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The Dogs 1st Hunt! November 1st, 2007 GDC Dashing Bondhu Hank and GDC Dashing Bondhu Ringo GDC Dashing Bondhu Princess (in background) See our annual "Hunting Photos" link above!

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Welcome to Mountain View Kennel, LLC. in Bonnieville, Kentucky
(Please note: we are not affiliated with any other "Mountain View Kennel")

We specialize in hunting and raising the most biddable, natural, close-working, foot hunting, pleasure Setters found in the world, and the first kennel solely dedicated to raising and preserving the purest of Sir. Richard Llewellin's personal, 100% pure "Dashing Bondhu" Llewellin Setter bloodlines remaining in the world! NO American Llewellin or English Setters bloodlines in our dogs or kennel.

As you can see from the photo above, they are natural-born bird dogs. These young dogs at only 13-15 months of age had NO help from other dogs and NO training beforehand. Pictured are the results after their first time being exposed to any birds. All dogs naturally pointed all birds solidly, retrieved to hand, and even honored (backed) each other faithfully. They were first worked and shot over alone, then hunted together and did an amazing job for any dogs, never mind for dogs on their first hunt. Absolutely NO force training or electric training collars were used or ever needed in their training or for any of our pure Dashing Bondhu Setter's training. All birds were pointed naturally, and none were flushed by a dog. All birds shot were retrieved to hand, and all dogs honored the other dogs' points and retrieves.

They continue to amaze us season after season and amaze everyone who has hunted with them. The last couple of years we have often seen points up to 40 yards (120 FT), even on single, wild native quail. Please see all our annual hunting photos and Testimonial webpage linked above and below. 

A brief history of the Dashing Bondhu bloodlines is as follows: The Dashing Bondhu bloodlines were personally developed by Sir. Richard Purcell Llewellin, Esq. (1840-1925) of Pembrokeshire, South Wales, who spent over 50 years in the personal development and perfection of his own unique, personal strain. He personally named them "Dashing Bondhu" (Bondhu means "Heart of Oak").  All of the other Llewellin Setter strains registered were NOT "developed" by Mr. Llewellin himself, only the Dashing Bondhu strain.

The main difference between the Dashing Bondhu line and the many American lines is that the American lines came from several English breeders as well as a few from Mr. Llewellin's first early attempts at breeding Setters that were sent to America, mainly prior to the 1900's or early on and then developed by North American breeders who were mostly field trialers who dominated North American Field Trials until the trials were changed to horseback trials. 

Selection was very different even among American breeders, and soon many different strains of Llewellins were being developed and recognized in North America. Each kennel bred for different standards and traits such as size, color, markings, temperament, ability, health, hunting range, etc., resulting in each line becoming very different from one another. Even dogs originating from the same strain could be slightly different from one kennel to another depending on their personal selection.

On Mr. Llewellin's passing in 1925, he left all of his personal Dashing Bondhu Setters to his respected, close friend, William Humphrey, (also an outstanding Setter breeder in England) to continue their breeding with Mr. Llewellin's same high breeding standards. 

Mr. Humphrey said in his manuscript that he sold all his Setters he owned at the time so he could dedicate himself to preserving and continuing Sir. Llewellin's pure "Dashing Bondhu" Llewellin Setters, which he did for another 38 years, producing 41 foot hunting Field Champions in the process. Mr. Humphrey also worked closely with Father James Brannon (Irish Priest) who owned Scinn Amach Kennel in Ireland, who also bred them in Ireland for 30 more years after Humphrey's passing. Many feel that Humphrey and Fr. Brannon refined or perfected the Dashing Bondhus even further, but they always gave Sir. Llewellin full credit for their development and did not want any credit for them.

Nonetheless they continued to select only the most "natural born bird dogs" without the use of electronic collars, planted birds, or any force training generation after generation. This genetically locked in their natural traits making them "dominant traits"while removing any and all genetic faults in them. This resulted in the most genetically sound, best foot hunting gun dogs and family companions EVER created in the world!

Our Dashing Bondhu Llewellin Setters today are direct descendents of mainly the 1960s direct imports from Humphrey's kennel, a 1988 direct import (Machad Ambassador) from Fr. James Brannon's Ireland kennel (two outstanding gentlemen and close friends of each other), and another direct import in 1990s (Dashing Remus Bondhu) from Madam Marie Thérèse à Goës of Belgium, also a close friend of the Humphrey family and of Fr. Brannon, and Dashing Remus Bondhu was  100% from Humphrey's pure Dashing Bondhu breedings. 

Because of breeding their generations 8-10 years apart, many of our Llewellin Setters that we own today are still only a few generations from the original Welsh, Irish, and Belgium imports from these great breeders, without any other strains being added whatsoever.

Though we do not run a shooting preserve, our Setters have been sold to many top shooting preserves who use them because of their outstanding abilities, unsurpassed, beautiful hunting style, and consistency day in and day out regardless the type of upland birds, hunting terrain, weather, or scenting conditions, they excel over all others. They are even commonly used for waterfowl and dove hunts.

All the top shooting preserves and grouse hunting lodges have told us that our Setters are simply the best dogs they have, especially in getting their customers to come back again and again. Their clients not only enjoy them in the field or woods, they also enjoy them at the lodge or cabin before and after the hunts, making best friends with everyone they meet. If you have a preserve or grouse lodge and want return customers, you need a couple of pure Dashing Bondhu Llewellin Setters. Your customers will be asking for them by name. Warning, once people know their name/s they will only want to hunt with them whenever they come.

Llewellin Setters from Mountain View Kennel, LLC. Grouse hunting on Larry Smith's Outdoors.

 

A complete, detailed history and photos of the Dashing Bondhu bloodlines, please go to our Dashing Bondhu History webpage.

These are also the SAME exact 100% pure Dashing Bondhu bloodlines that produced the famous "Hank", registered name "Henry Princeof Pause", from Outdoor Life Network's Number "1" Sporting show for many years on OLN's TV series, Hunting with Hank, and also Hank's famous son "Dash," registered name "Hank's Dashing Bondhu," who has starred in OLN's following TV Series, Upland Days with Dash.

To see how our pure Dashing Bondhu Setters typically hunt, here are some links as well as some Youtube videos of Hank and Dash, all photos and videos of Hank, Dash, & Dez Young are Copyright© H&H Productions & Mirage Productions or Gary Finch Outdoor Videos.

Gary Finch Outdoors: "Dez Young with Hall of Famers Hank & son Dash"

Links to Pheasant Hunting videos: Part 1 of 3 ,   Part 2 of 3 , &  Part 3 of 3 .

Links to Chukar Hunting videos: Part 1 of 2 , & Part 2 of 2 .

Because our pure Dashing Bondhu Setters reproduce like clones, they all typically hunt just like "Dash" and "Hank," but can be taught to hunt just about any way you want them to hunt. We like ours to range out in open ground and to hunt close in heavy cover, always in our sight so we program them to check to make sure we can see them by taking them for a walk in the field or woods, and every time they take their eyes off of us, we either hide behind a tree or lay down in high grass so they must come and find us. This will program them to stay within sight at all times. We also do that with older dogs whenever they range farther than we want. If you prefer them to range out like in open Chukar country, try to always be in their sight and stay with them no matter how far they range. You can also whistle train them to range on two short whistles and come in on one long whistle. Please see our "Training" page on how easily we train these natural Setters.

  If you would like to see how our wonderful pure Dashing Bondhu Llewellin Setters typically hunt, you can also order from the hundreds of high quality DVD productions of your choice of season episodes of Hunting with Hank and/or Upland Days with Dash DVDs that may be available very reasonably at Amazon. Click on image below to check availability.

Click on image!

Hunting With Hank Season 1  All seasons available!

Upland Days with Dash Season 1 All seasons available!

It is my opinion these are the finest quality professional videos of bird hunting ever produced and are simply the perfect and most accurate example of Sir Llewellin's pure Dashing Bondhu bloodlines in action. Of course, because of their strong willingness to please, you can easily train them to hunt just the way you want them to hunt. We do not receive any commissions or funds for purchases or advertisements shared on our website.

"Hank" aka Henry Princeof Pause and "Dash" aka Hank's Dashing Bondhu, were also entered in the IPDBA and Bird Dog Foundation's Hall of Fame. These two great dogs are both not only out of the SAME 100% exact combination of pure Dashing Bondhu bloodlines that we own and specialize in, but "Hank" aka GDC Henry Princeof Pause can even be found as the grandsire and great-grandsire in most of our dogs' pedigrees and in pups we offer and "Dash" aka GDC Hank's Dashing Bondhu, was the sire of our stud "GDC Hank's Champ Bondhu." In fact, Mountain View Kennel is home to more Certified Gun Dogs of pure Dashing Bondhu bloodlines with OLN's Hank's and Dash's bloodlines than anywhere else in the world!

Also, congratulations to GDC Henry Princeof Pause aka "Hank" and GDC Hank's Dashing Bondhu aka "Dash" for receiving their IPDBA Gun Dog Certifications!

Look for this symbol!

We are not the only people IPDBA Gun Dog Certifying their pointing dogs, but so far we are the only Kennel that is IPDBA Gun Dog Certifying ALL our Setters before selection for breeding. Beware, some Kennels are mentioning IPDBA Gun Dog Certification on their websites, but none or very few of their dogs have actually been IPDBA Gun Dog Certified. If their dog does not have the title "GDC" in front of their name, then their dog has not been IPDBA Certified as a Gun Dog and does not have the title. All our Setters have received this title before selecting them for breeding. Only pure Dashing Bondhu Llewellin Setters that are 100% NATURAL at pointing, retrieving, and backing (honoring) are selected. Any training to point, retrieve, or to back will eliminate them from our breeding program.  

Please be aware that there are several different recognized bloodlines of Llewellin Setters being bred and advertised today as Llewellin Setters and they can be VERY different in style, size, personality, and even health. Because they are so different, these bloodlines are known by many different names like Blizzard, Royacelle, Gladstone, Bomber, and TonyO are just some examples of Llewellin Setter lines that are not found at all in our pure Dashing Bondhu Llewellin Setter pedigrees.  If any of these names are found in a pedigree, you will know they were not Llewellin's personal strain of "Dashing Bondhu" bloodlines that we specialize in at Mountain View Kennel. Basically, ours are "Llewellin's Setters" and those are "Llewellin Setters," so to speak. The difference is amazing. They are truly "Man's best friend" and also known as the "Buddy dogs that love to hunt."

Unfortunately, some breeders have taken advantage of FDSB's easy registration policies of the past  years, allowing their breeders to simply handwrite papers at will for over 100 years. In fact, I'm sorry to say, the "Straight Creek" (Bob Baily's) lines cannot be trusted and has been totally banned from registration in IPDBA. It is very doubtful that any of them can be trusted as pure Llewellin Setters, never mind of certain bloodlines as advertised. This unfortunately includes many FDSB pedigrees with or without ANY dogs with Straight Creek in their name and ALL their many decedents of many names being commonly used in FDSB Llewellin Setter kennels today. In fact, IPDBA has been turning away 2 out of 3 FDSB transfer applications because of them and/or having dogs that are known carriers of genetically inherited defects. Since we have posted our warnings about this, we have seen some kennels remove or shorten their dog's pedigrees or kill the link to their pedigrees, so not to show their ancestry. Ask for a 5 generation pedigree if they won't post it publicly.

When we met the Straight Creek owner, Bob Baily, many years ago selling Beagles and coon hounds at a squirrel hunt, he told me to my face when I asked him if he knew of any Llewellin Setters around, he responded "that Llewellin Setters were extinct" and that he had good English Setters (field trial type) for sale, but just a few years later his kennel changed from an English Setter kennel to a Llewellin Setter kennel while having the same dogs, and he started to advertise that he had been breeding "his Llewellin Setters for 35+ years." Funny, that his neighbors and even close friends remember it the same way we do. 

Seems it was very profitable for many years to purchase whole litters of English Setter pups out the  local classified papers for $100-$200 each and sell them for $500 each as Llewellin Setter pups. The Lord only knows how many were done this way. Even a so-called Llewellin Setter he named Roadside Tina was named that because he found her on the roadside. But my friend owned the dog before and still has her English Setter papers with NO Llewellin Setters in her pedigree. So buyer MUST beware and so must the whole Llewellin breed. The saddest part of this is that FDSB no longer has breeders who keep the strains pure and are left with a bunch of kennels hybridizing (crossing all the bloodlines) and some with Setters with these unknown ancestries and false pedigrees. 

It is not our intention to knock FDSB, other strains, or other breeders of  Llewellin Setters. It was difficult for us to post the above information about a fellow man, but we have firsthand knowledge and so many have come forth willing to testify, we could not just stand by watching these false-pedigreed dogs being bred into the Llewellin Setter breed. We are also sorry if you already have one of these Setters, good or bad, but the truth is what it is.  

 In fact, it was our main reason we left FDSB in 1996 and registered all our dogs with IPDBA. Only purebred Llewellin Setters are allowed registration in IPDBA.The Straight Creek dogs are banned from registration in IPDBA, see IPDBA Llewellin Setter Registration Rules.  IPDBA won't even register them as English Setters, because they are of unknown ancestry and their true pedigrees have been lost forever. Unfortunately, other registries that recognized FDSB papers, but as English Setters, also have the false pedigrees now registered in them as English Setters; this includes AKC, UKC, and sadly, NSTRA. This is why we no longer register with NSTRA.

BEWARE!

Please, beware of kennels advertising or promoting that their dogs are "DNA Certified Llewellin Setters," "DNA pure Llewellin Setters," or as the "DNA purest Llewellins." This is an outright lie as they are only DNA parenting and that only proves that the "parents" of the dog are a very close match  to the DNA provided them and has nothing to do with the purity of their dog's breed. Anyone who makes that outlandish statement is either trying to mislead you or does not have a clue what they are doing. DNA can never be used to check the purity of the Llewellin Setter, simply because no DNA is available more than just a few generations back, and Llewellin Setter pedigrees are the oldest in the dog world. All the DNA parent testing today will never change the facts of the past or make FALSE pedigrees correct.

I think it is ironic that breeders are attempting to use the fact that FDSB continues not to trust them without having to DNA each and every puppy they produce, as a good reason to purchase their pups after over 100 years of allowing breeders and some of the same breeders who did this to hand write a puppy paper for each pup. It's my opinion that they still have many known false-registered Llewellin Setters within FDSB breeding programs throughout their breed, and because of all the pure bloodlines had left them and registered with IPDBA, the false bloodlines are now dominating the breed within FDSB.  IPDBA now reports that two out of three transfer applications from FDSB (aka American Field) registry are denied IPDBA registration because of known falsified papers and/or carriers of known genetic disorders in their backgrounds.

IPDBA was the first registry to fully recognize the "Llewellin Setter" as a breed and require permanent identification of all Setters to be identified with a microchip, tattoo, a color diagram showing markings and ticking, and 3 clear, color photos (face and both sides of their body) of every Setter registered, long before the DNA testing or problems in FDSB were found. Please note those Setters with the DNA problems were never registered with IPDBA, and there has never been any DNA problems with any dogs in the IPDBA registry and is why IPDBA trusts their Llewellin Setter breeders and has all of the purest Llewellin Setter bloodlines left in the WORLD.  In fact, since our pure Dashing Bondhu bloodline lineage is 100% from Sir. Richard Llewellin's personal Setters that he named and developed for 50+ years, they should be the DNA baseline used to compare all other Llewellin Setters too, but then many dogs in FDSB would no longer be eligible. 

Not all Llewellin Setters were developed by Mr. Llewellin himself for over 50 years and are not the same and it has been our firsthand experience that each strain can be very different from one another. Also, that crossing of those strains can have very mixed results, especially in future generations. Out-crossing also hides recessives that will eventually surface throughout the breed if not line bred.

The point is, if you want to own dogs that are as much like a certain strain that produced genetically sound, pleasure foot-hunting dogs like OLN's Hank and Dash for example, or that were bred personally by Sir. Llewellin's high ideals for most of his life, followed by fine men and women who wanted to preserve them, then it is best to stick with the same pure strain that produced them. It has taken us many years to save them, but with Al & Drenda King's help we have the largest gene pool of Sir. Richard Llewellin's personal Dashing Bondhu Setters anywhere in the world!

We not only feel that the Dashing Bondhus are the purest Llewellin Setter bloodline, the best pleasure-hunting gun dogs, and the best family companion dogs ever developed in the world, but because of our strict selection and genetic breeding knowledge, we feel our Setters are producing the best pups available in the world and is why we can provide a 100% Satisfaction Life-Time Guarantee on every single pup we offer! The best bloodline produces the best pups which can have the best guarantee!

We hope you enjoy our extensive website; it has taken many years of research to produce. Please follow the links provided above and below and enjoy.

The Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in their community. The organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. The mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy. Each year, the  Award Program identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the area a great place to live, work and play. Mountain View Kennel, LLC. in Bonnieville, Kentucky is Awarded Best Kennel of 2019!

BEST English (Llewellin) Setter Breeder of the Year, both years it was awarded!          On behalf of Vetary, I want to congratulate Mountain View Kennel, LLC. on receiving the Best English (Llewellin) Setter Breeder Award 2 years in a row! Vetary has analyzed top English (Llewellin) Setter breeders and cross referenced positive social mention data with top analytic s platforms. Your site was a clear winner with U.S. pet owners over the last 24 months. For context, Vetary awards breeders with best-in-class online buzz, content, visuals, and most importantly, a strong cause and devotion toward their breed of dogs. Link about Vetary https://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/10/prweb13797456.htm Note: Most registries, like FDSB recognize Llewellin Setter as a strain of "English Setter" and Vetary Awards reflect that. ONLY IPDBA registered "Llewellin Setters" are registered as a recognized separate BREED! Mountain View is also a Kentucky Proud Game Farm!