Great!! Thanks so much! I had a turkey hunting mentor who said all my Springers were good for was as a "cockleburr catcher" but he was impressed at how smart and well trained they were. I love dogs, including labs, who will in my experience eat a doghouse slap to pieces. To each his own. Appreciate the lead!

I'm a little late to this post, but I have owned my Boykin since June and overall he's a great pup. He is currently 5months old and comes from a hunting bloodline and I can tell when he's retrieving. He is a really smart pup but at times he's just plain hard headed. He will be going to the trainer when he hits 6 or 7 months of age. I have high expectations for this one.

Just be sure whoever you get a pup from has the proper genetic testing done and papers to go with. I looked for about 2 years before I finally found one without being put on some sort of wait list. I am extremely satisfied with the breed.

Dogs mimic their owner’s behavior.

Lol

Mine used to be hell on socks!!!

I trained dogs for years and encountered some fine pointing and retrieving dogs. Then I met a Boykin and was blown away. Had to have one. My Boykin is now 14 years old and the finest overall dog I've personally handled. Great disposition. A retrieving machine on land and water. Comfortable in a duck blind, on a dove field, or blood trailing a deer. Highly intelligent. Excellent memory. Recalls where the fetch toys are kept at friends' houses we may only visit twice a year. Large vocabulary. High octane when it's time to retrieve but totally chilled on the recliner or in a crowd of people. Takes verbal and hand signals. Uncanny ability to read body language and anticipate my next move. Very social. Has never growled or shown aggression. LOVES to ride. Thinks she owns a Tundra Crewmax and a Polaris Ranger.

One night I took her in a Tractor Supply store right at closing time. The manager had never seen a Boykin and wanted to see her retrieve something. I knew they kept the Kong fetch toys near floor level on pegboard. So I pointed toward that side of the store and told Pearl to go find a ball. Pearl tears out and begins zipping through aisles. She comes back to the counter with a Kong rubber fetch ball. It was slobbered up where she tugged the package off the pegboard hook. Then I had Pearl place it up on the counter so we could pay for it. This Boykin has so many friends that she needs her own FB page.

As for breeders, you might start with Pam Kadlec at Just Ducky Kennels in SC. She wrote the book on Boykins and has a reputation for top quality hunting stock that make great family dogs too.

Here’s mine waiting on me to give him the command to eat his bone..

Here he is chilling on the couch at the beach..

My boykin is far from the sharpest tool in the shed but is a great dog. In fact, the highly intelligent little girl just shat out a sock at lunch that she ate Tuesday afternoon.

My neighbor has a Boykin male and he is a good dog, a little rambunctious at times. He is very friendly to me, not so much to strangers, which I like. He keeps strangers out of my driveway. He loves playing fetch and any type of attention from me. The owner says he is not much of a hunter though. He hates my garbage can with a passion for some reason. He literally attacked it yesterday when I rolled it back off the street He didn't bother me at all but tried to eat the can up.

this we took ours duck hunting in flooded timber one evening. I had to carry him wrapped in my jacket 1 mile out that night or we would have lost him. So just my limited experience duck hunting with him they are not near as able to take the cold as labs. And don’t never take one duck hunting near cockle burrs unless you want to spend hours picking them out lol. He was a great pet. I have seen quail hunters that love them as flushing birds.

Picking up my Male Boykin Pup "Coosa" on Friday. Very excited.

We were some friend's house last night and I noticed a magazine with a boykin retrieving a duck on the cover. I asked the guy and turns out he has 3 of them. He breeds them as well and sells them all over the country. I was reading the magazine (it was for Boykin owners) and was fascinated. Just never considered one but the more I've read about them and seeing the comments on here, I will be considering one for our next hunting/family dog.

Dr. B

Doc, I have one that failed as a hunting dog due to myself not working with her. She is a great dog family wise and loves sleeping in the bed. She is 3.5 yrs old and weighs 30lbs on the dot.

My 7 week male pup coosa is showing a lot of promise. It’s fascinating watching him pick up new things daily. Boykins are different in the fact you can’t discipline them like a lab. It takes a steady hand and temperament to do it right. Our biggest hurdle of course at the moment is biting of the pants leg.

my boykin is great retriever, very obedient, will sit by me all day...…

but has been gun shy since birth.

great family dog though. goes bow hunting with me and sits in ground blind from time to time.

My Boykin is a 13mo female. She's as good a dog as I've ever owned. Great personality, very eager to please. Loves the woods and field. She's always "hunting" though not sure what for. She loves to play fetch. I'm working with her best I can on retrieving work. She's pretty solid on bumpers and marked retrieves. High drive. Steady at heel. We've introduced feathers and she loves that. She loves to chase squirrels. She's naturally "birdy." I can't afford to send her off for professional training so I'm doing it myself. Her eagerness to please has made obedience and the training I've done so far pretty easy.

They are not labs as you said. I do use an ecollar on mine. She takes little stimulation. The ecollar was a game changer for me.