Ask anyone who knows me, I love labs! And I spoil my dogs. One of my dreams was to breed lab puppies and be smothered with little lab pups. I am still in awe that my beautiful black lab, Anna made my dream come true in December.
Anna was mated with Tucker, a handsome, impressive and very sweet yellow lab. I was lucky to meet his owner at Nonatum vet, a wonderful carrying vet. I would not have been able to achieve my dream without Tucker's owner. She is another breeder, which I am happy to know. And she knows her stuff and most importantly, she feels the same way I do about my labs. We both agree about the importance of mating labs responsibly. She guided me through the process of getting Anna's clearances, which took a long time and a lot of money, but I made sure that she got her health clearances for hip and elbow dysplasia, in addition I had her eyes and heart checked for disease, which is above and beyond some breeders.
When the puppies came it was surreal. Being the smothering doggie mommy I am, I slept on an air mattress near the whelping box when I knew Anna was going into labor. I woke up almost every hour to turn and see how she was doing. At 5:20 am on Sunday, December 15, I noticed a black thing on her bed; it was a puppy!! Instincts kicked-in and Anna had cleaned her first born of her sack. For 12 hours, Anna continued to deliver all her puppies. She was amazing!! Unfortunately, the sixth puppy was stillborn. Because it was breach, I believe the pup got stuck in the birth canal and could not breathe. I tried to resuscitate, but it was too far gone. The little pup is buried in our yard and in the Spring we will plant Tulips at its grave to remember her.
Anna had eight healthy little puppies. Five black and three yellow labs. The last puppy was the only male, who is black. They have grown to be pudgy, healthy, playful, sweet and beautiful puppies. It will be hard to say goodbye, but I'm glad most of them have already found loving owners. I hope the owners won't mind me reaching out for updates; plus we want to host a puppy reunion in a year!
We have two remaining girls from Anna's litter that have not found homes yet. We still have time to find them their perfect homes with owners that will love and spoil them.
There are many unfortunate dogs that have not been in a loving home. And worse yet, poor dogs stuck in kennels having litters after litters, for greedy people who don't care about the welfare of the dog. Here at “Kaufmanns English Labs”, we are striving for a certain lineage and genealogy to keep the English lab at its healthiest and purest. If unfortunate events make it difficult for the owners to care for their pup, I will take the pup back, no questions asked. I don't want any of Anna's puppies in a shelter.
I could keep writing about the entire experience, but will keep it short for now. Thank you for letting me share my story.
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