Fawn Brook Labradors is a small kennel whose charter is built upon the premise of evolving the breed by producing Labradors that follow the (Labrador Retriever) Standard and have the drive to retrieve a bird in any situation. This is easier said than done and only a handful of kennels have been able to achieve the goal of producing Grand Champion Master Hunter Labrador Retrievers. We strive to become a member of that elite group of kennels.

CHARTER

Fawn Brook Kennel strives to produce quality Labrador Retrievers that are 9 star rated. Those stars are:

* Sires and Dams have been tested and documented that:

* They are not infected for the following genetic disorders: EIC and PRA-prcd.

* Elbows and hips are documented with clearances of good or excellent.

* Eye CERFs

* Sires and Dams are selected such that their offspring will improve their lineages and exceed the minimum standard as defined by  LRC. Improvements include:

* Temperament

* Sport (trainability, drive, persistence, marking abilities)

* Physical traits (per the standard)

* The Dam's reproductive health is of the utmost importance. Over-producing for monetary value is unacceptable

* Puppy placement (matching puppy to owner) is critical for lifelong relationships between man and dog

* Puppies shall be raised in an enriched environment. Time spent developing a puppy's personality is priceless

* Learning is a lifelong endeavor. Discover a dog's virtues (obedience, field, show, agility) and teach him/her to excel in those virtues

* Create an enticing  living environment for dogs that live on-premise

* Teach others what you have learned. Expanding the knowledge of a single dog, a breed or of training techniques enriches both the students and the teacher's knowledge base

* Healthy dogs are happy dogs

 

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Fawn Brook Kennels is located in the foothills above Boulder, Colorado at 7300 feet. We are situated on 3.2 acres with numerous springs that feed our pond. During the summer, the spring water is 55F so the pond temps are always cool and the water clear. Trout flourish in the pond and we have our own flock of Donalds and Daisys (i.e. ducks) who come back every year to raise their families. The pond is an excellent resource for introducing puppies and young dogs to water - as well as a fun place to hang out during the dog days of summer! National Forest hiking trails are a short hike down the road and our dogs know every nook and cranny on those trails and love their hikes. For field training, we train both on-site, in the national forest nearby and with members of the Colorado Foothills Retriever Club.  Can we say dog heaven?

 

 

IN THE BEGINNING

We have always had at least one dog in our family growing up and it was not until 2003 that we decided to throw our hats into the ring and jump blindly into the world of Labrador Retrievers. In 2003, we acquired our foundation girl, Pooh Bear, when she was 9 months old. We found out, after the fact, that she had injured her hock (i.e. bone chip) when she was four to five months old and the injury was not noticeable until we started training her and noticed a slight hitch.  Luckily, we live close to CSU and took Pooh Bear to one of the top canine orthopedic surgeons in the US who is affiliated with the vet school at CSU. Since she was only 10 months old, he was able to rework the ligaments and because of her youth, she healed quickly and adapted to the reconstruction but was never able to totally loose the hitch. This was saddening to us because it meant that we would never be able to show her in the ring. Was the operation successful? At eleven years old, Pooh Bear was still hiking 20 miles a week during the summers so in my perspective, yes it was successful. What we learned: do not over-exercise or let your young puppies play hard because their musculoskeletal system does not stabilize until they are at least one year old and as puppies, they can injure themselves rather easily and it is a lifelong injury

In 2005 we bred Pooh Bear to Gordy (CH Boradors by George) and kept Lady from the litter. Lady was a very good show perspective but due to circumstances beyond our control, we kept her out of the ring. Lady is more like a mountain goat than a dog: she has hiked numerous fourteeners in Colorado and her balance and agility on the rocks  surprises all that hike with her. What else we noticed: Lady has a keen tracking sense and perception of her surroundings. When hiking, we are always amazed that she is able to locate  trees that turkeys are roosting in.

Like they say, three is a charm and Lady's litter in 2011 with Nike (CH Castlewood's Just Do It) was that charm. We kept a boy, Lunker, and a girl, Lia, from the litter. Lunker achieved Champion status before he was 3 years old and nine months later, his Grand Championship. In 2014 Lunker was ranked #6 in the nation for owner-handled and grabbed a Sporting Group fourth at the Pueblo dog shows. In 2015, Lunker was the Select dog (2nd best dog, over 100 Labs entered) at the Papago Specialty and two weeks later, was the Select dog (over 60 Labs entered) at the Mile-High Sporting Specialty. For Lia, in 2013 she received a Sporting Group third place at the Couer d'Alene shows, and in 2014 took Owner-handled Best in Show in Alamogordo, NM and was nationally ranked #2 for owner-handled. A few of our hunt test professional trainer friends really like Lia, her field capabilities and convinced us to take a sabbatical from showing her and start her hunt test training. We expect Lia to have her Senior Hunt test title in 2016.

It was at this stage of our breeding program that we realized that our breeding has produced not only show quality Labradors with that lovely blocky head, but Labradors that are also good in the field with excellent tracking, retrieving and drive qualities. in 2014, we bred Lia to Poplar Forest Play It Again Sam, a Grand Champion Master Hunter. The first litter was a singleton litter and thus, we did a rebreeding later that year. The singleton, Paddy, is an awesome boy and a joy to work with. He is a fast learner and an incredible drive in the field. With only 6 weeks of training by novice trainers (i.e. us), he was ready for starting his Junior Hunt testing. Force fetch training?  A breeze!

And this is where we are today: breeding our lines with Grand Champion (or Champion) Master Hunter Labrador Retrievers and striving to join that elite group of kennels who can produce Grand Champion Master Hunter Labradors.

OUR PHILOSOPHIES