Goldberry Labrador Retrievers

Because of the Labrador Retriever's popularity, soundness is under pressure. At Goldberry Yellow Labs all dogs and bitches are x-rayed hips and elbows plus all breeding stock is CERF'd. We are committed to genetic integrity. Goldberry Yellow Labs is located in town and is limited to 10 adults so our standards are set very high for our breeding stock.

Obviously temperament is a key when you are located in a residential setting, if my Labs aren't good citizens we couldn't exist. Labrador Retrievers from Goldberry Yellow Labs are guaranteed for hips, elbows and eyes [that your pup will pass CERF exam]. (Don't be fooled by kennels that say they have an eye guarantee then tell you they cover for PRA, that is not an eye guarantee. There are forty one eye problems they should cover your pup will pass a CERF exam, you are probably dealing with a puppy mill if they do that.)

Goldberry Yellow Labs came into existence because of our quest for the ideal family and hunting dog. Our first four attempts met with disaster - 2 elbow dysplasia, 1 hip dysplasia and one went blind at 3 and each time we took our pet in to be put down the vet would say it's preventable with testing of the parents. These were all expensive pups from kennels.

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Goldberry's Sweet As Sugar CGC

Unable to find what I wanted, I waited until 1979. I saw a beautiful yellow named Candlewoods Mad Mouse. I found Charles Hayes owned him and that he was sound. I called Charles and was told no breedings were planned. I explained I'd wait and sent him a check to prove it. A little over a year later I had pick of a beautiful litter. We called her Pumpkin. All I will say is that for 13 years my life was better because she was in it. So at Goldberry Yellow Labs our mission statement is simple: produce sound dogs of exceptional type and temperament {Pumpkins}.

Goldberry's Little Bella

My wife Martha or I {Charlie} will answer your e-mail questions as promptly as possible. We raise mainly yellows ranging from pale cream to fawn but have been known to use yellow factored blacks if the quality is there. Our kennel is mainly conformation because they are closer to the true multi-purpose dog and are generally sounder in my opinion.

We really stress calm at Goldberry. I have found calm dogs make far superior upland hunting dogs. The more hyper field trial type of dogs have a place which is mainly hunting big water for diving ducks over large decoy spreads. We no longer do this type of dog as we have found most want to bring the dog in the house and this type of dog is not suitable for the house. Personally I like a couch potato buddy that likes to chase pheasants for me on weekends. We do ship nationally with air freight costs currently running $375, a little more to Alaska, for the vet exam, crate and air freight costs.

We compete with our dogs, putting many obedience and conformation titles on our dogs. Any kennel that doesn't compete probably has a motivation of money and doesn't have the outside expert opinions to make a breed better.

The AKC standard for color of yellow Labradors is from fox red to light cream. You will notice the majority of our dogs pictured are light cream, almost appearing white, in this web site. This is not by choice, we breed for temperament, quality and soundness and in the past the best quality has come form the lighter dogs. This can be seen on the show pages where light colored dogs are shown winning at major events. In a recent litter we had 5 light creams and 1 fawn. We kept the fawn and based on her performance in competition to date it definitely was the right choice. We select our pups using the Puppy Puzzle method and having a Labrador judge come in and grade each pup then comparing the results. The moral to this is pick your kennel based on quality, not color, a needle nosed white Lab with health issues is no bargain.

I received a call from a Waterloo, Iowa woman while writing this text. She purchased a white labrador from a North Dakota kennel for $995 (that kennel has since raised it's prices). She was told the dog was half English Show but when I checked the pedigree, it had exactly zero Labrador Show Champions in the first 3 generations. The breeders don't compete, won't take the dog back and it's ugly and so hyper she just wants to get rid of it.

5 Simple Steps To A Quality Pup From Other Breeders

Quality kennels use quality sires, sires should be Champions for non champion dams. For calm in the house, upland hunter type dog champion should be a conformation dog designated by CH on front of name on pedigree. For field trial competition or large decoy spread hunting champion should be AFC or FC in front of name. Champion pedigree is not the same thing and usually is a meaningless phrase.
Good guarantee of at least 24 months on hip, elbow and eye.
Puppies should have a vet exam and CERF (CERF if Veterinary Ophthalmologist available in the area).
Sire and Dam should have hip, elbow and eye clearances.
Quality kennels don't meet you halfway when driving is possible. Good kennels want you to see care used in raising your pup. Also they will allow you access to their entire kennel if they don't you should run for your car.

Labradoodles are currently very popular but no Goldberry Lab will be used in the breeding of these mistakes. My daughter Christa has informed me that grooming on Labradoodles can be hideous (Christa spent 2 years in grooming college, graduated, and is currently working as a professional groomer in the #1 rated grooming salon in America). What's happening is a no shed top coat and a shedding lower coat on some Labradoodles, causing owners to shave the dog creating harm to skin and balding.

Goldberry Yellow Labs is located in south central Minnesota near Mankato. Currently Minnesota has the toughest breeder laws in the country. Our main competition area includes South and North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Canada.

At Goldberry we believe to raise a quality dog your puppy must get its protein from a quality source. We feed and recommend Verus Dog Food. Verus is human grade, naturally preserved and uses only high quality immune system boosters in southwest yucca and North Sea kelp. Also since we compete on a high level having a dog food use complex carbohydrates for an even calorie burn all day is essential for any competitors or just a day of hunting. With chelated minerals and flaxseed omega 3 alpha-linolenic acid this fills the requirements of any serious breeder. All this at a reasonable price, check the Verus web site store locator to see if it’s available to you.

Goldberry's Jake
Remember they are around a long time.
Don't buy impulse puppies.

The Goldberry Calendar has become quite popular with pictures from the calendar used in several Labrador books including the Labracadabra books from Australia. The calendar is made up of pictures sent to us by Goldberry owners. In a normal year we get from 800 to 1,000 pictures, we then select the best 12. We only do 1 printing of the calendar. They are available December 1st until gone. If you wish you can get on a reservation list.

Non-refundable deposits of $200 are required to place you in the selection process. You will pick according to receipt of deposit. You must designate male or female and show or field. I retain first pick on all litters.

Charlie Tolkien - Yellow Labrador Retriever & French Bulldog Breeder
(507) 257-3890 - MN / Email: YELLABS@AOL.COM