A breeding program all starts with puppies which mature in to the sires and dams that a kennel uses for breeding. Selecting these puppies is not an easy task. You have to be on the look out for traits that you do not want to pass on to their future pups. In selecting pups for our breeding program we look for intelligence, bloodlines, temperament, conformation, color, and size.

    I look for the bloodlines on both the male and female.  I believe that both parents play an equal part in creating an outstanding pup and both should be "above average". If a dog does not measure up to our standards, they are stricken from the program. All of our pups can count numerous National Field Champions, National Amateur Field Champions, Field Champions, Amateur Field Champions and hunt test titled dogs in their bloodlines. Please look at the Sires and Dams pages to view their pedigrees.   

    This labor of love started in 1999. I was a duck hunter who felt like a part of me was missing..... I had no dog. I decided after a lot of soul searching that I needed a Labrador Retriever to make myself complete. What an understatement that was! 

     I called various friends searching for a Lab puppy. I looked through many newspapers and found a lot of ads. After looking at those puppies I could not find one that met every requirement I had. Some were not socialized, some seemed not to have a desire to fetch anything other than the food in their bowl. When I was about to give up a friend told me of an ad he had seen so I called and talked to the breeder. He said he had bloodlines, conformations, instincts and he was a water fowler himself. I thought I had better go take a look. That was a decision I have never regretted. I got my pup home. Read some of the books the breeder had mentioned on training and started to work with this future hunter.

     As the months progressed, my pup and I grew closer and developed a friendship based on trust. She amazed me with the progress she made. On the season opener my friend Ralph, Mocha and I went down to my secret "honey hole". I brought a boat just in case something went wrong. Imagine my surprise as two greenheads came in, I shot and dropped one ( I never said I was a good shot). Mocha got excited, but stood there, it was her big moment. I gave her the command "back" and away she went. Upon presenting me with her first "real" retrieve, I was hooked. That evening as I reflected back on that little pup I had " found", I  came to the conclusion that finding a high quality lab should be pleasurable experience and with that Storm Mountain Kennels was born. It is the goal of Storm Mountain Kennels to make the experience of finding a high quality Labrador Retriever easy and enjoyable.