OFA Scores
Hips – Excellent, Elbows – Normal, Heart – Normal/Clear, Eyes – Normal
Welcome to our journey of raising, showing, and breeding world class English Labrador Retriever show dogs. Here you’ll be able to follow our journey with Neena and her gorgeous daughter Cleo.
We’re based in Laguna Beach, CA and have been showing our girl the last four years. Add us as a friend, say hi to us at a show, follow us on Instagram, and be part of our journey.
A huge THANK YOU and shout out to Juan Carbonell of Loretta Retrievers for allowing us to purchase Neena and start our program.
Quality Bred vs Pure Bred
What you should look for in a breeder
Breeding AKC registered pure bred dogs isn’t enough. There are “backyard breeders” not doing proper health testing, showing, training, etc. which in turn create litters with potential health issues that could be avoided. Why buy a puppy that could have health issues later in life? Please buy and shop responsibly, or adopt a dog in need. There are enough adoptable dogs and puppies that need a loving home — we don’t need more poorly bred dogs having litters adding to the adoption crisis.
We’re here to share our knowledge and help you make the best informed purchase possible. You’re getting your new best friend so here are a few questions to ask your breeder.
1. Is the breeder doing proper DNA testing (they should not breed a dog with genetic health conditions such as PRA, EIC, HPNK, etc.)
2. Are they doing OFA clearances on hips, elbows, eyes, and heart at 2 years of age? This helps to ensure your puppy will hopefully not develop hip/elbow dysplasia later in life or pass on genetic conditions.
3. Do they recommend not to spay until 2 years of age to ensure hormones help growth plates close properly?
4. Are they showing their dogs in some type of AKC sanctioned event? Conformation, hunt tests, agility, fun sports such as dock diving, etc? This shows the breeder is dedicated to the dog, not the check from breeding.
5. Does the dog have AKC titles? From Canine Good Citizen, to Trick Dog, to Championship Conformation titles – you want your breeder to be helping make the breed better. Look at the Sire/Dam’s registered name – how many generations back does the title go? They should be in every generation, not 3 generations ago.
6. What is the dog’s temperament? Does it destroy toys, does it eat the wall, do they have to be crated, do they counter surf, are they walked on a simple slip leash or a harness? This really goes to show the breeder’s training ability and level of knowledge with their specific breed. Temperament and health is what you’re buying.
7. Does the breeder breed standard AKC colors (black, yellow, chocolate) or are they breeding “designer dogs” such as silvers, charcoals, or doodles. Nothing against doodles, but ensure your breeder is doing proper health testing and x-rays.
If your potential breeder isn’t doing all these basic things, they’re most likely not putting the puppy’s best interest forward. You as a buyer need to know that down the line this could lead to health problems and vet bills that could have been avoided.
Just because your dog is registered does not make it well bred. You want your breeder dedicated to the breed and only whelping puppies that meet this minimum criteria for well bred dogs.
History of the Labrador Retriever
The Labrador Retriever didn’t start developing into its current form until about the mid-1880’s in the United Kingdom.
Although the Labrador is considered a water dog, retrievers in the UK were primarily used on shooting estates, where land-based game birds and lagomorphs were their main quarry. Some were used to retrieve waterfowl, but the British retriever culture was primarily that of a land-based working dog.
English vs American Labrador
What’s the difference?
The proper way to say it would be Bench Bred vs Field Bred — but layman terms have broken that down to English vs. American labs.
A bench bred lab is just that – bred for benched shows. Back in the day show dogs were put on display (on their benches) for the public to admire and couldn’t leave the the dog show. Some shows such as Westminster have kept that tradition and are still like that, but for the most part all breed shows you just show up for your class and can leave anytime.
The typical show dog’s structure is what laymen now refer to as an English lab – a much more blocky appearance, frame, and conformationally correct.
English vs American Lab
A field lab is just that! Bred for the field. Bred to retrieve and hunt all day. Since these dogs are typically on the go they’re a bit more high energy, lanky, and athletic. They don’t always follow AKC breed guidelines – having curled tails, slimmer heads, short upper arms, long muzzles, high hocks, smaller chests, and sometimes disproportionate balance.
Not all American Lab breeders sacrifice conformation, but some breeders only care about field performance and this had led to these undesirable traits. These are what are now referred to as American labs.
The goal should to marry these two – have a dog that is athletic enough to pick up birds all day and also go into the confirmation ring and win. The true dual-purpose bred Labrador Retriever.
Coat Color Calculator
Want to know what genotypes paired together will result in?
Use our inheritance calculator to input the sire and dam’s color and see what the offspring will be.
We even included the Punnett square so you can see the full data!
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