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Looking into buying a Boykin. I've seen them work and think they're great dogs. I just wanted to get some other opinions. If you have any I would like to hear them.

I had a Boykin 15 years ago, probbably the girst one around thede parts, a GREAT DOG, fantastic retriever, wonderful pet. Got lots of jokes about my "novelty retriever". Since then I have gone back to all labs, In my opinion i dont think the Boykin has the coat for the cold water, mine would get really cold almost to the point of being scared for the dogs health. All that asside he was a very energetic dog, lots of drive and a joy to hunt with....Just a great companion.

what we need is the smallness of a boykin with the coat of a chessi, ive also been looking at one, just wandering if they could take the punishing of a chessi,

NO they cant take a lot of COLD water ,,, but we dont have too many days when its that cold . My Chessie loves the cold and ice.

i love my chessi but at 110 lbs he is a lot of dog, since i had a lab that topped the scales at 45 to 47 lbs alot more dog, but in 3 years ive never seen him even shiver, seen him stay in the water for over an hour picking up 40 to 50 birds, needless to say my old lab would have froze to death,

maybe they should cross a chessie with a boykin....you know like the labradoodle.

MAYBE CALL IT A CHEKIN OR SOMETHING......


...my uncle used to only hunt with boykins....course he lives in south alabama so it is not quite as cold as some other places. Now he has a lab....he says he likes the boykins better but sometimes the size of the lab helps him get into places that the boykins would struggle with.


...for me it's labs forever cause that's just the way it is.

try the american water spaniel. bred in the north back when you had market hunters. same size as boykin with all the same attributes. great dogs

Is there someone else on this list who owns an American Water Spaniel?
They get referred to sometimes as an apartment sized Chessie.
Art

I have a friend who trains and breeds them. PM me if you want his info.

I have trained and hunted over my fair share of labs, and they are a great dog, they are just not for everyone. Just like some folks like a ford, others like a chevy.
I hunt my boykins on everything: Quail, dove, duck, an occassional goose, and pheasants in South Dakota. They are a great versatile dog. When it is 15 degrees out, I am not taking my Boykin, cause I am staying home too cause all the water around here is totally frozen over. I have hunted where my Boykin has had to break ice in order to get the duck, and she never let up. Once the retrieve was complete, she sat there watching the sky waiting for the next group of birds. Like with any breed of dog, if the dog is not acclimated to the temps, they will have problems dealing with it.
If you want to see first hand, send me a PM and we can get together. Three things I like, hunting, drinking a cold beer, and talking boykins.
By the way, for the poster that suggested crossing a chessie with a boykin. Just so happens, that with all breeds we have today, they were once crossed with many things in order to develope what we have today. With most breeds that have been around for so many years, it is hard to know what was truely in them. With the Boykin, which the breed is just over 100 years old, we are able to know a few of the breeds that were crossed in to develope the dog as it is today. A chessie is one of those breeds that was bred into the orignal lines years and years ago to help with what we have today.

I watched a boykin almost die of hypothermia 2 seasons ago in the Mississippi delta. Don't ever want to see that again. Not sure if it was the lack of coat, or a dog that had not spent time being acclimated to cold water. I have seen a couple running tests that were nice dogs, but I would personally want a bigger dog for how and where I hunt.

GulfCoast wrote:I watched a boykin almost die of hypothermia 2 seasons ago in the Mississippi delta. Don't ever want to see that again. Not sure if it was the lack of coat, or a dog that had not spent time being acclimated to cold water. I have seen a couple running tests that were nice dogs, but I would personally want a bigger dog for how and where I hunt.

My ol man has a little corker of a Boykin, had his HRCH right before he turned 2yo, when the temps are below 30, he stays home and my lab is in the box, there is no reason to subject the lil dude to misery 'just because'.

REALLY Nice dogs, just not my cup of tea. My family has had them since 1980, I grew up with them (I'm now on my 3rd lab ). Odd personalities fo sho, lil suckas think they are as big as a Chessie but in reality they train quite 'soft' and handle pressure differently than a lab, but if you work through it, they can do the work and do it well.

Chessies in Boykins HE&% Yea ,,, i knew there was something in there i liked ,,,,,,,,,,,and BamaK9 i hear ELVIS is still looking for you

I'm in south Alabama, so it's not real cold, but i love my boykin. She will shiver a bit in cold conditions (relative to s. alabama), but her drive doen't let up. 43 pounds so i through her in my sneak and go where i please. Loves to hunt like no other dog i've had...anyhting from dove to ducks, woodcocks to geese, even the occasional rabbit or squirrel when i want her to. Trailed an arrowed deer w/ her once too. Great, very loyal pet. I will never own another breed.