Leader Creek Kennel's dedication to excellence in breeding quality field trial and hunt test retrievers is reflected in our first litter; a perfect match of desire and tractability in HRCH Majestic Miss Molly Brown (Molly) and hard charging attitude in FC-AFC Carolina’s Smoke On the Water (Lil’ Man). This combination has us very excited.

We began our journey as committed waterfowl enthusiast with a desire to train our own hunting retriever. When Molly came into our lives we thought we had a nice hunting dog but quickly found out we were blessed with much more. . . . Molly has trained us well. I’ve been allowed to make every mistake an amateur trainer could make and been forgiven for every one of them. At the conclusion of just her first year of training Molly had earned her Hunting Retriever Champion title and competed strongly in the 3rd series of the 2002 International Grand handled by Greg Davis of Signature Kennels. We have truly been blessed with such a great companion.

In October of 2001 we decided to add another female for a quality program. Gabe Withrow of Withrow Kennels put us in touch with a breeding of Banta’s Buckshot Babe, owned by Les Banta and Trumarc’s Chubby Mac, owned by Ed and Judy Aycock. Seven weeks later HR Lightning Ridge's Sure Shot SH (Lottie) was tearing up our house. Lottie posses all the desire you could hope for with an incredible will to please; the foundations for the complete retriever.

Robyn and I took Lottie through all her basic and transition work. Realizing a greater degree of expertise was required for this talented retriever we placed her with Greg Davis.

Lottie is a powerful female possessing excellent marking and handling ability. She has recently closed her first duck season and was an absolute dream in the blind. We anticipate this year to be a successful campaign season for her.

In July of 2002 we added a third young lady to our program. Once again we relied on the advice of Gabe Withrow. He put us in touch with a litter of pups from Deke’s Den’s Black Sassy owned by David Buskirk, and FC-AFC Rebel with a Cause, owned by Ernie and Tina Sullivent. After some persuasion by Gabe (former insurance agent) he convinced me, and more importantly Robyn, that we needed this puppy.

Leader Creek’s Southern Belle (Dixie) arrived on the seen with a take-charge attitude and the same enthusiastic behavior of her sire. Dixie still has no concept of fear. An incredible water entry and explosive departure from the line are out-done only by this young dogs marking ability; routinely pulling in 200+ yard marks at 6 months of age. Look for Dixie and Gabe on the line this year.