About Us

Matt Larkin purchased Cross Creek Kennels, Inc. in 1995. He was raised in Dallas, TX, where his interest in dog training started. He trained family dogs for obedience and even competed in various obedience trials.

While attending Stephen F. Austin State University, earning a geology degree, he managed Cross Creek Kennel for five years and enjoyed working with the working retrievers and pointers so much that he purchased it when the business came up for sale. From training obedience dogs to training working retrievers for all types of hunting, he has countless hours of professional training experience. Matt has also titled many retrievers in American Kennel Club& United Kennel Club Hunt tests through the years.

Helena moved to Nacogdoches to also attend Stephen F. Austin State University. She majored in Animal Science (Pre-Vet) and minored in Chemistry and Biology. While attending SFA, she worked at the SFA Beef Farm and eventually was able to take a position at a local veterinarian clinic. There she went from just cleaning kennels to becoming the office manager and receptionist. This is where she met Matt.

While Matt is to dog trainer, Helena runs the office and helps Matt care for the dogs. In 2008, Helena developed Hunting Lab Pedigree (www.huntinglabpedigree.com) and Hunting Boykin Pedigree (www.huntingboykinpedigree.com), online pedigree databases.

We also added some bird boys to the family. Our twin boys, Aidan and Caleb, were born in November 2002. And Payton was born in August 2004.