"Hope" - to cherish a desire with anticipation and expectation of fulfillment or success.

Full of hidden meaning, there is also much legacy in her name. HOPE was named after her grandfather's TV show "Hunting With Hank", but the "Hunting with HOPE" part of her name has even more meaning in itself... When we are hunting, we hunt with hope for a successful day, but we are also hunting with a dog named HOPE, so we are really "Hunting with HOPE" in two respects. HOPE is also an acronym for Hank's Offspring Produces Excellence.

Just for fun...
As a Noun

      For the hopefulness for a tri-chestnut female while anticipating Litter D.

      For the hope that our pheasant hunting trips will be successful.

As an acronym

   In honor of Hope's famous Grandsire:

      Honoring Of P.O.P.'s Excellence (POP = Prince of Pause)

      Honorary Ode to Pause Everlasting

      Highlights Of a Pause Experience

   Just for being a Gun Dog:

      Honoring On Point Everytime

      Holding Of Partridge Endlessly

      Homing On Pheasants Everywhere

Parentage - DNA

HOPE has been DNA tested to prove parentage. Her certification displays the Blue and Gold seal signifying "VIP" (Verifiable Identified Parentage) confirming both the sire and dam of the dog to be as stated in the pedigree and that she is 100% Llewellin Setter.

Hips - OFA

Rating = GOOD

OFA #: ES-8162G26F-VPI

HOPE has been certified free of canine hip dysplasia (CHD). Based upon the radiograph submitted to the OFA, the consensus was that no evidence of hip dysplasia was recognized. Only dogs that are certified free of hip dysplasia are given an OFA number.

As expected within the Llewellin Setter breed, HOPE has an outstanding nose and can easily home in on birds hunkered down in the field. She quarters well, has lots of bounding energy, and is a natural at honoring another dog's point. For a young dog, she has a good amount of stamina and has not had problems hunting for long periods of time.

Style on Point:  On a casual point, HOPE will hold her tail at around 9:00 and sometimes lower in the same manner of the Setters of olden days. But if she is on an intense, rock solid point, she will hold her tail much higher, like around 10:00.

Range: Close to mid-range

HOPE is a lot like her mother Duchess and takes on many of her endearing qualities.  She is a relatively quiet and gentle dog, loves attention and will lay her head on your lap to be petted. She has a happy spirit, greets you with enthusiasm and walks with a prance in her step. Unlike her mother, she is not a licker, her momma will lick you like you are sugar coated. Another welcome difference is that she is not a barker like her mother. She will bark out in the yard at deer, but she is not an obsessive barker at every little noise she hears. HOPE was a chewer as a puppy, we have shoes, remote controls and holey towels to prove it, but as she has matured, she has become much more trustworthy.

HOPE loves to go for car rides and is very well behaved in our vehicle. She is quiet, but alert and loves to look out the window at all the scenery on our journeys. She is well behaved, even when visiting the vet and does not seem to display any nervousness in those types of situations.

HOPE is truly a beautiful Llewellin, displaying all the desirable conformation characteristics of her heritage within the "Hank" bloodlines.

(reserved for photos)

Size: Average sized for a female at 45 pounds.

Color: Tri-Chestnut, predominantly white and moderately but evenly ticked in chestnut with orange points. Orange points are present as dots above the eyes, on cheeks and ticking on muzzle and legs. Ticking on lower legs is a mixture of chestnut and orange. Chestnut coloring is also sometimes called "Liver" in this breed and can be described as chocolate in color. 

Head: Very typical of "Hank" lines, beautifully proportioned and streamlined with parallel lines (top of head, top of muzzle, and bottom of lower jaw), and with a slightly longer muzzle. 

Eyes: Golden

Ears:  Set back on the head and at the level of the eye.

Tail: Also very typical of the "Hank" lines being slightly longer than other bloodlines with extremely thick hair and long feathering. Tail is held at about a 10:00 position when on solid point with the feathering waving in the wind like a flag.

Coat: Soft and silky, but thick and wavy with long feathering on ears, chest, legs and especially the tail.

Hope is a Tri-Chestnut dog (white/chestnut/orange), which is a rare color combination in the Llewellin. Her body is predominantly white, with chestnut patches and body ticking, tan points (cheek and brow coloring) and a combination of chestnut and orange ticking on her legs.

Hope has a perfectly symmetrical full-hood which means her head and ears are mostly chestnut. She has only one body patch on her right rear hind quarters which gives her body more of a belton-type look which is mostly ticking and is not broken up by lots of body patches. Her tail and feathering are white.

Henry PrinceOf Pause (aka Hank) - Sire owned by Dez Young of Oregon. "Hank" was from the show "Hunting with Hank" which has aired on the Outdoor Life Network and is Hope's paternal grandsire. (1994 - 2004)

Sillman's Hank Boy (aka Hank Jr.) - Sire owned by Dave Sillman of Big Rapids Michigan. "Hank Jr" is the son of "Hank" and is Hope's sire.

Duchess of Adena - Dam owned by Bob and Laura Whitlock of Hickory Hollow Llewellins. Duchess has produced pups with natural retrieving instincts as well as pups suited for work as therapy dogs and is Hope's dam.

no photo currently available

Dashing Iron Mike - Sire owned by Straight Creek Kennels in West Liberty, KY is Hope's maternal great-great-grandsire. Mike was the winner of the first official Llewellin Setter Field Trials competition held in December 1994.

Awbonnie's Bull - Sire owned by Eric Jacobs of Kentucky is Hope's maternal great-grandsire. Bull was an outstanding Grouse dog. (05/1988 - 01/2000).

Photo courtesy of Eric Jacobs

Bull was a great grouse dog of tremendous stamina and will to find birds coupled with a superior nose and intellect. Bull made birds. He became a grouse dog with such desire and drive he was a handful. One thing only on his mind, "Find another grouse!". From his humble beginnings as a dog [hunting] too close, he emerged as a great one few men ever witness. Grouse dogs are at the very top of the realm of birddog excellence and he was at the top of this loyal order.

-- Quote provided by Eric Jacobs