Duck River Kennels

10/22/2026

10/11/2026

❤️❤️❤️

Forget designer labels, Lab hair is the real sign of a good life. 😂 You can lint-roll all you want, but somehow there’s always more. Eventually, you just accept it as part of the outfit. Because being covered in Lab hair usually means you’re also surrounded by Lab love.

09/22/2026

My eyes aren’t leaking. Yours are. ❤️‍🩹

09/22/2026

Happy National Dog WEEK!!!

09/16/2026

A Labrador can plunge into water cold enough to leave a person gasping and swim through it as if it were a warm summer pond. The secret is a body quietly engineered for the North Atlantic. ❄️

It starts with the coat. A Lab wears a double layer, a soft dense undercoat for insulation beneath a slightly oily outer coat that sheds water and keeps the skin from soaking through. That trapped layer of warmth works on the same principle as a wetsuit. 🌊

There is also clever plumbing in the legs. Like many cold water animals, dogs use a heat exchange system where warm blood heading down toward the paws runs alongside cold blood coming back, passing along its heat so the body core stays warm even when the feet are in icy water. It is the reason a Lab can stand on frozen ground and stay comfortable.

All of it traces back to Newfoundland, where the breed's ancestors hauled nets and lines from frigid seas beside fishermen. The cold was never an obstacle for those dogs. It was simply the job. 💛

08/04/2026

Another fine example of the versatility of Labrador Retrievers. We have two available.

Texas Game Warden K9 Lola, her handler and a pilot with our Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program assisted local and state law enforcement partners in Erath County today following an escape from the jail.

Starting from the suspect’s discarded pants, Lola followed his scent for more than a mile, across streets, past businesses and down alleys, until they reached the Bosque River. Turns out, ditching your pants doesn’t equal ditching your scent when you have a pro like K9 Lola on your trail.

She easily led her handler to the suspect on the other side of the river. He was subsequently taken back into custody by the Erath County Sheriff’s Office.

Outstanding work by everyone involved in bringing the incident to a safe conclusion. (And yes, Lola got a bath.)

07/17/2026

We raise Labrador Retrievers, but we love ALL dogs. Please support Dustin Michael Hensley in setting up his foundation in honor of his recently passed best friend Gentry. Dustin, we know what this feels like. Let us know how we can help. We plan to make a donation soon. God bless you, Brother. ☦️

— Philip Crabtree & Jana Raye Crabtree