[Pocatello]

Above is one Missouri website offering Lab pups. The top litter is about two weeks old, and given the accomplishments of the sire and dam, are likely to be pretty expensive pups, but probably worth it.

For a wider selection of pups available, try the classified ads at Entry Express:


https://www.entryexpress.net/default.aspx

 

[coconutjoy]

Take my advice as I have owned them all.The Best kept secret in the duck Dog Realm is the Nova Scotia Duck Toller,these dogs are the easiest to train,the Friendliest and are willing to please.They will keep going when the others have quit.GET ONE.

 

[Pocatello]

Easiest to train? I suppose that would depend on what you want them to do. I've never seen one entered in an AKC field trial, and only one entered in an AKC hunt test. That may be because the breed is so uncommon, but I have seen flatcoats and curly coats in field trials, and those plus poodles, water spaniels, and wirehaired pointing Griffons entered in AKC retriever hunt tests.

Yesterday in training we were doing several double marks in sage with the longer bird out over 100 yards, retired for two of them. My Chesapeake male Rocky, three years old, backsided the first gun but picked up the bumper with essentially no hunt. He lined the other three. He then lined a 250 yard blind with a lot of terrain in it. His sister Mary (littermate) had a little wider lines on the marks and small hunts in the area, and two-whistled the blind. Another Chesapeake female of the same age (Fiona) had some trouble on one retired mark, had to be handled, but got it OK on the repeat. She four-whistled the blind. All three of them have AKC hunt test titles, while Rocky and Mary are all-age qualified field trial dogs. It takes a lot of consistent training to reach that level.

Rocky's little sister Lexie is nine months old now, and is coming along nicely. She has started rudimentary handling, is getting close to steady, does single marks well over 100 yards long and pins almost all of them. When she doesn't she puts up a nice, intelligent hunt in the area and digs them out. She also has started double marks and is picking them up quickly. Yesterday we were doing a depth drill with her and she did very well. She's far more advanced at her age than Rocky, Mary, and Fiona were. She's going to be a good one. We will start her in AKC hunt tests in a few weeks, and she should be ready for derbies by summer.

As far as toughness goes, I doubt your Toller (not Tooler) is any tougher than my Chesapeakes. Last duck season Rocky and Lexie were out many a day when the temps were around zero and below. They willingly went in the water time after time, sometimes even playing in it, came out, shook off, and rolled in the snow. If we took a day off they were very disappointed. Lexie was four months when the season started and seven when it ended. She retrieved a wounded drake on her own from a deep, cold stream with heavy current in December with air temperatures around zero, then jumped in again to see whether she could find another.

 

[Doug Brown]

IMO- you need a dog from a field trial line (I happen to like labs) to handle the pressure/s of training.

 

[Jacob Guthrie]

I don't know a great deal about blood lines, I don't need a world champion retriever I want a dog that I can train to be a friend and can retrieve ducks all day long. No field trials or anything like that, a family dog that loves to grab a greenhead.

 

[shadow]

My Chessie,"Mud", is the best friend I will ever have.

 

[g7777777]

I "own" 3 pups from a litter of the best bred choc labs in the country if interested

Regards from Iowa

Gene

 

[Doug Brown]

Like you that was what I was looking for until an old field trial guy explained it to me. Training will get intense, especially during force fetch & a farm dog will quit you. Most of the field trial training is used in every day hunting situations.

 

[Pocatello]

Jacob,

It might be worth your while to attend an AKC Hunt Test. You could see what the dogs can do, with training, and might find someone who knows of a good litter of pups near you. The closest hunt test I can find coming up in your area is April 20-21 in Columbia, MO. From their premium on Entry Express:

Welcome Statement
The Missouri River Retriever Club welcomes all handlers and their fine retrievers and all spectators to our 2013 AKC Licensed Hunt Test at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, near Columbia, Missouri.

We wish to thank the judges who are giving their time and expertise this weekend, club members who are serving in various hunt test positions, and everyone who is working the test (stake marshals, gunners, throwers, lunch runners, etc.).

A special thanks goes to the manager and staff of Eagle Bluff Conservation Area for their cooperation in providing access to these quality grounds and their help in preparing the area for this event.

Please be considerate of the property. Park only on one side of the road and do not block traffic. DO NOT leave the main road and enter any Field Access roads or fields unless directed to by stake signs. Please clean up after yourselves.

Good luck to all the contestants.

 

[bigbore613]

No bigger than a dime! Jeff

 

[WCBUB]

Just one web site:

www.hunterretrieverclub.org

Enjoy

Bub.

 

[Jacob Guthrie]

Thank you to all who responded, I will have to see if I can attend that event coming up in Columbia. Seems like to me I need to suck it up and spend the money to get the best dog possible, because you can't really put a price on a dog that does what you want when you want.

 

[320090T]

Get you a poodle, works for Si!

 

[pikepoola1racer]

If you are interested in a versatile upland, waterfowl, retriever, pointer, and super family dog, maybe you should get a Wire haired pointing Griffon

 

[HiFiGuy]

I want to put in my vote for a Chocolate Lab, specifically from Gator Point Kennels in south MS. I got two of their dogs, and couldn't be happier. My male was accused of eating dynamite and snorting fire by his trainer in Baton Rouge, but he's a great, loving house dog, and in the field he's a retrieving machine! Most dogs in the hunt tests we've entered will pick and choose their way through tough brush, but Thor parts it like the Red Sea. He was the runt of his litter, but he's a solid 100 lbs. as a mature adult.

The great thing about Gator Point is they take the genetics aspect VERY seriously, and spent a lot of time at Duke University learning about the genetic makeup and what it takes to do it correctly. I can't recommend them highly enough.

 

[shot410ga]

HiFiguy, Have you got a number or web site for Gator Point?