Client Credits John For His Work With Ryman-Type English Setters, Reveals Genetic Problems with Other Breeders

Along with crediting John for his incredible work with Ryman-type English Setters, Mr. Gary Youngblood reveals on-going problems with genetics from other breeders..

Thumbnails for full-sized versions of Mr. Youngblood's letter, some of the accompanying documents and envelope with postmark and a screen shot from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) showing Setters West's foundation male, Pinecoble Fall Pride, was a litter mate of Mr. Youngblood's genetically defective pup appears below the typed text of the letter. Also included are thumbnails of documents from a second mailing from Mr. Youngblood early the following year ...

(Page 1)

G. Youngblood
Route 5 Box 510
Appomattox, VA 24522
Aug. 25, 1996

John ----

Trust you are well and that you and your dogs are prospering. Have thought about you a number of times and been intending to drop you a note, but seems I'm pulled in too many directions. Noticed from Gun Dog that you and Maurice Ryman split. Sorry it didn't work out ---- what you started out to do was certainly a high calling. Regardless, we belton fanciers owe you a Big Thank You! for publicizing the Ryman: its dilemma, potential (and) origin. The Gun Dog feature opened a lot of eyes. I now see more attention being paid to OFA, conformation and size ----- you deserve full credit for these improvements.

I am enclosing a few pictures. Some I have shared with you earlier. Several of these dogs are now dead. Biggest mistake I have made in dog ownership is allowing good dogs to get old without producing any progeny, Ryman's Blue Girl is due tomorrow, but is not carrying pups -- afraid she's simply too old. John, I like this female better than any I have ever had. The particular nick that she is from: Ryman's Blue Return X

(Page 2)

Ryman's Orange Heather has produced some particularly strong hips. All of her litter mates were OFAed: 4 good, 1 fair, 1 excellent. At least four setter full brother/sisters were OFAed good. I do not know of any rejected. I may be wrong, but after studying pedigree after pedigree ---- I am beginning to believe it may be the Ryman's Bold Return connection with good hips. Blue Girl has 22 of 32 lines that trace to Bold Return, with a genetic contribution of 11 (161 over 256), well over 1/3 of her bloodlines. Ryman's Bold Return is a full brother to Ryman's Miss Blue, dam of Old Hemlock Briar. Bold Return and Miss Blue have seven lines to Sports Peerless ---- that may also be part of the equation.

Regardless ---- there is a strong hip connection for this full-blooded Ryman nick. I have collected and stored frozen semen from Blue Girl's brother, Patch, that may come in handy in the future.

Chris Taylor sent me some pictures of the beautiful orange belton Allegheny Flame that you bred from Mt. Allegheny Count X Eclipse Mist. Conformation-wise you out-did yourself on that one! She's a real beauty! If you ever repeat that breeding, I would be interested in a pup.

(Page 3)

"BO"

Have an 18-month old pup here from Warren Scheckells stock (Roam X Lady) that's a mixed bag. He has good instincts, a reasonably decent head ---- but boy is he high strung! He's a nephew to the Abby dog pictured in Grouse Tales (see photos) below me and Blue Girl. Sire is out of Joan Mizer's stock. Sheckell's is embarrassed because dog has only one testicle and asked that I not breed him because a litter mate also had one testicle, plus a hernia.

Worst complaint I have about the dog is the unpigmented eyelids and lips (Twombley connection). In fact this is one area that belton breeders need to pay a lot of attention to. Twenty years ago, I rarely saw unpigmented eyelids in Ryman-type dogs. Now they are everywhere ---- even in those with Ryman foundation stock ---- and no one is serious about cleaning it up -- just like hips 10 years ago! Trial type dogs have pink eyelids (and) lips ---- not beltons!!

John, I could use an orange belton female (pigmented eyes and lips) with good hips. Please keep me posted on your breeding plans and pup inventory. I know you have been maligned and criticized by some ---- but you have personally done more to resurrect the Ryman than anyone else, except George himself. For that, I sincerely thank you.

Keep in touch.

Best Regards,
Gary

P.S. I get up your way couple times a year.
Would love to stop by sometime and talk dogs for an hour or two.

NOTE: Mr. Youngblood returned to purchase his next English Setter from John.

Click on thumbnails below for full-sized photos of actual letter, some of the accompanying documents and envelope with postmark as well as screen shot from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) showing that Setters West's Pinecobles Fall Pride did indeed come from the same litter as Mr. Youngblood's genetically defective "Bo." Also included are thumbnails of documents from a second mailing from Mr. Youngblood early the following year ...

.

August Letter, click on thumbnails for full-sized version

Screen shot from OFA, click on thumbnails for full-sized version

Documents with Envelope and postmark sent early the

following year, click on thumbnails for full-sized version

To Top of Page

Client Reveals Warren Sheckells of Pine Coble Tells Him John is Out of Business

Click on thumbnails below text

of letter for full-sized versions

of letter from John Fasolo

.

It should be noted that the writer of this letter, Mr. John Fasolo, was "misinformed" by Warren Sheckells after Sheckells for some time had been wanting to breed with some of John's personal bloodline, and knew full well that John was not "out of business." Click on the thumbnails below the text of the letter for larger versions of this entire letter and envelope with postmark ...

(Page 1)

86 East Ridge Road
Warwick, NY 10090
March 11, 1996

Dear John,

Enclosed is a copy of pictures I made from photos sent to me by Warren Sheckells of Pine Coble Kennels.

Top photo Orange Belton is the male

Center Blue belton is the female

Bottom picture is a puppy from them. I believe she will be about 2 years old this April.

Center Blue Belton is the mother, in this picture she looks larger than she is. She is a smaller English Setter.

I also sent him a letter stating you are still breeding and selling English Setters and I was misinformed (by Warren Sheckells) about you not being in business anymore.

Very truly yours,

John J. Fasola

John, I am also including two pedigrees sent to me by Setters West of Lewistown, Montana. I would certainly appreciate your input of puppies coming out of this litter. She is going to breed these 2 dogs or try to breed shortly. If you have ...

(Page 2)

no extra puppies to sell this year I am considering buying one of the puppies. Will be in touch with you in a few days.

Thanks.

John J. Fasola

These two dogs they purchased from you.

NOTE: John Fasolo indeed returned to John for his next English Setter puppy. Click on thumbnails below for photos of actual letter and postmarked envelope ...

.

/>


To Top of Page

Setting the Record Straight ...

..

..

A work in progress, thank you for your patience ...

...

....

Click on image below for full-size version.

......

To Top of Page

The Confusing Correspondence and Subsequent Under-handeded Antics of Lee J. Stellrecht

By John Fetters
© 2010 Fetters Setters, all rights reserved
.......

In 1991, I was contacted by Gun Dog magazine requesting my cooperation for an article they wished to write about my setters and the history and heritage behind them. Prior to this time however, I had begun receiving what would ultimately amount to a sheaf of correspondence from Lee J. Stellrecht of Bliss, New York. (Click on image to the right for a larger version.)

Mr. Stellrecht had begun writing to me in an effort to breed his setter, Oldfield's Blue Breeze ("Breeze"), to one of my dams. However as I rarely breed outside my own bloodlines and kennel, and even then, only after I have personally observed a dog in the field in actual hunting conditons on wild birds, I never even hinted at cooperating with Mr. Stellrecht's intentions.

Time and again, I requested that Mr. Stellrecht send me photos of his dog in actual hunting situations in the field, however the only answer I received from Mr. Stellrecht was excuses as to why he could not send me said photos, including stating that he thought he had sent the photos to "someone else."

I did finally receive three photos from Mr. Stellrecht, all of them of his dog at the end of a chain with blaze orange reflector surveyor's tape hanging from the dog's collar ~ of course, not at all what I had requested and I immediately returned those photos to him by mail.

I also repeatedly invited Mr. Stellrecht to bring his dog and visit with me for a few days so we could take the dog out to hunt and I could personally observe the dog in the field under actual hunting conditions. But again, I received numerous excuses from Mr. Stellrecht as to why he could not come and visit, the last excuse in the December 1989 letter published below. Shortly afterward, however, Mr. Stellrecht told me that he and his dog would arrive at my place on the morning of New Year's Eve 1989, however after I waited up until 3 a.m. on New Year's Day, Mr. Stellrecht still had never shown up and had not called.

I did not hear from Mr. Stellrecht again until March of 1990, at which time he sent me a short note asking how I was doing and telling me he had never heard from me. I understandably did not return a letter to Mr. Stellrecht at that time and did not hear from him again.

Gun Dog magazine published their article about my dogs in the April/May 1991 issue as scheduled. After the article was published however ~ and unbeknownst to me a later time ~ Mr. Stellrecht wrote a letter to the editor of Pointing Dog Journal, claiming "controversy" over the article that had been written about my dogs in Gun Dog magazine ~ and telling them that they should publish an article about Ellen Calkins (whom Mr. Stellrecht called, "Mrs. English Setter").

Shortly after this letter from Mr. Stellrecht was received by Pointing Dog Journal, a mutual acquantaince of Mr. Stellrecht and mine gave me an actual copy of the letter Mr. Stellrecht had sent to the Pointing Dog Journal. The party who gave me this letter was a long-time hunting companion of mine and had inside access to the Pointing Dog Journal. He was aware of the lengthy correspondence to me that Mr. Stellrecht had previously engaged in and considered the letter Mr. Stellrecht wrote to the Pointing Dog Journal as a grossly under-handed attempt to undermine and discredit the Gun Dog magazine article about my setters.

Pointing Dog Journal subesquently published the article about Ellen Calkins entitled "Mrs. English Setter" ~ and the article in fact does NOT hold water and is based on blatant falsehoods as relayed by Ellen Calkins to writer Ryan Frame.

For instance, Ryan Frame writes that Ellen Calkins told him that George Ryman "destroyed" any and all setters with "body patches." While one can perhaps understand that Ryan Frame would not question anything told to him by Ellen Calkins, and did in fact tape the interview with her, this is just one small example of the misleading and false information contained in the Pointing Dog Journal article.

To verify this as a false statement, we have many pieces of correspondence, photos and film footage of and from George Ryman with his personal dogs, a number of which do indeed have body patches. Why Ellen Calkins would make this (and other) false statements as relayed by Ryan Frame is anyone's guess.

However we wholeheartedly and absolutely stand behind the April/May 1991 Gun Dog magazine article as written about our setters and the history and heritage behind them. To further verify the true facts in the matter, we will be publishing here on the "Fetters Setters ~ Testimonials" page actual corespondence received from Maurice H. and Jean Ryman ~ Maurice at the time, being George Ryman's only living son.

,...

It should also be noted here that in the letters published below, that while Mr. Stellrecht subsequently claimed in his letter to Pointing Dog Journal that he had known the Calkins since the early 1970s, that he wrote to me in 1989 that he believed the Ryman dogs no longer existed and had in fact, vanished. Mr. Stellrecht in fact, later befriended the Calkins and enlisted their help to establish his own "Bold Return Kennel" using the Calkins' bloodine. However by that time, Carl and Ellen Calkins had sold off their dogs, had no personal dogs of their own and so Mr. Stellrecht's efforts at establishing his own kennel came to naught.

.....

In the meantime however, below are some of the actual letters sent to me by Mr. Stellrecht along with the copy of the letter he subsequently sent to the editor of Pointing Dog Journal. Click on each image for a larger version ~ some letters are in multiple parts for ultimate legibility.

....

Below in four parts, letter sent to me dated May 8th, 1989.

.....

Below, in two parts, letter sent to me dated June 5th, 1989.
.....

Below, in two parts, letter sent to me dated July 15th, 1989.

Below, in three parts, letter sent to me dated August 3rd, 1989.

Below, letter sent to me dated October 14th, 1989.

Below, in two parts, letter sent to me dated December 18th, 1989.

Below, in three parts, letter sent by Lee Stellrecht
to Pointing Dog Journal dated October 28th, 1993.

To Top of Page

Testimonial and "Rumors of My Death" Attribution from Bryan Rennell

Shown above, Bryan Rennell's Fetters English Setter,

Ginger, at two-years of age

......

Bryan Rennell, formerly of Georgia and now residing in Texas, acquired Ginger from John at eight-weeks of age. Later he sent the above photo and the letter below.

....

John heard from Bryan again this past August (2009) when Bryan posted a comment on "The Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated ..." piece on our "Fetters English Setters ~ Classic Style English Setters ~ Home Page" in July 2009, and found (with Bryan's comment) by clicking here.

....

Interestingly enough, we had been hearing other first-hand reports for sometime that other breeders were spreading the rumor that John had died! We found this as amusing as we did disturbing ~ or as John has commented a number of times, "It's amazing what some people will say to sell a dog."

...

Below the following testimonial letter from Bryan Rennell, we have also placed images (and the actual text) of emails from Bryan verifying yet once again that indeed, some breeders will say anything to sell a dog.

....

As we have recounted earlier on other pages of the Fetters English Setter web site/blog, we have first-hand knowledge of where a number of these rumors have originated, which sadly include a number of breeders who knew and know better ~ and in fact, had contacted John numerous times in an attempt to obtain some of the Fetters English Setter bloodlines to add to their own genetically-struggling breeding programs ~ and whom John had repeatedly turned down as he did not care for the direction their breeding programs were going in.

....

Directly below, Bryan Rennell's testimonial letter to John about Ginger (below that, another photo and below that, the August and October 2009 emails John received from Bryan recounting the "death" rumors and the breeder who was helping to spread them):

....

"Dear John,

...

"Hope all is well in Sandy Ridge. I have tried to call several times, but couldn't catch you. Ginger is doing very well. I had trouble with her creeping last year, but she has quit. We have been finding several woodcock, and I plan on going on a couple of preserve quail hunts before March.

....

"I am wanting to breed Ginger in the next year. I had her hips x-rayed and she was given an OFA Excellent rating. This is a true testament to your quality breeding program. I was hoping you could help me find a suitable stud for her. I would like to keep one male puppy, and hope it would be a Blue Belton. I would also like to try and improve on Ginger's desire to retrieve.

....

"How was your hunting this year? I understand that your area is still on the high side of the grouse cycle. There are so few birds here, I have all but given up on them. The tree loggers have stopped logging in the National Forest, so the habitat is poor. Maybe I could come up there for a couple of days next season.

....

"Any help on finding a good stud dog would be most appreciated. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

....

"Best Regards, Bryan

....

"P.S. All of my contact info is the same."

....

Shown above: letter and photo sent to John

by Bryan Rennell when his Fetters English Setter

Ginger was two-years of age

.........

Below are the text and actual images of two emails received by John from Bryan Rennell in August and October of 2009 in which Bryan confirms that he had indeed been told John was "dead" ~ and told that by breeder Jan Turner of Setter Hills in Willmar, Minnesota ~ who also had attempted numerous times to purchase English Setters from John to introduce the Fetters Setters bloodlines into her breeding program ~ and whom John had turned down repeatedly:

......

Aug 28 2009 / 19:03:54

,,,,,,,

"John,

"I left a comment on one of your posts, but just found this email contact page while reading. This is Bryan Rennell formally from Gainesville, GA. I purchased a great orange belton female from you named Ginger out of Darby Wind'em & Allegheny Shell. I too had heard the rumors that you had died. It is great to see that you are still alive and kicking! I was in the market for a new pup a couple of years ago and ended up with a male from another breeder. I wish I knew you were still active in breeding. Looks like I have a lot of reading to do on your site. The information is great! I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully I can have the pleasure of obtaining another one of your wonderful dogs.

"Best regards,

....

"Bryan"

.....

Shown above, image of actual email

received by John from Bryan Rennell

in August 2009 recounting that Bryan

had heard the rumors John "had died."

~ Click on image for larger version ~

Below is the text and image of the actual

email where Bryan recounts the breeder

who passed this malicious rumor to him

was none other than Jan Turner of

Setter Hills in Willmar, Minnesota

........

From: Bryan Rennell
To: Fetters Setters
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 10:39 AM
Subject: RE: Rumors!

......

"Thanks for the reply John. My male setter came from Jan Turner at Setter Hills. He has some Pinecoble, October, Alder Run and Fetter’s Allegheny Buck. He is a pretty good dog but doesn’t seem to have the drive Ginger has. He is just going into his 3rd season, so we shall see how he shapes up this year. I think I heard the rumor of your demise from Jan Turner. She had heard it from somewhere, but never did say.

"Glad to hear you have some young pups coming up. I assume they are of your breeding. Please stay in touch and I will be checking your website.

"Best regards,

"Bryan Rennell, LEED®AP, QCxP
"Associate"

~ Click on image below for larger version ~

........

To Top of Page

Testimonial: Ryman's Allegheny Gold

Shown above, Ryman's Allegheny Gold

pointing Wild Quail in Kansas at 16-months of age

,,,,,

William B. Kent of Topeka, Kansas, acquired Ryman's Allegheny Gold from John at eight weeks of age. Later, he sent John the above and below photos along with the following letter:

....

"You mentioned before that you were training a Ryman male for an individual in Kansas. If that dog has proven worthy, I might be interested in breeding my female (Ryman's Allegheny Gold) to him.

....

"Goldie is everything I expect in a bird dog and more. I'm enclosing a couple of pictures and as you can see, she is quite attractive and a real bird dog already (at 16-months of age).

....

"I would appreciate any information about the male, his owner with an address if possible.

...

"Feel free to use Goldie's pictures in your advertising program should you wish.

....

"Thanks for everything, Bill Kent"

...

Shown above, Ryman's Allegheny Gold,

honoring point at 16-months of age

..........

Shown above, letter and photos received by John

from William B. Kent of Topeka, Kansas,

Owner of Ryman's Allegheny Gold ("Goldie")

.....

To Top of Page

Living the Dream, "the Upland Shooting Life ..."

Mr. Baldridge contacted John through a mutual hunting companion

after hearing so many favorable word-of-mouth accounts about

hunting with John over the Fetters Setters. The photo above was

taken during one of their many grouse and woodcock hunts.

.

The following letter was sent to John by Mr. Christopher Baldridge after a number of return visits to hunt grouse and woodcock with John:

"In this day of decreasing game, increasing posted land and hard economic times, 'the upland shooting life' has become something that most of us only get to read about and dream of; very few of us have the good fortune to actually live in it.

"John Fetters is a man who lives this dream. To hunt with John is like turning back the calendar where you have the opportunity to shoot over beautiful, well-mannered gun dogs in coverts where the birds are plentiful and wild.

.

"It has been my experience in hunting with John that one may move as many as 30 grouse a day, not to mention the wonderful woodcock shooting, and yes, this is a realistic figure.

.

"John also maintains a fine kennel operation of English Setters in the George Ryman tradition. Because of John's knowledge and careful study of bloodlines and strict breeding practices, he is able to produce a true pure Ryman setter, a dog whose easy manner, good disposition and intelligence make them an ideal shooting companion.

.

"To watch these dogs move through the coverts like phantoms hunting in a bold and stylish manner is an experience in itself. To walk up behind one staunchly standing with his head high as he breathes in the fragrance of ruffed grouse is a memory that will last a lifetime. John himself seems to possess a second sense about grouse and their habitat that comes from a lifetime of hunting and observation.

.

"John Fetters is an excellent guide and conscientious sportsman. I am proud to call him my friend."

.

Christopher L. Baldridge

Glen Allen, VA

.

To Top of Page