Our Policy at Little River Labradors

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We are a breeder heavily evolved in Confirmation. It is our objective to continually improve the breed through selective choices of males for our girls. Our primary goals in breeding is to produce a dog with a calm, friendly, outgoing temperament, free of genetic problems, using the Labrador Retriever Standard as a blue print in our breeding selection. We follow and promote the following breeding practices:

1, Breeding only for the improvement of the breed. No breeding is ever planned without the thought of keeping at least one pup from the breeding.

2, Use only healthy parents of good temperament with no major faults in relation to either the AKC or English standard for Labrador Retrievers. Our girls have had their hips X-rayed between 9-12 month's of age and then again after the age of 24 month's and submitted to the OFA for grading. We require all our girls to have OFA clearances before entering our breeding program. We will only consider the same ratings for whatever stud dog we use. Our girls also have had their eyes checked by a certified Ophthalmologist and hold a CERF number. Again, we require the same from the stud dog. In addition, we have a good knowledge of our pedigrees and gain knowledge of the lineage of the stud to help avoid other genetic problems such as OCD and epilepsy.

3, Breed only mature girls, not more than once every 12 month's or every other heat cycle. Provide the future dam with excellent prenatal and postnatal care. Our girls, upon the halfway point in pregnancy, are moved into the house where they stay until the puppies are completely weaned.

4, Refuse to breed any outside female that does not have required OFA or CERF clearances, or one that lacks breed type.

5, All our puppies are born in our living room, closely monitored for any health problem, their progress monitored and recorded, in a clean, safe environment. They are socialized by our family, differences in personalities are noted and this information is used for proper placement in their future homes.

6, We keep accurate records according to AKC regulations on litters, matings, and pedigree's.

7, We do not sell to pet shops or any commercial dealers for resale.

8, Sell quality pets on limited registration and urge puppy buyers to spay or neuter their pet.

9, Honestly evaluate the quality of the puppies and honestly represent that evaluation to the prospective owner. We will not sell any puppy that we know possesses a defect.

10, No puppy will leave us until it is at least eight weeks old. At that time, all pups will have been wormed three times and had two shots. A health record will be furnished to present to the puppies vet of choice.

11, We screen all buyers to be sure the puppy will have a safe loving home. We do not sell "outside dogs". If the prospective owner does not plan on making our puppy part of their family, they will have to look elsewhere.

12, We reserve the right to determine a proper home for our babies. Considering our puppies are pre-sold, we do require a deposit. This deposit must be received within seven days of advising us of your desire to provide a home for one of our kids. This is a refundable deposit up until the puppies are five weeks old. Just as we offer a refundable deposit, we also reserve the right to return a deposit if we feel the particular placement will not be in the best interest of that puppy.

13, We have found over the years that it is best for all involved if we pick the puppy for each family. By living with these puppies for eight weeks, we have a very good feel about the personality of each. We take into consideration children and their ages, the activity level of the family, and any special talents that the new family might want to see in their Labrador in our selection of the particular puppy. When you come to see the litter you just get a small snapshot of each pup. One could have been up playing hard with a litter mate and ready to call it quits for a couple hours, another just got up from a nap and ready to go. With us making the picks, we have been very successful in satisfying everyone. Naturally everyone has a choice of color and sex but the final choice of who goes where rests with us. We make our selections sometime during the pups 7th week on what family gets each pup.

14, We encourage new owners to become involved in AKC activities such as hunt tests or confirmation. We stand ready to help and assist any way possible.

15, We provide a packet to each new owner showing a picture of the dam and sire, a complete pedigree of the puppy, pictures of the dams sire, copies of both the sires and dams clearances, tips on raising the puppy including crate training, the health guarantee, and other information as it applies to the particular litter.

16, We provide a 30 month guarantee against genetic problems that will effect the quality life of the dog. This does NOT require the return of the dog, but does offer a refund or replacement from our next litter. We also give a 14 day return of the puppy for a refund, no questions asked.

17, We do require with our health guarantee, an agreement to return the dog to us for proper placement if the new owner can't continue to provide a home as originally agreed upon. We do not want any of our dogs lacking for a loving home.

18, After our puppy goes to it's new home, we will always be available to help, offer suggestions, or help in any way. We are just a phone call ( 1-256-845-6439 ) or E-mail ( lrlabs@mindspring.com ) away.