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.