About time for a new lab

Powderhorn Jim

Powderhorn Jim

Active member
Unfortunately our 10 year old lab is starting to have health problems. Though we also have a 5 year old, I've gotten very used to hunting with two dogs. That means starting the arduous and often frustrating process of finding a reputable Labrador breeder, which we seem to have to do about every 10 years. We hunt primarily upland birds, with a little waterfowl. Our dogs live in our home and are part of the family, so social traits are also important. We are in Colorado, so Colorado and its contiguous states are preferred. Flying pups is difficult in this day and age, and extremely long drives are hard on us and a young pup. Any thoughts, ideas, recommendations? If you have a good dog from an active breeder/kennel, that would be helpful as there is nothing like hands-on success.
 
I’m very partial to Double TT British Kennels, now in Emporia, Kansas. I’ve bought 2 labs from the kennel under the previous owner, for most of my hunting life I hunted mostly Upland and a little waterfowl. Lately that’s shifted some, but I’m in essentially the same boat, a 9 year old and a 5 year old, and am looking again. I am again considering Double TT, among a select few others, none of which are close to Colorado though. The labs I’ve bought from them are excellent Upland dogs and absolutely exemplary house dogs, every bit living up to the British lab hype. They are also both very good waterfowl dogs, but they are meat dogs for sure. You could probably coax a HRCH out of the better one, but that would be the ceiling.
 
I second Double TT kennels, about 7 hours from Denver. I gave a 2 yr. old female who is a great upland dog. two years in ND and she has been finding and retrieving sharpies and Huns. Fifty pound female who is a great housedog. No reservations whatsoever
 

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Besides Coteau, North Lake Labradors is breeding Labradors with some significant emphasis in upland work.
 
Try this fellow. He was a trainer at Double T before going on his own and opening his own kennel. And he trains to the British style where Double T trains the American way. https://www.wrkennels.com/ Also try https://riverviewfarm-kennel.com/. I think you will like the dogs from these 2 kennels much better that Double T. Good dogs at Double T but the dogs from Winans and River View are as good as it gets. Perfect in looks, temperament, and abiltiy.
 
This was a very helpful thread to me so I thought I would update it with what happened. We lost our 11 year old lab in March of this year (2022). Broke our hearts but she had a good life, which is all we can hope for I guess. My wife was having health problems so we thought it best to hold off on getting a replacement pup immediately. As it turns out the good breeders had already sold all of their spring pups anyway. We talked to Double TT but they are so busy that communications became a problem. We ended up working with Blaine at WR Kennels in Dodge City, KS. If all goes well we'll have a female yellow lab next spring. Blaine sure seems to be easy-going and friendly. This is likely my last dog so hopefully it will be a good one! I'm still not comfortable being a one-dog hunter, but the one we have is a good one and will do fine.
 
Good luck with your pup prospect next spring. I was in that situation this past spring with a retired 12 yr old and "young" one approaching 9. I started the looking process, figuring it might take a year or more to find the right combination of availability and lineage. And then I lucked out with some cancellations in an "on the ground" litter from a top CO breeder and added Tucker to the crew in April. In retrospect, I wish I had waited until we were down to one before adding a pup. Since they all live in the house, it can be pretty wild with an "exuberant" pup riling things up.
Tom
 
Don't rule out a golden! I have some really nice pups on the ground right now. I have a buyer who is flying in from Colorado to pick up a pup, maybe they would be willing to bring one back with them for you as well. Give me a call or an email I would love to tell you about what we are raising for hunting dogs. 763-360-5673
 
To add another really exceptional breeder to the mix is Hunters Point Kennel in Iowa. Justin and Nate produce some really exceptional dogs that fit what you are looking for. Mine is from his pairing of Capone and Georgia.

www.pointing-lab.com

Pointing Labs for Sale - World Class Labrador Puppies

We offer only the finest pointing labs for sale. As a pointing lab breeder and trainer, we offer puppies to fully trained dogs at Hunters Point Kennel.
www.pointing-lab.com www.pointing-lab.com
 
Another ringing endorsement for Riverview Thanks to WestKS heads up I went to Nashville and got a pup. Outstanding facilities, well organized and Stefanie knows English Labradors. I know of no other kennel that flies their dogs back to England to compete in British trials to prove their sires and dams. Very happy with my Riverview lab.

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Chestle said:
Another ringing endorsement for Riverview Thanks to WestKS heads up I went to Nashville and got a pup. Outstanding facilities, well organized and Stefanie knows English Labradors. I know of no other kennel that flies their dogs back to England to compete in British trials to prove their sires and dams. Very happy with my Riverview lab.

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She is fine looking dog. Here is my Riverview male after a dove hunt about 3 weeks ago.
 

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goldenboy said:
Don't rule out a golden! I have some really nice pups on the ground right now. I have a buyer who is flying in from Colorado to pick up a pup, maybe they would be willing to bring one back with them for you as well. Give me a call or an email I would love to tell you about what we are raising for hunting dogs. 763-360-5673
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Hey Joel, Assume you have sold all of your dogs by now or are there some left? Jon
 
westksbowhunter said:
Try this fellow. He was a trainer at Double T before going on his own and opening his own kennel. And he trains to the British style where Double T trains the American way. https://www.wrkennels.com/ Also try https://riverviewfarm-kennel.com/. I think you will like the dogs from these 2 kennels much better that Double T. Good dogs at Double T but the dogs from Winans and River View are as good as it gets. Perfect in looks, temperament, and abiltiy.
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I know this is over a year old, but I saw comments about Double TT and needed to chime in. I believe Double TT used to be an amazing gundog operation. Then it was sold by Haynes Floyd to Cory Dudican, and I can no longer say the same. I have read elsewhere about the negative changes, but news seems to be slow spreading. I bought a 5 month old "started" lab from Cory at Double TT earlier this year. She came and had NOTHING. Now I understand at 5 months you can't expect much, but she was not potty trained at all (Cory said she was completely potty trained), she didn't know really a single command, and she was not crate trained (Cory said she was). Some of these things we can expect to be regressions from being in a new place. However, she did not even remotely respond to the name that Cory said he gave her. All pretty concerning, but we started from scratch and she's great obedience-wise.

She's now 15 months old and has some seriously concerning behaviors. She is aggressive towards men at night sometimes. She lunged at my dad once completely randomly at night. I immediately reached out to Cory, and he did not give me a second of his day beyond a short, very indifferent text. If I sold a very expensive dog that was showing aggression issues, I would be showing at least minimal care. I get it, he's busy, but this was insane. I believe she's had almost no socialization before coming to me. This could be part of the issue. Cory also told me she was his daughter's dog and she would be upset he was selling her. His daughter is 3, and from the day I got her she is TERRIFIED of children. So either he lied and she's had no socialization to children, or his daughter was a terror to her.

The breeder she came from is excellent. She was not bred by Double TT, she was sold to them to be a new breeding female. I would totally recommend my dog's original breeder because he's been a great resource and has provided support since day one even though I did not buy my dog through him. He has said he would not sell to Double TT again. I'm posting this mostly as a warning for others looking, and I hope it shows up on Google for someone thinking of buying a dog from Cory at Double TT. Save yourself the trouble and go to SOK or Wildrose. My breeder is smaller and I don't want to directly name him, but would provide the name for anyone interested.
 
birddogtrainer said:
I know this is over a year old, but I saw comments about Double TT and needed to chime in. I believe Double TT used to be an amazing gundog operation. Then it was sold by Haynes Floyd to Cory Dudican, and I can no longer say the same. I have read elsewhere about the negative changes, but news seems to be slow spreading. I bought a 5 month old "started" lab from Cory at Double TT earlier this year. She came and had NOTHING. Now I understand at 5 months you can't expect much, but she was not potty trained at all (Cory said she was completely potty trained), she didn't know really a single command, and she was not crate trained (Cory said she was). Some of these things we can expect to be regressions from being in a new place. However, she did not even remotely respond to the name that Cory said he gave her. All pretty concerning, but we started from scratch and she's great obedience-wise.

She's now 15 months old and has some seriously concerning behaviors. She is aggressive towards men at night sometimes. She lunged at my dad once completely randomly at night. I immediately reached out to Cory, and he did not give me a second of his day beyond a short, very indifferent text. If I sold a very expensive dog that was showing aggression issues, I would be showing at least minimal care. I get it, he's busy, but this was insane. I believe she's had almost no socialization before coming to me. This could be part of the issue. Cory also told me she was his daughter's dog and she would be upset he was selling her. His daughter is 3, and from the day I got her she is TERRIFIED of children. So either he lied and she's had no socialization to children, or his daughter was a terror to her.

The breeder she came from is excellent. She was not bred by Double TT, she was sold to them to be a new breeding female. I would totally recommend my dog's original breeder because he's been a great resource and has provided support since day one even though I did not buy my dog through him. He has said he would not sell to Double TT again. I'm posting this mostly as a warning for others looking, and I hope it shows up on Google for someone thinking of buying a dog from Cory at Double TT. Save yourself the trouble and go to SOK or Wildrose. My breeder is smaller and I don't want to directly name him, but would provide the name for anyone interested.
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Check out Bo Allen at Stealthpoint Kennel in Meeteetse, Wyo
 
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