Below are some of our up and coming girls; they all live amazing lives.
Guardian Brenda with her dog Allie (2011 now spayed) , Allie's pup Aubrey (2013 now spayed) and Aubrey's pup Carly (2015; all are guardians dogs. Many times Guardian Families choose to keep their dog's daughter and repeat the process which was the case here.
What's a Guardian?
Summer 2015
So fun to have our babies come back for a visit! Once again we had several dogs here for a long weekend; most were adolescent guardian pups. The fun thing is that all were the offspring of the dogs above in the Summer 2014 pool pictures. Of course Dewey is in both groups as he lives here full-time; he's the one jumping out of the pool shaking the water off in the slo-mo "morning swim" video above. The one at the bottom in the beginning is Lily.
Mammoth Mountain Thanksgiving Weekend 2015: Guardian Dog Georgia with two of her pups who are being started by Georgia's Guardian Family in SoCal.
Dog Party 2014
This is beautiful Breanna and one of her guardian girls, Sheba; she also has Sheba's daughter Karisse. Breanna is also on our Started Pup page as she has trained close to 50 pups!
If you've read our previous pages, you probably already know; we are hobby breeders of what we think are the very best Labs we can find. However, we will never over-breed our girls. Because we all so enjoy raising and now training Labs, but will not take on more dogs here at our home than we can properly love and train, we place some of our very best female pups with the understanding that should they eventually pass all health screenings and personality tests, they could be brought back here to breed. We call these Guardian Pups; a great option for those who live with in a couple hours of us and now the SoCal Langley's too. The guardian family takes home their pup at about 7 weeks (or leaves her with us to have her training started until 16-17 wks); caring for her as their very own... because she actually is. We only hold her breeding rights. Sometime after her first birthday, we talk with the guardian's family and determine if she is worthy of breeding. If so, her hips and elbows are x-rayed. Then we find a mate that compliments her strengths and hopefully counters any weaknesses. (Yes, I'm sort of a perfectionist:) She is bred (usually artificially) at either my house or Nancy's and then returns to her family for most of her gestation; about 60 days. Several days before she's due to deliver, she's brought back to our "mama dog spa" where we enjoy pampering and reconnecting with her before her pups are born, usually in the very same whelping box she was. Once her pups are weaned at 4-5 weeks, she returns to her guardian home, is eventually spayed at our expense (we actually pay for all expenses related to breeding and whelping) after having no more than two litters, and belongs to her guardian family for the rest of her life. The purchase price is the same as others pay, but each time she produces a litter, the guardian family is compensated $100 per puppy; helping to defray her cost, pay for gas and make their time without her a bit more bearable. It really seems to be a positive experience for all involved. In fact, several families have obtained a second dog (usually their dog's daughter) so they can repeat the process! Let us know if you'd like to be considered as a Guardian; we are always looking for great homes and it's a wonderful way to get a "first pick" pup even when you are way back in the queue! And if I decide for whatever reason to not breed her... well, you just got yourself an extra nice dog and a shorter wait time. Oh, and one other possible perk: we are happy to give our Guardian Girls first priority when you need boarding or go on vacation or even should you not want to deal with her heat cycles. Speaking of "heats"... dogs only come into heat and bleed twice a year and for about 2 weeks each cycle. It's near the end of that time that she can get pregnant (day 9-17?). It's really not that bad; some dogs keep themselves so clean you can't even tell, but for the others they make a "doggie diaper" which makes it all a bit less messy.
Jan 2015 - Guardians pick their Phoebe pups and meet their trainers before the others on Pick Day.
Lucy now lives in Denver with a dear nurse friend and her doctor husband; she hopes to raise Langley Labs in Colorado!