Best Labrador Retriever Trainer

I have a buddy with a know nothing 8 month old lab. If money were no concern where would you send him?

Southern oak

It would highly depend on your goals for the pup..

I would send mine to Justin Jackson with Texoma Retrievers for gun dog or hunt testing.

FIeld Trials I would go with Handjem or Vinwood

He just wants an obedient well trained hunting dog that will ride around his ranch with him on his mule and do what he says. She’s well bred but has had no training. His grandson was killed and he inherited the pup. It’s important that she makes a good dog.

I would talk to Justin Jackson with Texoma. I'm not certain he has room at the moment. He will also be at the Grand in KY until the 17th.

Dog trainers are booked now because everyone wants their dog trained before hunting season, so after duck opener, there should be room and probably great time to leave pup with trainer during hunting season.

I will not say he is the best, I do not know enough to say, but I will recommend Chuck Hastedt, google him "Camp Chuck - Soaring Heart Kennels" on facebook. He will train any dog to fetch, he trained me to train my dog, he is great. His dog kennel is in his house, he lives with his clients dogs. Some trainers run pups through their program, if they can't handle the pressure, they say "dog is soft, not a good hunting dog, needs to be a pet". Chuck will not say that, he will have that dog fetching. Look at his web page, he takes pride in training any dog to fetch.

Best Retrievers Inc in Giddings Tx trained a bunch of Master Hunters check out their website

Brady Buck on here can do it.

They are in my training circuit. Rody and Kristen have built one heck of an operation.

He finished one of my old dogs. I thought he did a great job. Essentially you couldn’t go wrong with him in my opinion.

I recently used Anderson(a lot closer) to work on my chessie. Thought Christine did a great job given what she had to work with

dont mess that fireball up

Best Retrievers in Paige, Tx. Rody and crew have trained 3 dogs for my family. All have been great hunters and even better in the house.

Eddie Noga at Zion Kennels.. Bonham area.. Ive had 3 dogs with him over the years.....

If he has a "connection" to the dog, I recommend Water Dog or

Gun Dog book

I made a pretty dang good hunting dog in college following these books (only need one IMHO). It's not rocket science, nor is it hard and the result is extremely rewarding. His deal was he'd do all the retrieving, but there was no sleeping outside.

Charlie

No one said it’s hard or complicated to train a dog. He doesn’t have the time or want to. That’s why he’s looking for a trainer.

So he is not interested in force fetch, casting, etc... Just obedience training, and probably e collar conditioning and formal obedience...

He wants a finished retriever, trained by an honest professional.

And the best professional is Barton Ramsey at southern oaks imo. There's a reason there's a year long waiting list for their pups

That's great, best thing you can do for a dog is give them the best training. Good luck.

In my eyes the best in texas and arguably in the country is Danny Farmer in Anderson. Chances of getting a dog in Danny’s kennel are probably slim. Danny is one of the most successful field trial trainers in the country. Kirk Wichman is a friend of mine and also has a kennel in Anderson. He used to work for Danny and learned from one of the best. I used to take my old lab to Anderson and trained with Kirk at Farmers place when she was young. Kirk trains hunt test dogs and I can recommend him with confidence. Kirk guides at the moody ranch and may be busy through the end of duck season.

I like Barton but I have to disagree...

Yes, they produce nice pups but the #1 reason they sell a lot of puppies is marketing.

But we aren't even talking breeders anyway.

We are talking trainers..

What has SOK accomplished or proven when it comes to training dogs?

I personally would choose and recommend a trainer with a proven track record that isn't subjective.

Both Justin at Texoma and Rody at Best have proven they produce some the best dogs in the country.

Very proven as trainers. They also own and run cornerstone gun dog academy.
If I'm correct they have a minimum of 5 months with then to train dogs.

I honestly don't think they have done a lot with marketing. They blew up bc of how good they are and by word of mouth.

I don't mean to bash SOK but they have not proven anything. Almost all of their breeding stock was trained overseas.

5 month minimum also sounds to me like they don’t work all of those dogs every day. You can’t put a time limit on how long it takes to train a dog. Some are easy and some aren’t. Do they expect every dog at the same level in 5 months? At 5 months are they proud of what that dog is trained to do for your money?

Just look them up and see what you think. They work their dogs hard. They have a5 month minimum bc they want the time to make sure the dog is trained well and to really get acclimated

Scalebuster, here is a link to my friend Kirk. Click on awards at the bottom of the page. He has turned out a lot of very nice finished retrievers.
https://hiddenlakeretrievers.com/

Thanks for the help men!

There are many good trainers inTexas especially this time of year. Farmer, Rorem, Milligan, multiple young dog guys and some already mentioned. For what your wanting these field trial guys might not be a fit. I use Chad Radt with Lucky Seven Retrievers for all my young dog work but wouldn’t hesitate to use Rody for gundog work.

All we need to this party is Angie!!

Following

I remember Angie, she was a legend in her own mind.

Lol, and it sure would make the BB and Kidwood spat a lot more interesting

Just out of curiosity have you bought a dog from them? Have they trained one if your dogs?

I'm getting one next summer. Put a deposit down 3 months ago.
Barton called me and we talked about 3 different litters that would be available in the same time frame for 30 minutes.
I will also be buying cornerstone gundog academy to train.
I prefer the British labs from my research. A better on off switch, and using their nose/ natural instinct more than relying on me.
I just really liked Barton and what their kennel offers so it's why I went with them.

unbelievable, you have never even hunted behind one of his dogs.

LMAO...

Going to have to agree with BB on this one 100%... I don't think SOK even trains client dogs LOL

http://www.southernoakkennels.com/what-we-offer/

They're only the most sought after kennel from what I can find.
Yes, they're relatively new, but when you're good, you tend to blow up pretty quick.

This is the last thing I'm going to say on this topic.

I really like Barton and I do believe SOK is breeding nice dogs and they have found a niche where they have been successful.

But make no mistake they are very good at marketing and that is a large part of their success. They present their product as something different and they produce some great videos, website etc..

They also have imported over 90% of their breeding studs. They have done very little on their own to prove their breeding stock in the venues offered here.

I would have no problem recommending them as a breeder but not as a trainer.

So you won't/can't recommend their cornerstone gundog academy?

How can you? You have Zero USE of product?

[/quote]

So you won't/can't recommend their cornerstone gundog academy? [/quote]

How can you? You have Zero USE of product?


[/quote]

I was thinking the same thing. You beat me to it

So you won't/can't recommend their cornerstone gundog academy? [/quote]

How can you? You have Zero USE of product?


[/quote]

I was thinking the same thing. You beat me to it[/quote]

I wasn't asking for me, I was asking BB if he could.
It's an extremely highly recommended program, and Barton is the one that helped design it, etc. It's what I'm going to use.

You still don't get it.

You flat out said Barton was the best yet come to find out you don't have a dog trained by him nor have you even hunted over one of his. How can you even begin to quantify something with ZERO EXPERIENCE with it

Everyone gave factual first hand experience, except for one person. you gave a hypothetical with no actual experience and tried to pass it off as first hand. That's called a con.

I would never recommend a trainer that I've never use much less never even hunted over.... I'm reluctant to even mention what dogs I've hunted over because once they leave a trainer, owner may never hunt that dog more then once a year or just a terrible handler...etc. All dogs eventually end up a product of their owner/handler

No, I do get it.

I do recommend Barton. In all the trainers I've met and talked to, I wasi mpressed with him the most.

You're right, I don't have first hand experience, but I still think he's one of the best in the game.
Like I said, you can't be a bad trainer and be as successful as they are. Y'all can try to say it's advertising, but I don't agree with that.

I also completely agree with your last statement. Usually it's the person that needs the most training, not the dog.

Im the best retriever! See!

Marks a lot kennels in Royce city has done us well. My dad has a lab there that is two passes from her master title. And I have a lab there that is a month in. Dan and James are good people and great the dogs great. I’ve also got a friend that has three dogs trained by them.

Harlon Winters in Burnet ( who is dead now ) --- always said that if he didnt train the owner, training the dog was a waste of time. An owner that knows not what to do can untrain a dog very quickly.

I got a dog from them in 98. Damn good dog. Can't comment on their training as i did my own training.

Harlan Winters trained me and my Chocolate Lab back in the late 90's & early 2000. We lived in Houston and left our Lab with him for 4 months one year and 3 months the next year for a "refresher" and to also work on long blind retrieves. One helluva dog trainer for sure by me. He did use "force fetch" which a lot of folks don't care for. My Chocolate was both obedient and a heck of a retriever for dove, duck and geese. God rest Harlan's soul. Good luck to your buddy on his search and final decision. There is nothing better than a loving, obedient and well trained dog. He'll create lifelong memories.

My experience.

Best Retrievers (Paige Tx) trained two of my dogs for AKC testing. One is a Male Senior Hunter (British Lab) and the other a Female Master Hunter (American Lab).

Both Dogs then went to Mark Strickland at Marsh Dog Kennels (Giddings Tx) a few months ago for HRC testing and my British Lab is now a HRCH + he just passed the Grand in Kentucky! My female lab is also a HRCH and made it through the Grand second series for her ribbon.

Both are excellent trainers!

I know for a fact in June 2020, he achieved his 100th Master Hunter title cause my Maggie was #98.

I would recommend Nathen at AB Kennels out of Port Lavaca, TX. Great guy that has been in the Guiding and training business for years.

AB Kennels

I bet you make a good house wife.

Thirsty bird dog!

Quit interrupting my nap!

All joking aside firearms and alcohol do not mix.

I put my shells in that box. Kinda like a blind bag!