9/11/08
Hi Bill,
(Minnesota) Fats potty trained himself in 2 days, he goes in his kennel at bed-time. Mike saved 8 pheasant wings last fall. He takes them and hides them in a small field by our house. Fats found all 8 of them in just a few minutes. Mike keeps the wings in the freezer in the shed, when Mike gets home from work, Fats runs & stands by the shed door. If Mike goes in the shed, Fats gets in front of the freezer. Emily & Mike are working on quartering training with Fats and that is going really well. He quarters back & forth finding wings that Emily & Mike hide, he tried to eat the wings for awhile but now he brings them to Mike when he finds one or when they use them for retrieving. It's so fun watching him retrieve, we have a big swamp out behind our house & Mike will stand on the lawn & throw a dummy into the tall canary grass. Fats will run across the lawn & launch himself into the tall grass. Mike's been training him in some pretty rough country canary grass willow swamps, thick brush, you name it & the little guy will find the wings or retrieve the dummy every time. He doesn't give up.

We shot over him with blanks, that's another story. We started out shooting as the dummy was thrown, and then we shot & threw the dummy after the shot. Then Mike told me to shoot but he didn't throw the dummy, just told Fat's to go find the bird. Fat's ran into the swamp so Mike just threw it in the swamp & of course, Fats found it.

He just lays around the house or yard but when Mike starts training, it's like you flipped a switch he's all business, he gets a totally different look on his face. We never dreamt that he would be so smart & everybody he meets instantly falls in love with him.

Thank you so much Bill for the wonderful dog, oh I won't lie, we lost a few pairs of shoes & some video cords, but he was well worth it!

Sincerely,
Mike & Marie
I'll try to remember to get those pictures sent; my only regret is that I didn't take more when we first got him!

Hi Bill,
It's January 17th, 2009 and hunting season was over on the fourth. I thought I would give you some recap on my very productive and enjoyable season because of the fine dog I received from you. Every time the shotgun comes out and the orange clothes go on he sits by the door and trembles with excitement. When we get in the truck I can't keep the windows defrosted because he is breathing so hard. We started out hunting grouse in September and had good success even though other area grouse hunters said there didn't seem to be any grouse. Fats had no problem finding and flushing grouse every time we went out at the age of 5 months. He worked the grouse cover like he was a seasoned veteran. Things really picked up when the woodcock moved into the area and that was a lot of fun until he started to catch them. I told Fats that I'd really like to shoot the woodcock, but he just would catch them and bring them to me. On November 1st at the age of six months Fats made his first trip to South Dakota. We had harvested a few birds around home already, so he knew what we were after. When we got out there he was the only dog with five guys and by the end of the day he was a professional pheasant dog. Needless to say being the only guy with a dog, I shot ten out of the fifteen birds. I only hunted the one day and went home. Fats was tired he hunted hard the whole day without slowing down, so I didn't think it was a good idea to hunt him for two days. He hunted every weekend until December 11th when I got laid-off for the season. Then we hunted every day except two days until January 4th. The two days off came after the second trip to South Dakota on December 27th. Another one day trip we left at 4 am and returned home at 12 am, that evening, we hunted from 10 until 4 that day and Fats was wiped out. He hunts so hard and doesn't stop, so I have to be careful with him. The last week of the season was the funniest for both of us. We hunted hard in the two plus feet of snow and harvested 32 birds. Fats caught five hens and a rooster. I can't believe how well this little puppy can get though this snow. We were beside ourselves when we couldn't hunt anymore. Then on Monday we went for a walk in the woods. Fats flushed three grouse and three rabbits. Fats got mad and barked at me because I couldn't and didn't shoot them. Rabbit season is open until February. I've never rabbit hunted before, but maybe I might have to start.
Mike Neuman
Becker, MN
Stay warm Hey Bill,
I just wanted to let you know that KJ (AKA-Miss Wisconsin) is doing great. She had an amazing year as a hunter and a companion for such a young puppy. She is amazingly well behaved, listens well, was quickly house-trained and has a great instinct to trail birds. She's funny when she flushes a grouse she gets so excited she screams at it. I sent some pictures of her....as you can see she is spoiled rotten. She's a great buddy and goes everywhere with me. I need to work with her on retrieving though. She flushes the birds great but after I shoot them she runs to them and likes to lick them. Now this is actually kind of funny to see but I have to correct it so she can finish the job. I have some frozen birds and wings to attach to the retrieving dummy so hopefully working with that in conjunction with a starter pistol will help. If you have any suggestions to help with this I'd appreciate any tips you may have also. I hope all is well with you and the family.

Best wishes,
12/6/08
Chris Morrone Hello,
Here with an update on Kassie. Kassie now weights 18 lbs. She is growing like a weed. Kassie has a nickname; I call her “Weetie”, short for sweetie. We are so happy with the joy she has brought to our family. She loves to carry things, as you had said when she was a puppy. Kassie found a box of 300 puff tissues and tore them into at least a thousand pieces throughout the living room and hallway it was quite the site to see. She thought it was fun! Rod has been working with her for pheasant hunting and she is doing excellent. Kassie is definitely my dog now but Rod thinks she will be his dog after hunting her; she loves it when he works with her. Everyday Kassie looks more and more like Duke and she definitely has his demeanor. Her favorite place to sleep is on the desk chair. As I type this, I am sharing the desk chair with her. How are Duke, Betty, Brandy and Sage?

Take care
Penny

10/3/08
Bill

What can we say about Kassie. We were looking for a combination hunting and family dog. Kassie has fit the bill wonderfully. She is eager to learn and potty trained very easily. She is retrieving well during training and it seems like she is showing off as she returns a dummy bird. She is also very energetic when quartering and searching. I have not trained a dog before, but Kassie has met all my expatiations. I am looking forward to trying for some birds in a couple weeks. Betty's big puppy is about twenty pounds now and the pictures are current as of tonight. As you can see she is beautifully ticked. We always get compliments on how she looks when we are about with her. We also can see a lot of Duke and Betty in her. In retrospect I think we can say thanks for the opportunity to buy Kassie. Anyone privileged enough to get one of your puppies should consider themselves lucky.

Rodney and Penny
10/4/08 Hi Bill-
It is always great to get your emails! Fenway is still doing agility classes, but we are not competing yet mostly because we still seem to be slowing her down and she can't keep her nose off the ground. She is something of a sniffer! We always joke that if we didn't know better we would think she is part beagle! Our other class mates are always amazed that she can be nose to the ground and still clear her jump without any difficulty. We plan on doing more show and goes (they are practice competitions), but we have wanted the weather to break a bit- but last weekend was 100 so we are still waiting for that. A few months back we switched to my fiancé being her primary trainer in agility class. This tactic has seemed to have worked and we are confusing her much less (to be honest I was bringing the team down- I would say tunnel when I meant jump etc...I was a complete mess)

I don't know if I mentioned in my previous emails but we took Fenway to the beach a few times this year. She is warming up to the swimming, mostly to play chase to her favorite tennis ball, stick or any other item we throw in the water. I think the waves startle her a little bit, but she just loves running around back and fourth from the water to our beach towel and back (for what seems like 100's of times). It is the most adorable thing-she is sound asleep before we even leave the driveway to head back home.

I always check out your website, so I can't wait to see your updates. I'll send more photos soon and I'll ask the photographer for that photo of Fen for your website (the one of her jumping).

Take care, hope all is well.
-Nicole, Eric and Fenway

We got Fenway from Bill a little over a year and a half ago. At first I was a bit nervous buying from a breeder that I hadn't met yet, but Bill quickly quashed any reservations we had. His knowledge and love of his pups was obvious from our first call (he got on the floor to play with our little lady) and I instantly knew his dogs were raised in a loving home. He put us in touch with a previous buyer who happened to live in our area of California, and he confirmed the Schaller's to be great people who had amazing dogs. Fenway has been an absolute dream. She is smart, alert and agile. We do agility with her and she constantly amazes us by the speed in which she picks up commands. In fact we feel we are holding her back from doing agility at a competitive level, as she seems to be picking it up faster than us. She is playful, loves to be with people and to please. Beyond this, she is an easy going dog and enjoys relaxing around the house. With her bright expression, intense awareness to the world around her, and merry nature Fenway is a great cocker and wonderful companion.

This has been a great experience and we would do it all again in a heartbeat.
Nicole & Eric, Sherman Oaks, CA 10/4/08
Miley Rose, that is our English field bred Cocker Spaniel from Bill Schaller, of Schaller's English Cockers - not only were we fortunate enough to get Miley, but we also had the help and expertise from Bill in Miley's training. At nearly two years old, Miley has become a valued hunting dog and member of our family. After owning Labs and English Springers for 20 years, this is the first hunting dogs that demands to work on her skills each day. In short, our field bred English Cocker Spaniel, Miley is a superb hunting and family dog. My family and I highly recommend Schaller's English Cockers and Bill Schaller as a breeder and trainer.

Travis Richardson and Family

Travis is the 10 year Host and Producer of the Fishing Guide TV show and 20 year professional fishing guide in Madison, Wisconsin Bill,
Tanner is wonderful. I took him out the last week of Dec. (I know he was too young, but there were so many birds). Tanner found his first rooster in two minutes and found 50 more that day. I lost him in 320 acres for awhile because there were so many birds and he got out ahead but I found him thank god! Do you think I should go for a shock collar; he is so sweet I hate to do that? Tanner has not been neutered and is next to me every minute I am home. My retirement date is May 1st. Tanner is the smartest dog we have ever had.

Thanks
Rick Bill,
The pups are doing great. Both are spoiled rotten and loving it. They are crazy about retrieving. They play fetch non-stop. Duchess was out yesterday for a training session and she did awesome. She is sitting on both command and whistle. She worked some quail like she has been doing it for years. One quail was running on her and she tracked to a bush and got right in there and flushed it out. She marked it and went and put it up again.

Buddy (Baron) is the same way. He is with use for a few weeks while Bill and his wife are out of town. So he is going to get started on his training.

By breeding their parents you are make the English Cocker breed a better one. Be sure to let me know if you breed again. I will keep you posted on there progress. Paul is taking Duchess to the vet this week. I will let you know.

Thank you,
Tonia
6/19/05

Bill,

Both of the pups are great. Duchess had around a 800 birds shot over this past dove and quail season. She hunted pheasant, chucker and quail, flushed and retrieved everything without fail. They both work with pointing dogs. They point and she/he flushed and retrieved. Buddy also had a lot of birds shot over him. He is a great dove pheasant and quail dog. They both have wonderful temperaments and they both are family dogs.

I will let people know about your next litter.
Tonia

4/5/06

Note: Tonia is a professional trainer / guide living in Texas. 1/5/2010
Hello Bill,

Hope you had a wonderful holiday period. I imagine that you are counting days till retirement, if you are not using vacation time yet. Hope you are staying warm. Rex had a great Christmas we went for a trip down south into southern Missouri. When we left Iowa it was teens to twenties and in MO it was 50's and 60's till about Christmas we got a dusting of snow. We went out twice for chucker and quail on the family farm. It was a blast and he did a better job than me. (The lead tip helped to keep him in close, thank you). My dad was very impressed with how well Rex hunted as young as Rex was. We hunted on my birthday the day after Christmas and boy he did the best job. We had three dogs out which kind of worried me because I had never hunted with one of the dogs and did not know how Rex would handle it. He handled it great and showed the other two up. Rex flushed almost all the birds up and was phenomenal. We bagged 29 out of 35 chucker between the 6 of us. Our shooting was more disappointing than anything else. We did split the hunt into two, two hour hunts. With about a 2.5 hour break for lunch and to let the dogs rest. It was great to show off my Rex to my dad and he was very impressed.

Pheasant season is winding down here in Iowa we have till the 10th. The temps are almost too cold to take Rex out to go to the bathroom let alone hunt. But he loves the snow and loves to run and jump into the drifts around the area, like a little kid in the snow.

Hope everything is going good for you and your family. Take care.

Sincerely,
Aaron Price

Aaron got Rex as a hunt trained started puppy on Nov 13^th 2009. He was just 5 months old. Rex is 6 months old in this story. Yes I am retired now. Bill