I am a proud, ethical breeder of Labrador Retrievers.  I am in a constant state of learning so that I can know better, which allows me to do better.  I feel a tremendous responsibility to the puppies I breed and the humans they go to.  With that said, our goal is to always do our best by completing not only the genetic testing that the Labrador Retriever club and AKC recommends, but to also test for any genetic marker available for the breed. We use Paw Print Genetics and OFA for our testing and certification. We choose our breeding pairs based on health, temperament, personality and body style. We breed to the Labrador Retriever standard and do not breed for today's 110-lb. Labrador.  Our goal is genetically healthy, temperament stable puppies that will have the opportunity to grow into mature working Labrador Retrievers with all the personality markers of the traditional breed.

With every litter, we have standards of care that give each puppy the best start possible. We start with providing the best nutrition for our adult sires and dams, and special care of our dams during pregnancy and beyond. We practice Puppy Culture from the beginning of life for our puppies, starting with ENS and ESI. Our puppies are born in our family home and remain with us for the first 3 to 4-weeks. We handle them often throughout the day and they learn the sounds of an active household. They are introduced to water and baths, have their nails trimmed, get brushed and handled. Once they start climbing out of the whelping box and exploring, we move them to the puppy barn, which is set up specifically with their needs and development in mind. It is conditioned and has access to an outdoor play yard for them to explore and learn. They are exposed to many different surfaces, are using stairs and started on potty-training and crate time. They are introduced to cats, chickens, ducks and our other dogs on the farm. They start on solid food between three and four weeks, based on each litter's development. We start them on goats milk, TLC Puppy food and sweet potatoes or pumpkin.  We spend mealtimes with puppies, interacting with them. Everything we do is with intention, exposing them to behaviors and experiences with the goal of molding dogs that will be excellent citizens in the world. On day 49 we temperament test using Volhards Puppy Aptitude Test. Volhards is only one of the tools we use to assess our puppies' temperaments to help our service dog partners, individuals and families choose their best canine companion. 

We invite our young neighbors and our son's teen friends over, we visit senior homes and a small preschool, all to help socialize our puppies in a safe and warm environment.  We use puzzles, wobble boards, noise makers, snuffle pads and more to engage our puppies' noses and their brains. We view each puppy as an individual and provide the engagement they need to grow and develop. We feel that it is essential to offer our puppies these opportunities so that we can help place them in the home where they will be most successful. It is vitally important that our puppies have a voice in where they are placed.  We wait until our puppies are 8-weeks old before immunizing, giving their brain and nervous systems time to develop. 

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