Started Dogs

Hunting Dogs, Bomb Dogs, Fire Dogs, Stud Dogs... You name it, our dogs are active all over the U.S. and in other countries, working hard for the good of humankind!

Current Started Dogs (Listed below)

We get a lot of calls for started dogs and only sell about 3-6 started dogs per year. For this reason we have either 1) listed our current started dogs on bottom of this page, or 2) we can send you the most current information on our started dogs upon request.

Often because of demand, people end up buying our dogs before their training is complete, then they pay us to continue training these dogs until they either have more training or are “started dogs.

Below are a few questions that we often get, in our conversations with people about started dogs.

  1. Do you have any female started dogs? Occasionally we do, but this is more uncommon because, if we keep a female, we make more money using her in our breeding program than we do selling her as a started dog. If we do have a female, there may be a health-related reason for disqualifying from our breeding program. If this is the case, this disqualification seldom has a significant effect on the dog’s life and wellbeing. The good news is that she has usually been selected by us as the pick of the litter female when she was a young puppy.
  2. Do you have any male started dogs? More often we do have male started dogs. Generally, these dogs are also selected by us as potential studs. This means they are almost perfect in every way. Pedigree, intelligence, disposition, hunting desire, trainability, and natural point all have to be very strong. The average hunter would be very satisfied with a dog that has failed to make it through our stud selection program. About 1 out of 15 of our started males is selected to be a stud dog for us. He must also be able to attain at least a Master Hunt title and potentially a Grand Master Pointing Retriever Title.
  3. How much do started dogs cost? That question is answered below.

Cost

Started and finished dogs can cost anywhere from $1000-$8000, depending on the following variables:

  • Level of training
  • Pedigree
  • Natural pointing ability
  • Quality and prospects for breeding or competition
  • Gender
  • Health testing

The average started dog cost between $3000-4000.
  1. Why purchase a started dog?
    1. You have no time to train your dog.
    2. It takes the risk out of a dog purchase.
    3. You enjoy the hunting of a dog, but have little knowledge of the training process.
    4. You want to enjoy more hunting or competing with your dog.
  2. What is the best way to get a strong started dog?
    1. Started dogs are hard to find. First, ask us if we have what you need. If we don’t, we’ll take your name and then you should ask 2-5 other trainers if they can provide the dog you need. Ask each trainer to give you a call when they have a strong started dog that fits your needs. Then email them every two months until you find the dog you want, or…
    2. Buy a quality pup from us, house break it, and train it in basic obedience. Then return it to us (or another trainer) at around 6 months of age for more advanced training.

Availability

We often do not advertise our started dogs in advance, because they're in such high demand and sell more quickly than we can advertise. We have found that often by the time we have the pups trained and ready for the website they have already been sold.

Often started dogs are sold 6-18 months in advance. This is due to demand and allows us to tailor the training to the individual hunter. Occasionally, we also have trained companion dogs for sale for people who do not have plans to hunt. To check on availability of started or companion dogs email pete@kiddercreek.org.

*Older Dogs: Occasionally, we get calls from clients who want older dogs for fire and bomb detection and other work. After our dams have been bred a few times, we retire them from our breeding program and sometimes make them available for sale. These dogs, however, may only have minimal obedience training. Give us a call to see what older Labs (3-4 year-olds) we might have available.

Click on the following link to see some pictures of previously-placed dogs that are happily hunting and living with their new owners. Click here to read some Marble Mountain Kennels’ started dog owners’ comments.

Training

Most started dogs are 9-15 months old and have 4-7 months of training. They have been exposed to and should respond well to the following:

  • Solid basic obedience, including sit, stay, heel, come, mat, kennel, and good house manners
  • A good quartering pattern for upland hunting
  • The “Whoa” command with sharpened natural point
  • Steadiness to wing and shot
  • 20-50 birds shot over them
  • Good retrieve and delivery
  • Basic blind manners
  • Holding for and retrieving double marks in a duck hunting scenario

It should be remembered that started dogs have a basic sense of obedience to commands and have been exposed to many crucial aspects of hunting. They are not finished and will need further exposure and training to see them advance in their proficiency as first class hunting dogs and household companions. It is our hope that we can make you aware of areas of strength and weakness in each animal, so there is little in the way of surprise. It is recommended that the new owner pick up his dog in person. This will allow the owner to become more familiar with the dog and the entire training process.

Guarantee

Started dogs have the same 26-month guarantee on health issues (See puppy reservations) that any Marble Mountain Kennels puppy has. If it is found that a dog cannot be breed due to genetic health problems, a puppy of equal breeding will be given to replace the started pup. There will be no refund for the training time of the dog and there should be no expectation that the replacement will be trained.

Once a pup has been received, the new owner has two months to assess its training ability. After that point, no refunds will be made for anything other than genetic diseases. This is because each pups’ training will regress unless some tune-up training is used to keep him/her sharp.

Where Some of Our Dogs are Now

  • Our beautiful chocolate Lab, Lucky Lake of Marble Mountain "Lake" sold for $4,000. We retained stud breeding rights on him so we can still get some great offspring from his strong genes and pedigree.
  • Our dog Rifle is now a bomb detection dog at the San Francisco Airport.
  • Our yellow female Honey is now a fire detection dog in British Columbia, Canada.
  • We sold Amari to Archway Kennels in San Antonio, Texas. Her puppies are slated for bomb detection work.