Why we kept this dog
Why this one's in the program.
Duke wasn't bought as a breeding prospect. Tom bought him as a hunting dog — and then watched him put up performances at Cheyenne Bottoms that other waterfowlers started talking about. Other hunters asked where the puppies were. There weren't any. By 2003 there were.
What this dog brings
Temperament & field work.
What Duke gave the program:
- The chocolate Labrador foundation — birdiness, drive, and a soft mouth
- OFA Good hips and elbows — paperwork still on file, two decades later
- Hunt-tested across thirteen waterfowl seasons at Cheyenne Bottoms and beyond
- Sired the first six litters of Smokey Hill Retrievers — every dog in our line traces back
- Set the standard for what we breed for: hunt hard, settle deep, live clean
Health Clearances
- OFA Good hips
- OFA Good elbows
- Hunt-tested over 13 seasons at Cheyenne Bottoms
- Founding sire of Smokey Hill Retrievers bloodlines
Temperament & Field Work
- Founding sire — the dog the kennel was built around
- Local legend at Cheyenne Bottoms
- Marked retrieves on doubles and triples in heavy cover
- Calm at home, hard in the blind — the Smokey Hill standard
Litters & Placements
From the pups we've placed.
Duke is retired. He spent his last years exactly where he should have — by the wood stove with the grandkids. His bloodlines run through every Lab we've placed since 2003, and the standard he set is the standard we still breed to today.
Duke was the dog every waterfowler in central Kansas wanted to hunt with. Tom and Maggie started breeding because the rest of us asked them to.
Interested in a pup from this dog?
Tell us a little about your family or your hunting and we'll talk through the fit. Replies usually within a day or two — Tom, Maggie, or Sarah, never an auto-responder.