Country Roads Retrievers

08/02/2023

This years youth hunt is going to be so awesome that I’m just going to go ahead and start identifying as a child. It’s 2023 and your facts about the matter can’t trump my feelings. The wife has been telling me for years that I need to grow up. Well, after the youth hunt I’ll think about it.

08/02/2023

I can’t believe this guy. Comes back to training after being out for two months and says he wants a chicken nugget before he will run his marks. Just kidding. Glad to have Meeko back on the truck again. This dude loves the game and I think he is glad to be out retrieving as well.

08/02/2023

Looking for your next stud dog?

Proceeds from any breeding using Tonka between now and the end of November will go towards supporting the 18 kids that will be drawn to hunt on December 2nd and December 9th for my youth hunt Giveaway at Oak Hill Shooting Preserve. Will only breed him to approved females.

HRCH Tarheel’s Drake Haulin Tonka MH
-First master pass at 12 months old
-Earned Master title and qualified for nationals at 15 months old.
-Earned his HRCH at 18 months old.
-First Grand pass at 25 months old.

DNA all clear. OFA hips good, elbows normal, eyes normal. Non-Dilute. Yellow with Hidden Black

https://www.huntinglabpedigree.com/studdog.asp?id=149704

08/01/2023

Another item that will be given away this year is a fully guided upland hunt at Oak Hill Preserve curtoesy of Joshua D Brown. Winner will be able to coordinate a date in January or February for the upland hunt.

08/01/2023

Following the youth duck hunts each day in December we will also be providing a shooting class and Annie Oakley competition for the kids.

Ashlan McNinch and her husband Joe have offered to provide these shooting classes and host the Annie Oakley competition for the kids that get drawn.

Ashlan McNinch has her level 1 NSCA, won some stuff in the ladies division at the JR US Open in high school and was an assistant coach for a HS team.

Joe McNinch shot competitively through college and is an Alumni from Clemson’s shotgun team, and has also been an assistant youth team coach.

This is going to be a lot of fun and we really appreciate you and your husband offering up your time to do this for the kids.

08/01/2023

Just spoke with Dawson from Avian Addicts Taxidermy and he has agreed to do a free duck mount for this years youth hunt. Dawson helped us out with the youth hunt last year by providing a free mount and appreciate him coming back for another year.

08/01/2023

Just visited my local gun store to ask about supporting this years youth event. They can’t give a shotgun away, but can provide one at cost. They are also willing to donate some other items.

If you would like to help raise the funds to buy a shotgun that will be given away to a kid at this years youth hunt please contact me.

08/01/2023

Chaco also getting his first chance at a live duck today. He did really good being steady. Something we have worked on with bumpers before to get corrections in for breaking. Today he did really good with his steadiness at a distance so I really wanted to challenge him with a duck right in his face and he did really well.

08/01/2023

Always fun getting a young dog on their first live duck. Fen was hesitant the first time but quickly came around.

08/01/2023

Congratulations to all the recipients and especially John Ross Peedin of our very own Eastern Carolina HRC.

Hey Jackalyn Lovejoy, hopefully you can be fortunate enough to win this next year.

07/31/2023

Contentnea Creek Waterfowl has offered to make a custom call for one of the 18 kids at this years youth hunt. Last year they provided several great calls for our youth event and appreciate their support. Thank you.

07/31/2023

Big thank you to Wicked Killer Calls for providing all 18 duck calls for this years youth event. Be sure to go check them out at

Wicked Killer Custom Calls, LLC

07/31/2023

Scott Tabor with Troublesome Creek Taxidermy helped us out last year by doing some free duck mounts for the youth hunt and he is back on board this December and will be doing THREE free mounts. That’s is freakin awesome.

These are some of the mounts he did for the kids last year.

07/31/2023

Great news for the kids. I just got off the phone with Oak Hill Shooting Preserve and with the additional blinds that they have built we are going to up the number of kids from 10 to 18 for this years event. Will get 9 kids out there per day and they will all have their own spot. 18 is going to be the max we go for this two day event because I really want each kid to have their own blind that way there isn’t any confusion on which kid shot the duck or one kid killing everything before the other has a chance.

If your able to help volunteer we would really appreciate it. Will have some guys that work at Oak Hill helping push and release ducks when needed in one area but will need a few folks to help do the same across the road from the main entrance at the pond over there.

07/31/2023

Vet is thinking 7 pups for Dixie.

07/31/2023

The amount of support this youth hunting event has received last year and so far this year is amazing. I’m going to sit down and see how we can get more kids involved in the youth hunt. I believe we can add a few more but I don’t want to over do it because I want the kids to be spread out and enjoy the experience instead of being stacked up together. I’ll let everyone know how many more kids we will look to try and get sponsored. Thank you all for your support to make this happen.

07/31/2023

Got our 18 kids sponsored. Freakin awesome. I will also be looking for people to come run dogs to pick up ducks for these kids. Priority for running a dog will go to those sponsoring a kid if they want to bring their dog. After that, I will ask for volunteers to come do that.

So far I just want to say Thank You to the following sponsors that have stepped up:

Joshua D Brown
Wes Lewis
Doug and Nikki Kitzmiller
Tyler Greer
Kaimen Williams
Tyler and Jessica Hall
Gary Edwards
Noah Ford
David Chapman
Lee and Jenny Shank (2 kids)
AG Smith
Logan Benninghoff
Jacob O’Brien Jones
Bonnie Moore
Lauren Burns
Korrie Manning

Special note: Jessica Hall works with the UPS store in Elizabeth City and has offered to make a canvas print for every kid that gets drawn. So we will make sure we try and get some great pictures for that.

Duck Calls (18) being provided by Wicked Killer Calls

Call Lanyards (18) provided by James Wilkenson from RNR Dog Gear

Three free duck mounts provided by Troublesome Creek Taxidermy

One custom call from Contentnea Creek Waterfowl.

Other items needed:

Food - Will be cooking breakfast for everyone both days.

People to volunteer cook and help push ducks around for the kids.

Working on gathering other items that can be given to the kids as well. Last year some companies provided hats and shirts.

07/30/2023

****Sponsor Search****

Last year we were able to raise enough money to get 10 lucky kids out on a youth duck hunt at Oak Hill Shooting Preserve and this year we want to do it again. Will a little more planning this time.

If you would like to help support this event by helping a kid (16 and under) go duck hunting please let me know. Looking to get 18 kids drawn for this giveaway which I will start at a later date. Looking to host 18 kids December 2nd and 9th. 9 kids each day.

The cost per kid is $200. That will allow them to shoot 4 ducks. There is no limit, but every duck over 4 is $25 each and that cost is on the guardian who brings the child.

Even if you can’t sponsor a kid yourself, we had plenty of people pitch in whatever they could to cover the cost. This event started last year with me paying for one kid and with all the support from people all over is how we got 10 kids paid for last year. In addition, we got them all duck calls and call lanyards. We even gave away free duck mounts.

These kids had an absolute blast with several young kids killing their very first ducks. If you got drawn last year, please share this post and help explain what it meant for you and your kid.

Again, please hit me up if you would like to help sponsor a kid for this coming December 2nd and 9th.

07/30/2023

Tighter to the bank than Will Farrels white pants. Wanted a little more off the shoreline but in true thunder launcher fashion you don’t always get the same throw every time. But ol Heidi walked the tight rope and got it done.

07/25/2023

Taking my favorite girl out for a pup cup.

07/24/2023

Looking to add one more dog to the kennel this fall for gun dog training.

-Puppy Headstart
For retrievers under 6 months of age. This program allows young dogs the opportunity to tag along and start getting accustomed to all the sights, sounds and smells your gun dog is going to encounter. Introduction to duck wings, pigeons, dead ducks, live mallards, water, shotguns and shot simulating sounds. Will also begin basic obedience.

-Basic Gun Dog
For retrievers 6 months and older. This program introduces the basic fundamentals of a gun dog. Will focus on basic obedience, hold conditioning, Force Fetch, ecollar conditioning, water, pigeons, dead ducks, live mallards, Momarsh stand, gun fire and other shot simulating devices. Will be able to run simple singles and deliver birds to hand. We will whistle trained to basics such as “here” and “sit”.

-Advanced Gun Dog
Dog will learn how to run multiple marks and learn how to handle so that it can run blind retrieves. Will also learn how to honor another working dog.

07/23/2023

Dixie being pregnant has her limited to serving as setup coordinator for todays training. She keeps arguing with me that part of her job description is to run the marks but that ain’t happening.

07/23/2023

Online Event Entry Service

07/22/2023

Fen doing a great job.
✅ proceed directly to the mark
✅ fetch and hold without being mouthy
✅ deliver to hand

07/21/2023

Got more hats back in stock if anyone is interested. Far left is a flex fit. Rest are snapback

07/21/2023

07/20/2023

All these lab pups out there for sale with sire and dam that “HUNT”. Hell, most of the people that say that don’t even care to health test before breeding so why should everyone believe that the dog hunts.

It’s not about the dog getting ducks. It’s about how well the dog does it’s job of getting those ducks. Not saying the dog has to be perfect, but any lab off the tit will get out there and run around like a pup.

Just because you drag the dog out there to the swamp with you doesn’t mean the dog hunts.

Running or swimming around all over the swamp because it can’t mark and go directly to the area of the fall is not want you want out of a dog that HUNTS.

Having to throw rocks or walk out to help the dog find the duck does not mean the dog HUNTS.

A Retriever is one of the most valuable conservation tools a hunter can have. And a well trained retriever is fun to watch. Retrievers that learn how to be a team player with their handler are fun to watch and it’s those dogs that people enjoy hunting over because they aren’t disturbing the hunt.

07/19/2023

Mercy banging out this long mark. When I first got her, I honestly didn’t think she would pan out. Got her at about 9 months old and it took me two months just to get her to want to retrieve. Then went through a phase where she balked on blinds a lot. So glad their owners have stuck it out with her because she is turning into a really nice dog.

07/18/2023

If your in the market for a new hunting partner or family companion, ensuring your getting a healthy pup should be your number 1 concern above all other factors. After all, your looking at a 10 to 15 year commitment. What good does that outstanding pedigree do for you now when you have a medical nightmare on your hands. So many back yard breeders out there not doing any health testing at all and still getting $1,000 or more from people that just don’t know.

Saw this post on one of the pages I follow. Can you imagine being a breeder and being responsible for bringing a dog into this world and putting this family in a position where now they have a pet that will have medical issues it’s entire life all because that breeder wanted to make a few extra dollars. It makes me sick.

Labradors can be carriers of several genetic diseases and if your breeding without doing DNA you suck at life. The only way to tell if a dog is a carrier of a genetic disease is to have their DNA tested. In addition, you want to ensure hip and Elbow OFA’s are done to ensure the dogs being bred don’t have dysplasia.

I can go on and on. But any reputable breeder out there does these health checks and will gladly show you the results upon request. If they won’t, run away.

07/17/2023

Early goose season is getting so close we can smell it.

07/17/2023

Water drills with Chaco. I really enjoy working with high energy retrievers and he is making me a fan of Goldens. Still early on in his training and chaotic at times, but when the lightbulb comes on with these dogs and they learn how to become team players they are so fun to watch.

07/16/2023

To hot to work the dogs in the middle of the day so I grabbed the mower and worked on my farmers tan.

07/14/2023

Although the dog world comes with it’s fair share of drama at times, you can’t beat the level of support you get from people all over the place and the friendships that you make. This being my first litter, I want to make sure I am prepared and just want to thank everyone with experience for taking the time to help answer all the stupid questions I have.
Ryan Springle, Shalina Little, Jordan Mize, Brittany Scurry, Lynnette Simpson, Kevin Nunn, Alexie Hartman, Madeline Finnegan, Amy Avery, and all the others that have provided advice.

Also, thank you Shalina for letting me borrow this whelping pen.

07/14/2023

Meeko getting off the couch and coming out for a quick session this morning.

Swinging with the gun ✅
Take water on cheaty mark ✅
Taking bumper back to dad instead of me 🤦‍♂️😂

07/14/2023

After doing some thinking, I have decided that anyone buying a pup from the Tonka and Dixie Litter I will offer title bonuses for Senior/Seasoned titles ($100) and Finished/Master titles $200.

07/13/2023

Deposits are coming in and the following picks have been reserved:

1st Pick Yellow Male

1st Pick Yellow Female

1st Pick Black Female
2nd Pick Black Female

Still looking to lock in second pick yellow male and the first two picks for yellow female before litter is born. Deposit will be refunded if your choice isn’t born. Don’t miss out on locking in your pick

07/12/2023

So excited to see the little Tonka’s and Dixie’s running around next month.

07/12/2023

Finlee rolling through Force Fetch and having fun doing it. Just starting to work through the “disconnect” to get her to pick it up without my hand still holding it. That can be a hurdle in the process that can take some time for them to grasp. But she is doing well and liking the progress she is making and she is learning how to turn the pressure off. She is a soft dog but that doesn’t matter, if she works on a level 1 that’s great for me and her.

07/11/2023

Going to give it a few days to hear back from everyone on my waitlist but going to start taking deposits soon. Have had to many people on the waitlist back out after todays update and I need to figure out who is serious and also be able to let people know what picks are still available. Totally understand that circumstances change and not upset about people dropping from the waitlist.

I’m going to start getting deposits for the following:

Yellow male:
1st Pick - Reserved
2nd Pick

Yellow female:
1st Pick
2nd Pick

Black male:
1st Pick
2nd Pick

Black female:
1st Pick - Reserved
2nd Pick

Deposit will be refunded or transferred to the next available pick if the color and gender you wanted isn’t born.