About Us
I have owned pure-breed dogs and participated in dog shows and other events for more than 40 years. I have bred, owned, and shown other breeds as well including Belgian Sheepdogs, Golden Retrievers, Basset Hounds, and Shar Pei. My English-type Labrador Retrievers are loyal, loving, and affectionate companions who are always eager to please. They are intelligent and keen to learn, and they love to play and explore. They are great with children and other animals, making them wonderful family pets. We are not a business and only breed enough to keep our lines improving. Even though our breeding program is intended to perpetuate our lines, not all our puppies will stay or go to show homes with friends who share my passion. Most of my puppies will go to pet homes as wonderful family companions, and some of those will go as service, performance, and weekend hunting partners. Our puppies are sold with limited registration. As a responsible breeder and veterinarian, my commitment is to breed only sound parents and provide healthy puppies that will be enjoyed by their new families for many years. To produce a show dog and an excellent companion who could also be a hunting partner, I emphasize my breeding program in temperament and type. We believe in testing and certifying all our boys and girls to be free from genetic diseases or disorders. I check hips, elbows, eyes, knees, and heart and they are cleared through OFA and CERF. We also test for all the Genetically transmissible diseases. No aggression, excessive shyness, or hyper temperament is kept in our bloodlines. Trainability is a must for my Labs. All my dogs are my pets and have access to the house. They eat and sleep indoors, and the rest of the time they enjoy the outdoors in our large backyard. Each of our litters is planned way ahead of time, even years. Researching pedigrees takes me as much time as raising a litter. Each litter is the product of hours and hours of research and hard work. We spend many weekends on the showgrounds, but when we are home, we like to relax and enjoy our dogs. We are very proud of our dogs and their accomplishments, as well as the families that have adopted our puppies and become part of our extended family.
Our Methods
More than 30 years of experience have shown us that there is never too much care and prevention when you are talking about breeding dogs. To ensure both the emotional and physical wellbeing of our dogs and puppies we follow a strict procedure before, during, and after each breeding.
Health and nutrition are the base for a well-balanced reproductive system. We feed our dogs and puppies with Premium brands. Each dog has its own diet based on age, activity level, reproductive stage, preferences, etc. The moms have never run out of milk and the puppies are weaned at top weight.
We keep strict control on vaccinations, de-worms, heartworm prevention, and any other health control our dogs may need to keep them fit and happy.
All our breeding stock has been checked and cleared for inherited deceases through OFA, CERF, and DNA. We check Hips, Elbows, Cardiac, Eyes, and Patella. We also do DNA testing for PRCD-PRA and EIC.
We make sure all our bitches are in perfect health condition before mating. We choose the best stud available to ensure the improvement of the breed. It is a requirement that all breeding stock used by us are health checked and certified to be free of Hip Dysplasia, Elbow Dysplasia, Heart decease, Eye deceased, and luxating patella (Knees). At least one of the parents is clear for PRCD-PRA and EIC, which guarantees that the puppies will not suffer Progressive retinal atrophy or Exercise induced collapse. If an outside stud is used, we require the stud owner to provide at least the clearances established by CHIC, Hips, Elbows, and Eyes, and then cardiac clearances. We base our breeding in the study of both, the father and the mother's, pedigrees. Researching pedigrees takes us as much time as bringing up the litters. It is not as easy as just putting two dogs together, not even two Champions together. Genetics is complicated and at the end, you still need a little of divine intervention for things go as we planned.
We practice socialization and brain stimulation immediately after they are born. The puppies are in our house and are handled often. A video camera system helps us keep an eye 24 hours when necessary.
The puppies are started on puppy food around weeks 3-4 depending on every litter particular needs. The puppies are completely weaned at 5 weeks and outside potty training begins. Each pup is evaluated for shyness and handled more often as necessary. A temperament test and show evaluation take place at this time through week 8.
By the time the puppies are ready to go at 7 or 8 weeks, they are well advanced in potty training. Most of our new owners send us e-mails back giving us Kudos on how well the puppies did the first few days and how easy it was to crate, and potty train them. They are on puppy dry food only. They also have their shots and de-worms up to date. Every puppy gets a microchip implanted before he or she leaves our home.
Ultimately, after the puppies are gone, we like to keep in touch with our new owners and a lot of them have become good friends.