I'm in Houston and need a female Lab puppy. She'll be a companion dog to my family rather than a hunt dog but we're willing to pay for a pup that's trained up enough to not gnaw on stuff, sleep, etc. My wife wants a Lab that will walk with us around the neighborhood and catch tennis balls, jump in the pool and fetch bumpers.

She's also convinced that John Tate at Hunter Creek Retrievers http://www.hunterscreekretrievers.com/ has the best program. I haven't hunted in a long time but am open to suggestions.

All help gratefully received.

+1 rescue

I think rescue dogs know they have been saved when a family adopts them. The best dogs I've had in like have all been rescued.

Anybody needs a rescued border collie, my kids would like to reduce their herd from three (two permanent and one foster) down to just two. It's in MIssissippi, unfortunately.

I should have provided context.

We've had a more than a dozen rescues over the years. We've got four rescue cats in the house now with the youngest six years old. One of my classmates from high school and A&M has been our veterinarian for 30 years. With his guidance, we want a Labrador puppy.

I'm not some dilettante rolling around with a popped collar in my dad's old Yukon, trying to find a dog for the background of my iPhone to impress slam pieces in Highland Park.

My wife wants a Labrador retriever, specifically, as a companion dog. I'm willing to pay for one and ask this board for guidance as to the best avenue to find one. It would be far cheaper to get a rescue dog but that's not what I asked about.

If I wanted a lecture about rescue dogs from the GB I would have posted this there.

Canyon77, you might know me as Czervik. I'm the large dude that sat next to your parents at Kyle Field for the better part of a decade. I'd love to have the rescue border collie but it's not what fits our needs. BTW -- how's your Mom?

Hey, I should have remembered the change of user name. Good to hear from you. She's still hanging in there, still living on her own. Don't know for how much longer, but she's happy and we'll do what we can to keep her that way. She turns 85 this year.

Nor on you.

Tell your Mom I said howdy. Lots of thoughts when they blew up the old second deck.

I will, thanks. If you think you had lots of sad thoughts, how about old farts like me that remember just two decks. There is literally nothing left of the Kyle Field where I watched games and marched in the Band as a student. Much less what I remember as a kid.

Call Kirk at www.hiddenlakeretrievers.com

He's a great guy that is a great dog trainer. He will most definitely know of good litters upcoming or recent ones. If you need any training done, I would HIGHLY recommend him.

By the way, if I wanted input from an attention hound like Squirrel Wife and your 19 previous names I would have trolled on the GB. No interest in any of your opinions. Please go away.

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Nor on you.

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At least let me earn that comment with an angry face and a ton of baseless assumptions as well as insulting people who are trying to help me!! Jerks!

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Don't go away mad, just go away. Please.

Squirrel was trying to be helpful. You seemed to be looking for a puppy, but then you mentioned wanting a trained dog, and then you mentioned a place for additional training. She asked you to clarify and gave you some potential sources for dogs that might fit your families needs that you might not have considered.

IMO, you have 2 options.

1. Get a puppy right out of the litter, and if you dont feel comfortable or dont have the time to train it yourself, find a reputable trainer and send him off for a couple months to have him obedience trained and house broken.

2. Call around and talk to some of the breeders in your area about how each dog is paired with the owner. Some people ask you to fill out questionnaires about the type of dog you are looking for and the family you have. They'll then do their best to pick out the puppy from the litter that most fits your personality based on the short time they have the puppies. Some will also keep the puppy and train it up for you before sending it home. Unfortunately, I dont know any breeders myself to recommend, and thats probably the only advice you're looking for.

Good luck!

OP, just my $.02.

Our 'newest' lab turns 4 in July. From your description- want list- sounds a bit like ours a few years back. After some investigation we discovered there are two 'types' of labs. Hunting/trials and show. We opted to get a lab from a show line. Why? Well, show lines produce the better therapy dogs, temperament in a bit calmer, more of a princess than a warrior.

Bottom line give this guy in Houston a call, my dog trainer recommends Watercrosskennels

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OP, just my $.02.

Our 'newest' lab turns 4 in July. From your description- want list- sounds a bit like ours a few years back. After some investigation we discovered there are two 'types' of labs. Hunting/trials and show. We opted to get a lab from a show line. Why? Well, show lines produce the better therapy dogs, temperament in a bit calmer, more of a princess than a warrior.

Bottom line give this guy in Houston a call, my dog trainer recommends Watercrosskennels

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Great point on the two disciplines! VERY good suggestion!

This thread escalated quickly.

I bought a one year old "wash out" male black lab from a pro trainer one time that was perfect for my needs as a hunting dog and family companion. The dog did not have sufficient drive for the pro to keep him but was perfect for me. He had a Senior Hunter title at 18 months. You can find these kinds of dogs if you do some searching on the internet. They do not have so much drive that they do not make good house pets/companions and that's the reason pros will give them up. Cost will vary a lot but $2000 is a good starting point.

Definitely get a dog from a show line. If you're set on a puppy, I can recommend Barton Creek Labs (Google it, too lazy to hyperlink) out west of Austin. Beautiful dogs and pretty calm. Don't get me wrong, they are still Lab puppies so they're rambunctious and energetic, but mine is the calmest out of all the Lab puppies I've been around. If you go the puppy route they will chew and chew and chew some more regardless of how well it's trained.

Then I would send your dog off for training since it sounds like you want one already trained. If that doesn't sound like a great idea, I know there are "started" dogs when it comes to hunting, no idea from show lines. Or you can go with a rescue who's been trained.

And MFS knows her stuff when it comes to dogs. There is no need to act like she just shot your first born.

Lol, wtf happened here

https://m.facebook.com/roxy.balance?fref=nf

OP, again just my $.02 but...

Give this guy a contact, we worked with him with our "lazy princess" lab. May be able to steer you into some socializing and basic training. Don't know if he has any labs right now. Their diabetic alert dogs have turned out pretty remarkable, mostly labs- all companion/service types.

rivers edge

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Lol, wtf happened here

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OP asked a question with some seemingly conflicting and unclear qualities on what he wanted, people chimed in assuming one thing when he meant another. People get pissy.

I think the OP's use of "companion" and wanting a dog with some training made it sound like he was looking for a sort of service-dog lab (seeing eye, PTSD therapy, etc) that had already been trained and wasn't really a puppy.

Here's the result. I have bought my wife a purebred Labrador puppy who will join our home in six weeks at at the ripe age of eight weeks. We are now well advised as to how to train a puppy for basic skills -- don't poop in the house, don't gnaw on the piano, sleep in your crate and be wary of our geriatric rescue cats, because they will try and intimidate you with their poofy paws and loud hisses. There are a half dozen local kennels that can polish her manners for odd days after she's six months old.

I don't know how any rational person would have read my posting and thought that I wanted anything other than a female Lab puppy with manners who would live in a suburban environment. Never asked for advice for anything else.

I appreciated the input from tmaggie50, TwoDogs and Natasha. Kirk at Hidden Lake provided great advice. Danna Hancock at Barton Creek was a great resource once my wife explained what TexAgs was -- they are incorrigible Longhorns.

schmellba, the rescue opportunity tugged hard on my heartstrings. We love rescue pets but this was a specific personal requirement.

Kirk doesn't do young puppies but we liked him very much.

Now, we spent four years outside of Minneapolis, living in the suburbs with a regional park across the street. We had pheasants and ducks that were all but pets - came to the house regularly each year with their new babies. One of our geezer rescue cats came out of the garage one fall morning and went face to face with a pheasant cock who squawked like startled pheasants sqwawk. That old tomcat set a speed record back to his bedroom two floors up and didn't get near the garage door again unless he was in full belly crawl with his tail poofed out as big as the rest of him.

I used to think Canada geese were exotic before living up there. Told my vet and old hunting buddy to come hunt the pond in our back yard - you could get a limit of chinstrap Canadian geese with a baseball bat and not spill a drop of your drink, all within 10 minutes. Vile, mean critters. The game wardens would take the newborn goslings to the Dakotas so they wouldn't imprint our neighborhood as their ancestral home, then gas Mom, Dad and the yearlings and stock the food pantries.

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Here's the result. I have bought my wife a purebred Labrador puppy who will join our home in six weeks at at the ripe age of eight weeks. We are now well advised as to how to train a puppy for basic skills -- don't poop in the house, don't gnaw on the piano, sleep in your crate and be wary of our geriatric rescue cats, because they will try and intimidate you with their poofy paws and loud hisses. There are a half dozen local kennels that can polish her manners for odd days after she's six months old.

I don't know how any rational person would have read my posting and thought that I wanted anything other than a female Lab puppy with manners who would live in a suburban environment. Never asked for advice for anything else.

I appreciated the input from tmaggie50, TwoDogs and Natasha. Kirk at Hidden Lake provided great advice. Danna Hancock at Barton Creek was a great resource once my wife explained what TexAgs was -- they are incorrigible Longhorns.

schmellba, the rescue opportunity tugged hard on my heartstrings. We love rescue pets but this was a specific personal requirement.

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A "companion" dog is often used to describe a service dog, not a "family" dog. So to most rational people who have experience with dogs, they assumed you wanted a trained companion dog. It's no one's fault, but your reaction to the advice people were giving you was pretty over the top. Your OP wasn't clear. No need to bite anyone's head off about it.

And Barton Creek Labs are huge Longhorns, but they breed amazing dogs and they're good people. My dog is no more a Longhorn than me, so if that offends you, I guess I apologize. I thought you were looking for a good line of Labs, but I guess that was something else I was unclear on.

Anyway, glad you found what you want and have fun with your new puppy.