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Labrador Retrievers are an excellent choice for anyone looking for a versatile sporting dog and an excellent companion. They are recognized as enthusiastic upland flushing dogs and are the best retrievers on land and water. A well bred Labrador has a strong drive for finding and flushing birds and retrieving downed game to hand.
With over 45 years experience breeding, raising and training America’s most popular breed, the Labrador Retriever, the Gooding family has the expertise to provide you with a great, loving companion for your upland and waterfowl hunts.
Quality breeding stock with the most desirable attributes
Our breeding animals are descendants of the greatest champions of the sport. Our Labradors come from the top field trial and hunting lines in the country. Our breeding stock is also selected from lines that are as free as possible from any type of defects. This helps assure us they will have the level of ability we desire to see for developing sound gun dogs.
Whether you desire to field trial your dog, run hunting tests, or strictly use your dog as a hunter and a
companion, you will want the best natural qualities you can find. All of these activities require an animal with desire for birds, style, spirit, a good nose, good eye sight, great energy, and most important trainability.
When we talk about trainability, we want a dog that is intelligent and easy to handle. A dog that is willing to give its all when it is needed, yet be able to relax and be enjoyed as a companion by the entire family.
We desire our Labradors to quarter naturally, with the desire to search out game when hunting. This trait is essential in successfully developing a young lab into an avid upland bird dog.
We breed for a moderately sized Labrador with good conformation. This is the type of dog we like to hunt with. They are more athletically built for upland hunting. Larger dogs may be more prone to physical defects and injury. Females weigh 55-70 pounds and males weigh 70-85 pounds.
The right start in life
Puppies are born in a modern and sanitary whelping room. They are closely watched as they grow. At 5 weeks of age they are more seriously socialized and bird introduction begins. We start by playing basic retrieving games and walking the puppies. When clients visit the kennel to select a puppy we demonstrate the puppies on the bird work. Seeing this helps buyers evaluate the puppies drive and attitude. Many buyers comment on how outgoing and interested the whole litter is. Many buyers also find that selecting that perfect puppy may result in a tie between a few pups in the litter. We pride ourselves on the consistent quality we see in the pups of many of our litters.