We had a little bit of everything from easy runs to very tough runs that you would have thought was a deer chase but the dogs treed them and in style. On three of those long races, the coons treed were 26, 28 and 30 pounds and they caught a bobtail on the ground that weighed in at 27 pounds. The 30 pounder was treed Thursday night the on the last drop. They struck him off a corn field and raced almost out of hearing over the ridge. I was already making up my mind that I wasn't going to make that tree when the dogs came back into hearing and then came back down the ridge almost to where they started. They slammed up treed but then shut up for a minute and then came treed hard again. It turned out being a bean pole tree leaned up against a big oak with some down trees around it that threw the dogs for just a minute...but not for long...what a great sound it was listening to them come on it like that...

We hunted Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights and harvested 21 coons and left another 8 sitting in the trees. We also made 3 den trees and a big bull doze pile that was a real mess trying to get the dogs out of but...that's coon hunting...eh?

They wanted to make last night an early night so they went out but were home by midnight with 4 more nice coon...what a week...As you can see, they had some tracking to do when they got home and found it as you can see by the picture above.

Moe and Cloud are heading to Ohio and NC and another nice Moose and Leinie male is going home to Virginia...these pups are going to all make coon dogs.

Training on the next batch starts this week...watch for Slim and Gun in the near future.

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Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Here's a snippet of video showing some of the pup training we did yesterday. These pups are nice and will be something to watch for.

I'm better at it now than I was so future and I'm looking forward to adding the sights and sounds that pictures leave only to the imagination.


These pups are 3 males from Moose and Leinie, one male from Yank and Angel and the little guy in the green collar is Gun, from Ace and Cherry.

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Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

Oh my goodness, what a crew. Those are some magazine photos for sure. That one coon is bigger than Pastor Mike! Did you send me a surprise? I guess that Jason got it. I am so jealous. Oh well, I quess that I will have to make my own. I wonder what a Hard To Beat Moose pup or an In It To Win It Moose pup or a Mello Moose pup would be like? The wheels are turning. My wife asked me what in the world I was thinking about last night. She said smoke was coming out of my ears. I know that Buck is floating on air now. He will have to get a bigger truck to fit his head in. He only has 2 months to get Da Moose ready for the swamps of South Carolina and South Georgia. Pleasure hunting is over for him now, the pressure is on. He is about to learn what big time competition hunting is all about. Maybe Pro handler Jason has given him some tips on that long ride home.

Last edited by Richard Lambert on 10-31-2010 at 04:07 PM

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

When the guys get back home, ask them how it went and how the dogs hunted, struck, tracked and treed. It's hard to describe to folks how it goes without having some kind of base of experience to fall back on so we do the best we can in photos and now, video, so we can share the experiences as close to how it happens as we possibly can.

This is tough enough country to hunt in and the dogs work for the coons they tree. Sometimes it goes good and it's an easy walk to get to them and other times, it's not so easy and a lot of steep climbing and long distances covered.

Moose is for real folks, he's got the goods as far as how he is himself and it's looking like pups out of him will have some fire also. The pups in the other video are from a half brother/half sister cross, which is a staple of our breeding program but he is wound up with some very good breeding top and bottom, with coon dogs coming down from every direction. It takes the right combination of blood to produce a hound that can reproduce and we believe Moose and Yank have it right as do many of the other young hounds directly out of ol' Rabble Rouser.

This is another short video of the dogs from Wednesday night when it was windy as heck and drizzling rain...The dogs are Yank, Moose, Frog Dog and Zoe...


I'll get better at taking these videos as we go through this season, I found a real neat little tool to help us document our hunts and other activities. We have a new crop of pups now in training and we expect them to come along fast and that they'll show us more of the good stuff we're used to seeing...stay tuned.

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Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

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Registered: Sep 2004
Location: Dublin, VIRGINIA
Posts: 2377

Back in Virginia,,,, A big thanks to Tom, Char, and Dave we had a blast !!!!! I will be in touch along the way.

Robbie here are a few pictures of Moe & Ron.

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DARK TIMBER REDBONES

Cecil "Buck" Ratliff

Dublin, Virginia
(540) 641-1623

CLICK HERE TO EMAIL ME

Click Here To Visit Web Site


Home of:

GRNITECH GRCH T-TOP DARK TIMBER MOOSE.....CO-OWNER Tom Solberg
GRNITCH L'S DARK TIMBER WENDY.....CO-OWNER Richard Lambert
NITECH GRCH DARK TIMBER RED ANGUS <AKA> DA BULL CO OWNER Jeremy Erho
'PR' SOGGY BOTTOM DARK TMBER ADDY CO-OWNER Pastor MIke
'PR' RATLIFF'S DARK TIMBER BO

R.I.P
GRNITECH GRCH RATLIFF'S OUTLAW DIXIE
GRNITECH GRCH PKC Bronze Ch RATLIFF'S OUTLAW PL RED PENNY
GRNITECH CH SOGGY BOTTOM RAZOR'S LIVE WIRE (DAISY)
GRNITECH GRCH PKC Bronze Ch LONG TALL SALLY
NITECH RATLIFF'S T-TOP DARK TIMBER SPOOK
NITECH CH RATLIFF'S DARK TIMBER HERNIE



A Proud Member of The Virginia Cartel and Virginia Coalition for Procyon Lotor Management & Control

The Few, the Proud, the Graduates of Raven's School of Shooting

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Registered: Mar 2009
Location: Iowa
Posts: 52

I just picked up a pup 7mo old out of yank & angel was wondering if you could post a ped on this pup.Thanks Al Dancer

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Hey Buck, I'm glad to see you made it home in good shape. I hope everything went well from start to finish on the road.

You can see why I call those two pups "the twins". They are very similar in body structure and overall look. They are out of Moose and Leinie and take a bit more after Leinie right now with how they are built...they'll be long and lean.

Hey Al...the bigger, darker pup in the video above, with the bluish green collar is a mate to the pup that you just picked up.

*****************************Gr. Nt. Ch. PR T-Top Tree Talkin' Red Rat
**********************Dual Gr. Ch PR T-Top Rabble Rouser
*****************************Dual Gr. Ch. PR T-Top Rock-N-Red Raven
***********Nt. Ch. PR T-Top Northwood's Yankee (SIRE)
*****************************Gr. Nt. Ch. PR T-Top Tree Talkin' Red Rat
**********************PR River Bottom Spice
*****************************Gr. Ch. PR Red Lightning Laura
PUP
**************************Gr. Nt. Ch. PR Hoffmeister's Rusty Red
**********************Gr. Nt. Ch. PR Hoffmeister's Bomber
***************************Nt. Ch PR Hoffmeister's Little Sis
***********Nt. Ch. Ch. PR T-Top Dark Angel (DAM)
***************************Nt. Ch. PR Webster's Red Dan
**********************PR Fifer's Ain't Stoppin' Annie
***************************PR Claudies Red Hot Molly

This is a real nice cross, I wish we could have made it a few more times. I really like the pups out of the Yank and Angel cross and there are several more around the country that will track and tree their own coons from that first litter. I'm glad you got him Al, give him a fightin' chance and you'll have yourself a nice hound.

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Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Radford, Virginia
Posts: 2748

Well, we finally made it home around 4pm yesterday and Jason got home around 5:45 or so.

The trip was awesome. Thanks to Tom, Dave and Char for their hospitality and putting up with us for the whole week. The hunting was great even though it got a little windy at times .

We were thrilled to have Jason be able to fly up for the last two nights of hunting. The "Turdy" pounder gave a great chase and it was neat to hear him coming down the ridge in front of the dogs and then hit a tree. Great stuff!!!

Frog and Zoe came back home different dogs I believe. After a few nights rest, I'll begin to take Frog solo and see what we can get done. Our deer season is in full swing here in Virginia so we have to be careful where and when we drop the dogs, especially Moose.

Thanks again guys for a great week, it's one I will always remember. I hope that we are able to make it again next year.

thanks Chad. We'll have to see what we can do.

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Soggy Bottom Redbones


GRNTCH GRCH 'PR' Soggy Bottom The Frog Dawg (current reproducers list)
NTCH CH Soggy Bottom The Bull Dawg
Soggy Bottom T-Top Miss Dottie
RIP
GRNTCH GRCH Soggy Bottom T-Top Haze HTX (Former#1 Reproducer)
CH Soggy Bottom T-Top Stella
GRNTCH GRCH Soggy Bottom T-Top Shadow
NTCH CH Soggy Bottom Bomber's Red Wire (Pigeon- former #1 Reproducer)
NTCH GRCH Red Cedar T-Top Lexus
CH Soggy Bottom T-Top Locket


Mike Laster
540-392-2441
pastorlaster@aol.com

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

Pastor Mike, that is a nice deer that you got Fri night. It is amazing what you will see while coon hunting. I saw a real nice 10 pointer one night while we were in Wisconsin but he took off before I could get out of the truck. Were you in the woods when you got yours or did you just shoot him out of the truck? I guess that you got your diploma from Raven's school of shooting this year?

Last edited by Richard Lambert on 11-01-2010 at 03:20 PM

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Radford, Virginia
Posts: 2748

Now Richard.......you know I wouldn't do anything like that. We did see some nice deer though while going from spot to spot. We had one that just paralleled us for about 200 yards. He was only 25 yards from us most of the time, was never scared at all.

It was a good week, but Buck and Jason have laid down the law on me for next year......"no more deer hunting the evening before we leave!"

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Soggy Bottom Redbones


GRNTCH GRCH 'PR' Soggy Bottom The Frog Dawg (current reproducers list)
NTCH CH Soggy Bottom The Bull Dawg
Soggy Bottom T-Top Miss Dottie
RIP
GRNTCH GRCH Soggy Bottom T-Top Haze HTX (Former#1 Reproducer)
CH Soggy Bottom T-Top Stella
GRNTCH GRCH Soggy Bottom T-Top Shadow
NTCH CH Soggy Bottom Bomber's Red Wire (Pigeon- former #1 Reproducer)
NTCH GRCH Red Cedar T-Top Lexus
CH Soggy Bottom T-Top Locket


Mike Laster
540-392-2441
pastorlaster@aol.com

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Registered: Oct 2004
Location: Hardy,VA
Posts: 736

Thanks Tom, Dave and Char for the unbelievable hospitality. I had a blast hunting the two nights I was there. The drive home is a bear.

The dogs all made the trip home in great shape without a word from anyone. The twins were a little sceptical about getting out for a walk but were in good spirits once they got out.

Thanks for making the trip one to remember for a long time. Tom if you get a chance would you check out in the hunting shed to see if my bright eyes charger is on the table beside the freezer? I couldn't find it at home, and it may be in Buck's boot.

Thanks for an incredible hunt!!!

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Smith Mountain Lake Redbones

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Registered: Sep 2004
Location: Dublin, VIRGINIA
Posts: 2377

Here is a few pictures from the last night of hunting at Tom's.

Zoe



Zoe, The Frog Dawg, and Leinie



Frog and Leinie



Leinie



I got this picture just before they made me put the camera down...hehehe.

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DARK TIMBER REDBONES

Cecil "Buck" Ratliff

Dublin, Virginia
(540) 641-1623

CLICK HERE TO EMAIL ME

Click Here To Visit Web Site


Home of:

GRNITECH GRCH T-TOP DARK TIMBER MOOSE.....CO-OWNER Tom Solberg
GRNITCH L'S DARK TIMBER WENDY.....CO-OWNER Richard Lambert
NITECH GRCH DARK TIMBER RED ANGUS <AKA> DA BULL CO OWNER Jeremy Erho
'PR' SOGGY BOTTOM DARK TMBER ADDY CO-OWNER Pastor MIke
'PR' RATLIFF'S DARK TIMBER BO

R.I.P
GRNITECH GRCH RATLIFF'S OUTLAW DIXIE
GRNITECH GRCH PKC Bronze Ch RATLIFF'S OUTLAW PL RED PENNY
GRNITECH CH SOGGY BOTTOM RAZOR'S LIVE WIRE (DAISY)
GRNITECH GRCH PKC Bronze Ch LONG TALL SALLY
NITECH RATLIFF'S T-TOP DARK TIMBER SPOOK
NITECH CH RATLIFF'S DARK TIMBER HERNIE



A Proud Member of The Virginia Cartel and Virginia Coalition for Procyon Lotor Management & Control

The Few, the Proud, the Graduates of Raven's School of Shooting

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

You guys are welcome here any time and it was great having you as our guests.

Jason, I'm glad it worked out for you to spend at least a couple of days with us and that we were able to get decent weather for those last couple of nights. It was good dog work and enjoyable action from start to finish although I know a couple of those hikes to the dogs were long and steep. It's not so bad when they pay off with the meat and we all know that if the dogs get the job done, we have to get to them one way or another.

Dave is back in the woods tonight and it will be Slim's first opportunity to get out in the dark with the big dogs so it should be interesting. I believe that if he can get them on a hot track up close to where he turns them loose, Slim will be on it and will be treed when it climbs. From what I can see of those pups, it won't take much more than a couple tracks and trees at night and they'll be crazy to go and get treed with what ever they get turned out with...and maybe alone in the not so distant future.

It was 23 degrees this morning and there sure is a feel of fall in the air and winter is just around the corner...we're hoping we can get some good nights right through the end of January this year and if we do, we'll make a lot of progress with these pups...

Stay tuned...

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Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

Those Rabble Grandpups just keep on keeping on.

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Don't leave us hangin' Richard...what happened?

Seems there's never a dull moment this time of year so...what's the rest of the story?

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Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

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Registered: Aug 2010
Location: London, Ky
Posts: 77

Tom, how hard do you think it'll be to get these pups started? 6 months old.....

Rebel and Judy

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