Lab Breeders

[UKDucks]

I'm going to buy a lab sometime this upcoming winter and I was wondering if anyone can recommend a few local reputable breeders? To be more specific, I am looking at a minimum for a female pup (Chocolate or yellow) that has has had the first round of shots, good hunting pedigree, and hip certified. Also, if anyone has had a bad experience with any certain breeder I would like to know that as well. Any other advice is welcome, and thanks for your help!

[mmayes]

You might want to take a look at Hunters Marsh Retreivers. They breed excellent dogs. Do a web search for them. They are from Michigan but train in Kentucky for the winter around Beaver Dam.

Mayes

[Triton]

PM me for info on hunters Marsh they had my pup for 10 weeks :mad:

[WATERDOG]

My recomendation is to ask lots of questions on health clearances, such as hips, eyes, CNM, etc... you might pay out a few hundred dollars up front for a good healthy dog, but you may save on costly VET bills down the road. Dog breeders are like cars....there are pinto's & there are cadilacs :)

[mmayes]

Triton I would be interested to hear about your experiances w/them. I wasn't refering to their training program just their breeding/pups. If I were having someone train a dog it would be John Bassett.

Mayes

[SPURX2]

Good decision on female there, as for choice between chocolate and yellow, let me start by saying this: there are lots of good choclates out there I have hunted with many. Overall you have to go for the best odds of ending up with a good dog and that would be yellow or black. Choclates are degenerate (sp) genes of black and yellow dogs. Also if you go with a yellow over black it has been suggested that one of the parents be black. Several professional trainers have given this advise to me in the search for a dog. Do research and ask lots of question from lots of different TRAINERS as well as the breeders. Taking the advice of a reputal trainer will be more handy than that of breeders. Most trainers will help you look for a dog.

[870]

Triton I would be interested to hear about your experiances w/them. I wasn't refering to their training program just their breeding/pups. If I were having someone train a dog it would be John Bassett.

Mayes

Give John a call at 270-298-9504, he'll help you if he can.

[mrdux]

SPURX2, sounds to me like you are getting your info from Kim Moses at Hunters Marsh. I'll put my chocolate up against any bloodline out there and that is after Kim said there has never been a good chocolate dog in her kennel. I know Mayes and others have had good experiences with Hunters Marsh but my experience was nothing but bad.

BTW, UK I may have a litter in the works. You can check out my dog's pedigree at

www.5riversdux.com

[SPURX2]

SPURX2, sounds to me like you are getting your info from Kim Moses at Hunters Marsh. I'll put my chocolate up against any bloodline out there and that is after Kim said there has never been a good chocolate dog in her kennel. I know Mayes and others have had good experiences with Hunters Marsh but my experience was nothing but bad.

BTW, UK I may have a litter in the works. You can check out my dog's pedigree at

mrdux let me start off by saying that maybe you should have read my post a little more carefully. 1)The first thing I said is that there are a lot of good choclates out there, the author is asking for advice and I'm simply sharing my experience and thoughts. 2)I'm sure you have a great dog. 3)I have never even heard of Kim Moses. 4)Also notice I said that the author should get advice from LOTS of different trainers, not one. Every trainer I've spoken with has told me they have seen great chocs, they also told me that your odds are better with yellow or black.

[UKDucks]

Hey guys, I just want to thank all of you for your two-cents. While I have experience with owning several dogs including labs, this will be my first attempt at a hunting retriever.

From what I gather, the most important thing is to get a dog that has the highest percentage chance of being healthy-- mainly in the eyes and hips. This accomplished through genetics, veterinary screening, and using your instinctive feeling about a pup. After this, the training and other traits will fall into place with patience and dedication. Does this sound about right?

I'm in no rush in this process so feel free to keep the advice/names coming. Also, I've ordered a few books... if there are ones yall particularly like let me know. Thanks again!

[SPURX2]

waterdog is an excellent bokk and suggest reading it before ever getting the dog, you might want to give Lloyd Moore a call at Lodi Kennels down hear in Paducah, he might have some good advice for you 270.488.3848.

[CanisMajor]

After you get your pup, I would be happy to assist you with your training. I have trained retrievers for over 29 years, I'm here in Lexington, and I'd be glad to help. Here is my current dog's website:

http://home.windstream.net/krfitz/#Jack

Also, I just happen to be selling off most of the books and videos from my modest collection, if you are interested. Some are on eBay right now, and others have not yet been listed. I also have lots of used training bumpers that I will let go for cheap. PM or email me if you are interested.

Regards,
Kevin

[Rob DeHaven]

health is obvious as a major concern when selecting a dog but a close second is desire. you can not train desire in a dog so increase your chances of getting a dog with desire by selecting proven field performers. i am not saying you have to pay for a loaded up pedigree but to know a dog has it in his genes to perform in the field makes a big difference. nothing is a guarentee but there are things to look for to increase your chance of getting what you want in the end

you have to know what you want in a dog. we can all give you advice but we all have our own idea of what a trained dog would be.

some of the best training material out is the smartworks stuff by evan graham. read all you can but some stuff is out of touch with new ways and equipment of today.

good luck and there is nothing like hunting with a trained retriever.

[MotrHEDx81]

A little off topic but... It would be nice to have a hunting dog training section on the KYhunting forum. That way people that want to try and train their dogs themselves could swap ideas and tips like we do with everything else.

[SPURX2]

A little off topic but... It would be nice to have a hunting dog training section on the KYhunting forum. That way people that want to try and train their dogs themselves could swap ideas and tips like we do with everything else.
dito that i'm always up for some new ideas when it comes to training my dogs

[WATERDOG]

A little off topic but... It would be nice to have a hunting dog training section on the KYhunting forum. That way people that want to try and train their dogs themselves could swap ideas and tips like we do with everything else.

I dont mean to hi-jack this thread either, but this may help out the person that originally posted the topic.

There are several retriever clubs around the state that are full of amature & professional trainers that are more than willing to give information to those that may not know a whole lot about training, breeding & other dog related things. I've been a member of some clubs for about 3 or 4 years now & I have learned a ton of things, that I would never have known if I hadnt have joined. Most clubs hold training days on a regular basis and membership dues are only like $25 per year.

Here is a list of clubs in the state...google em' & you shoud be able to find the websites. Or just go to AKC website or UKC-HRC website to find clubs.

American Kennel Club -
Central Kentucky Retriever Club

United Kennel Club -
Central Kentucky Hunting Retriever Association
Inducky Hunting Retriever Club
Tri-State Hunting Retriever Club
Western Kentucky Hunting Retriever Club

[ranger]

I tell you it's a little odd that a lot of hunter's in Kentucky do not think to highly of Chocolate's. I moved here from S. Florida and most waterfowl hunters like Choc's. But since I've been up here all I hear is how crappy Choc's are. Can someone tell me what's up with that? I'm thinking maybe a few bad breeders gave em a bad name?

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o171/flasnook/turds055.jpg

[mrdux]

A lot of people used to think that they couldn't live without a chocolate lab so many litters were produced with no consideration for anything but brown puppies. Many of these had genetic problems as well as health issues. Some were just plain stupid. A lot of trainers and lab owners painted all the chocolates with the same broad brush. I honestly think that now the better chocolate bloodlines are some of the smartest and best genetics out there due to breeders being so particular about their choices of sire/dams. I had a judge at a UKC hunt test tell me I might as well go home before running Kutter due to the fact that he would not pass a chocolate dog. He was kidding of course. Kutter got his HR that weekend at 14 months old.

[ranger]

mrdux, that makes sense. That is the way that Black's are at home. I guess that we have the breeders to thank for that.

[Downeaster]

UKDucks:

You've gotten some very good advice here. I 110% support those who have suggested hip/and eye certifications for both parents. Your chances of getting a dog with displaysia is much lower when you have 2 parents which are not themselves. I would consider it a HUGE warning sign that a breeder isn't willing to do these tests. If the breeder claims to have done it, ask for the OFA number of both parents. The OFA website has info on eye clearances if they have been done.

There are lots of great sources for dogs out there. I would not be afraid to fly the puppy you want in. I just got a pup from Texas....and I was able to get exactly what I wanted in so doing. It cost ~$100....not too bad all things considered. RetrieverTraining.net and working dog central both have adds for dogs where all health clearances are required. I would certainly ask the breeders a lot of questions about temperament of the dogs. I want a really hard going dog...others might not like that as much. In my experience....the pups end up being very similar to one parent...make sure you can live with the traits of either. I wouldn't let color decide for you. As someone said previously, there are excellent dogs in any color. I would find the best dog I could get for a price...regardless of the color.

I also support joining a local retriever club. There's soooo much you just can't learn from a book. As far as books go...the 2 best by far are the 10 Minute Retriever (John and Amy Dahl) and Mike Lardy's Total Retriever Training articles (volume 1). Both are cheap. I would not second the earlier suggestion of Richard Wolter's Waterdog. It is EXTREMELY dated now...there's just much better stuff. I might also reccomend the new Avery Basics video done by Danny Farmer and Judy Aycock. I think it's $40 and being able to see how a dog really responds....REALLY helps me.

If you get the pup, let me know. I'm in Frankfort and have a brand new pup I really need to get out and train more.

Good luck,

John

[Downeaster]

I had a judge at a UKC hunt test tell me I might as well go home before running Kutter due to the fact that he would not pass a chocolate dog.

Hey Mrdux....that might have been me......:) Na....I don't mind passing a Chocolate....it's those Goldens who don't have a chance:)

[mrdux]

The judge was Rod Rombauer from the St. Louis area. It was at a UKC test at Banner Marsh near Pekin,IL. Kutter was running for his HR at 14 months and I was a ball of nerves.

Rod had the quote of all time on the water series that day. They had dropped the level of the pool by more than a foot from when they set up the test. Kutter had aced the land series. The line was in an area that was ankle deep mud. When I took Kutter to the line, he would not sit. I got on him pretty good, almost to the point that I was afraid the judges would DQ me for intimidation. Rod walked up behind me from the judges area and asked me "Would you want to put your balls in that mud?" I said "NO!". Rod then said that the dog was fine and I should signal that we were ready. Kutter crept out on the 2nd mark and I had to handle him with one whistle. He then smoked the blind with ZERO whistles and got his HR.