Southern Oak Kennels

12/20/2024

Congratulations to Conor Cassidy and FTCh Cheweky Mistletoe on finishing Second Place as well as earning Guns Choice and the Glenloch Trophy for most stylish bitch at the 2024 Irish Kennel Club Retriever Championship!

Zara is a daughter of FTCh Stauntonvale Moose Milk. Conor has done incredibly well with her these last two seasons.

We love to see these Moose pups succeeding in the field, on both sides of the pond!

12/19/2024

FTCh Huck!

This dude has gone from missing to doesn’t miss… he’s figured out timber, fields, pit blinds, big spreads, and all the rest. He is a big lover and snuggler around the house and a baller in the field!

12/15/2024

Cooper!!

We’ve been saving this one!!

FTCh Nampara Casper aka “Cooper” is a big, strong athletic, driven boy who came to us after earning his Field Trial Champion title in Ireland. He is a very kind, loving fella with gentle eyes and a keen nose.

Cooper is a son of FTCh Kelmarsky Crow, winner of the Irish Championship and producer of many Field Trial Champions and Field Trial Winners.

Cooper’s pedigree has some incredible producers. The top goes back back to FTCh Tasco Brimstone and FTCh Drakeshead Vodka, both known for producing a multitude of healthy champions. The bottom goes back to FTCh Waterford Ganton and our own Int. FTCh Apache Joe. Ultimately, Cooper’s pedigree continues on some of the staple lineages of Southern Oak Kennels. Cooper will be standing stud at SOK East.

12/14/2024

Roxie!

Roxie is a beautiful, smart girl with a soft, gentle personality and a lot of go. She is very well-schooled, loves to work, and loves to be right by your side.

Roxie is a daughter of FTCh Kelmarsky Crow, winner of the Irish Retriever Championship, and FTCh Kilgola Lola.

12/14/2024

Flo!

Flo is a sweet, happy, loving girl with great drive and a fun disposition. She’s very fast and she truly doesn’t meet a stranger. Flo has a very healthy balance of drive to retrieve and drive to please, and she really likes to work “with you” in the field.

She is a daughter of FTCh Brocklebank Boorbon of Ravencote x FTCh Drakeshead Casey and was bred by Simon Capstick of Gunnerspeg Labradors.

12/13/2024

Dixie!

Of all the new Labradors we are introducing this week, Dixie is the most driven. This girl absolutely lives for it. She is as sweet as pie, never meets a stranger, and wants to retrieve birds more than anything in life.

Dixie is by FTCh Copperbirch Mandela x FTW Tamrose Mariposa. She’s athletic, strong, courageous, sweet, and absolutely beautiful.

12/12/2024

Up next - Mia!! (FTCh Ringbarn Fletching x FTCh Kilgore Lola)

This girl is always game. Around the kennels and in the duck lodge, she’s a big snuggler. In the field, she has both feet on the gas pedal. She’s an amazing Labrador with a pedigree to match. We are so thankful to have her!

12/10/2024

FTW Millbuies Goodwill aka “Will”

One week in the USA and we are loving this boy. He’s the full package, and we are so fortunate to have him.

Will aka Goodwill Hunting is a son of FTCh Troddenmills Full Throttle of Leacaz, making him a half brother to our boy Huck. On the bottom side, he’s a half brother to IGL winner FTCh Millbuies Ghillie.

Slick W***y has a mega personality and a kind, gentle nature… he doesn’t meet a stranger, and his tail never stops wagging. In the field, he has two speeds… rock steady and scorched earth.

Will is the first of six new Labrador retrievers we will be introducing this week…

12/04/2024

FTW Carnochway Kanaptious at Aithness

“Fletcher” boy has been an instant hit at HQ… He has a mega personality and the drive to match, but he is also as sweet as ice cream! We love this boy and can’t wait to get him on some birds next week!

12/02/2024

FTCh Jofless Epaulette of Shadowbrae

Huck experienced his baptism into the world of American waterfowl this weekend… with over thirty retrieves split between flooded rice and flooded timber, he never missed a beat.

Steady, calm, and quiet in the blind… Determined, fast, and methodical in the field… he’s your Huckleberry, alright.

11/28/2024

Happy Thanksgiving, folks!

We are grateful for so many friends we’ve made on this journey. We had our second litter born on Thanksgiving 2013, and some of the guys on that litter have helped us in the SOK journey every step since then.

Some friends come and go… some stick around like gum on a shoe… but true friends are always there when you need them. SOK has so many things to be thankful for in 2024, but none more important than those friends who have walked these chapters alongside us!

11/26/2024

In cloud nine. As our friends at Fowlco say, “Traditions over Conditions.”

11/24/2024

For all of you out there trying to get your kids to stand up straight and smile for your Christmas photos… we feel you.

11/10/2024

Laser focus.

There are no guarantees when it comes to genetics. The best way to describe our goal is “stacking the odds in your favor.”

Performance, health, drive, biddability, looks… we are constantly striving to provide the total package.

We breed, train and hunt British labrador retrievers. At Southern Oak Kennels our mission is to produce British Labradors that will be an improvement to the current breed standard of working Labrador retrievers.

11/07/2024

We are less than a month out from hitting the road… this year we will be headed back go Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. Long drives, early mornings, frozen water tanks… which all pale in comparison to warm fire pits, rare ribeyes, and smoking barrels.

We’re gearing up for En Route 2024-25.

11/04/2024

En Route - Ep 1 Paloma Blanco x Texas Teal

Join Aaron Davis and Barton Ramsey as they travel down south on the first trip of the 2024-25 season. This year, the guys are hitting the road to shoot birds, share meals, and capture the best Labrador retriever content in the game. Stay tuned - more to come!

Trip one of the season was our annual trek to the border… the SOK crew met up with so many of our pals for Paloma Blanco 2024. We had an epic few dove hunts ...

10/31/2024

FTCh Jofless Epaulette of Shadowbrae… sticking around for a bit now. This guy is incredible in the field and incredibly calm in the lodge!

10/28/2024

“What about upland? Can your dogs do that, too?”

Absolutely!! Most SOK pups grow up to be duck dogs, but many of those also hunt upland game… and several are exclusively upland dogs!

A strong emphasis on quartering + flushing will likely impact straight lines on blind retrieves… but you can decide which aspects are most important and focus there. The main point is that our Labrador retrievers can and do excel at both!