Duck Dog

Get a $2,000 wildrose dog and spend another few thousand and be done with it.

That being said, my $200 lab is having a good season. And he's self trained.





Now that I've gotten that out of the way. I'll let those dog trainers come in and tell you how there's no such thing as a good dog under $1000

A friend got a 6 month old dog for free. Spent money to send it to get trained. Took her on her first hunt on opening of second split this season. She retrieved 10 birds and found one in the marsh on the first hunt.

Good training can go a long way but it the dog doesn't have a nose or the drive to hunt you are fighting a losing battle.

Whether you get your lab trained or train it yourself.....

Read the book Water Dog by Richard Wolters. This will help you train, maintain, and/or understand your lab 100 times better.

I have had 3 labs in my life. My current lab has a hunt drive unlike I've seen before. She is a gamer. My previous labs loved to please and were trainable, but I had no idea what superior 'HUNT' traits can do for a dog.

Do your homework.

I prefer a mixed lab of 1/2 to 3/4 American Lab and 1/2 or 1/4 British Lab.

I find 100% British labs get fat and lazy too easily. No offense meant to british lab enthusiasts. And.. 100% American labs can be high strung.

Good luck