Desert Wind Retrievers?

[GurrCentral]

Anyone have a lab from Desert Wind Retrievers out of Ephrata? Thinking about putting a deposit on the litter from Pearl/Boone. Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[wildweeds]

I'm probably gonna  come off like a jerk with this comment but I went to their website and could not find one thing about their sires or dams in field ability testing in either the field trial or hunt test realm.I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole.They guarantee for 1 year............... fact  is hips take 2 years of growth to be evaluated.

Fancy websites are not the places to search for new hunting dogs,your far better off with the redneck who breeds for performance.In my experiance with dogs the website dogs suck and the hillbilly dogs rock.

[cem3434]

I'm probably gonna  come off like a jerk with this comment but I went to their website and could not find one thing about their sires or dams in field ability testing in either the field trial or hunt test realm.I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole.They guarantee for 1 year............... fact  is hips take 2 years of growth to be evaluated.

Fancy websites are not the places to search for new hunting dogs,your far better off with the redneck who breeds for performance.In my experiance with dogs the website dogs suck and the hillbilly dogs rock.

[Stilly bay]

what a jerk.

[GurrCentral]

I'm probably gonna  come off like a jerk with this comment but I went to their website and could not find one thing about their sires or dams in field ability testing in either the field trial or hunt test realm.I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole.They guarantee for 1 year............... fact  is hips take 2 years of growth to be evaluated.

Fancy websites are not the places to search for new hunting dogs,your far better off with the redneck who breeds for performance.In my experiance with dogs the website dogs suck and the hillbilly dogs rock.

Any recommendations on where to look for a pup then?

[Stilly bay]

Wildweeds brings up a great point. When buying a pup always look at the pups parents, that will give you a better shot in the dark over a fancy website. Anyone can design a website, its much harder to breed dogs that are worth a crap.

Ask around, there are plenty of great lab breeders around and probably a strain of lab that will suit you and your hunting style. Just be careful, for every good Lab breeder there are ten that aren't any good.

  Look into Long Hollow Retrievers, Ryan fortier is great trainer and breeder if he doesn't have something available Im sure he knows someone that does.

[YellowDog]

Tiger Mountain has a litter coming up . I emailed them a couple weeks ago and was told they are breeding Taz to Boldie due in September I believe.

Edit to add that my biggest issue with Desert Wind would be the 1 year health guarantee....might as well be no guarantee at all as far as I am concerned with the hip development issue mentioned earlier.

[Ireland Farms]

Definetley stay away from DWL. They can't really guarantee the hips for two years when they don't have their own dogs OFA certified. I also noticed that they won't refund a deposit, only transfer it to another litter. Most responsible breeders will refund a deposit if the color/sex isn't available from the litter it was placed on.

Here is a link to a couple reviews: http://www.yelp.com/biz/desert-wind-labradors-ephrata

[birdstew]

You wont find one thing about their sires or dams in field ability testing in either the field trial or hunt test realm because they dont train there dogs. They only breed and sell. All there sires are chained up. I have been to there place. I would not use them.

[runamuk]

Benbo on here just had a litter born I believe, and he produces some beautiful labs....this is a compliment as I dont care for labs, but his dogs are awfully nice.  You might shoot him a PM.

[WRL]

Any breeder who offers CKC (Continental Kennel Club not to be confused with Canadian Kennel Club) registrations, I would run not walk but RUN away from.

Continental Kennel Club does nothing more than give worthless pieces of paper out for mutts.

WRL

[tdwilson]

If you are looking for a lab in the Ephrata area you should give Lee a call at Wind River Labs (WRL).  I got a pup from her out of Buddha and Berry in December of 2011.  Great dog with a ton of drive for both training and hunting.  Very easy to train and had a great season last year picking up just under 175 birds.  He also does very well when the wife lets him in the house with both our daughters (15 months and 2 weeks old).  Not sure what she has available but i would recommend you give her a call.   

[dallygirl]

Do you want to stay in the Ephrata area?   We are getting a pup from Warren at Ireland Farms in Manson which is not too far from Ephrata.  There are a few people on the boards who have dogs from him and they have been very happy them and there are two of us on here  (that I know of) who are in line to get pups this summer.  He has a couple of litters due in July that will be ready in September and I believe he still has a few spots available.  He is a member on the board - he commented on this thread a few days ago.   He is great to work with!

[Ireland Farms]

Thanks Dallygirl, I appreciate the nice comments....I do have a few spots available for the two July litters. If Ephrata is important as far as location, I will second what tdwilson said, Lee with Wind River Labs has very nice dogs. Some of mine are out of her lines.

[GurrCentral]

Thank you for the responses! Leaning towards Wind River Labs!

[YellowDog]

Thank you for the responses! Leaning towards Wind River Labs!

Based on all of the positive feedback that has come from this site and other places I think Wind River or Ireland Farms would be a great choice. 

I just put a deposit on a Long Hollow pup which I should be able to pick up the first of September but Wind River, Ireland Farms, and Tiger Mountain were all at the top of the list of my choices and I think all produce excellent pups. 

[ducksdogsdownriggers]

Personally, I would go with a dog from Ryan Fortier of Long Hollow Retrievers and have him train through basic gun dog.  But, you can't go wrong with a dog from Tiger Mountain, and many on here would say the same about Ireland Farms and Wind River.   Guarantee and health certs/clearance are a must...  Don't make a decision based on what someone on the internet says.  If I were in your shoes, I'd drive to each and meet with the owner and the dogs, make my decision based on that. 

[PointNLab]

As a breeder I would highly recommend Tiger Mountain (we bred to Taz and love the pups) and/or Wind River labs. We have sent buyers to both with great success. Both are reputable breeders.

[Happy Gilmore]

Use the search function. There have been many comments on this subject

[ghosthunter]

Ireland farms


http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,101124.0.html

[canyelk48]

Word of caution:  Beware of Desert Wind Labradors in Ephrata, you may be paying more for pups that they didn't even breed!  A good friend of mine sold 3 of her lab pups to them thinking they were going to a good home for $300 each, only to get a call later from another person who had purchased one of those pups for $900 from them.  Don't know if Desert Wind represented themselves as the breeder or what, but in my book it was a pretty sleazy thing to do.  Nothing wrong with making a little profit, but the markup was excessive and it appears they were just buying labs to sell to potential clients because they didn't have anything available at the time.  JMO, they may be reputable breeders; just don't agree with what they did.

[JustWantedaPuppy]

After seven months of waiting, while driving through a snow storm to get there across mountain passes, the business owner set a time for pick up, then promptly called me back and told me she was no longer going to sell me a puppy with no explanation whatsoever. After so many failed litters, and so much patience on our part, we were extremely disappointed. Business owner then refused to respond to us. They had a $250 deposit from us, which we are refusing to be refunded because of their immoral and indecent business practices. I've complained to the BBB.

I still have no idea what could have happened to make them change their mind in an instant like that, but I have read in other online searches about their questionable business practices and breeding activities.

Don't get left heartbroken like we did. This puppy was to replace a brown lab we had to put down at two from cancer. Thankfully a much BETTER breeder took pity on our story and is offering us another puppy. We will always be grateful to them!

[GurrCentral]

Old thread.....but I ended up getting a pup from Wind River Labs, NOT Desert Wind Retrievers, and couldn't be happier. Mellow in the house and great with kids, but he is a beast in the blind.

[Happy Gilmore]

I've recommended you all call that place about a bazillion times and pm'd just as many.... 😊

[BD1]

X2 for Ireland Farms
Mike

[JJD]

Old thread.....but I ended up getting a pup from Wind River Labs, NOT Desert Wind Retrievers, and couldn't be happier. Mellow in the house and great with kids, but he is a beast in the blind.

I think I have his brother.    
Good dog, however I can't pass judgement on how good he is or could be.  He's probably the poorest trained dog I've owned in over 30 yrs.  My health issues over the past 3 yrs have prevented training as it should have been.

[GurrCentral]

Old thread.....but I ended up getting a pup from Wind River Labs, NOT Desert Wind Retrievers, and couldn't be happier. Mellow in the house and great with kids, but he is a beast in the blind.

I think I have his brother.    
Good dog, however I can't pass judgement on how good he is or could be.  He's probably the poorest trained dog I've owned in over 30 yrs.  My health issues over the past 3 yrs have prevented training as it should have been.

Mine is out of Jake and Berry..

[JJD]

Mine boy is out of Jake & Bella 

[GurrCentral]

Mine boy is out of Jake & Bella 

Awesome!!  Love the pups out of Jake! If only I could talk the Mrs.'s into another one! hahahaha!

[JJD]

 
My old CBR (the one in my avatar) is about done.
I may see Lee about another pup soon.
IMO, dogs do much better when they have company of their own kind.

If you are looking for a British slug, then a pup out of Jake is probably not for you.
My boy Axle has energy to spare, however that energy can be controlled with moderate effort. He is always hunting, even at heel, he's sniffing the air or the ground.
Axle is our 7th Lab, I don't think I have owned one who marked better.