Labrador Retrievers of Central New York

Monarch to the right

So on the off season (not nice out for hunting training) we practice agility. It keeps a dog's mind busy and the exercise is much needed. Some friends posted this agility map of one Standard run they had to maneuver through at the Agility Nationals. Its advanced and way more than our dog is capable of even with a good handler..but portions of it can be set up and practiced for increasing our teamwork for the future. Looking at this map I see I'd have to leave my dog in a... sit stay and walk beyond the #2 jump and call him...ushering him to the A frame...If I tried to run with him he'd beat me to #2 and end up going over #12 which is out of order...and a disqualification. So agility makes you train a good sit stay (which totally is needed for hunting)....Climbing #3 the A frame is good exercise (building muscles needed for hunting), and since you have to make sure a dog touches the yellow bottom of it on the way down, you get to teach him to slow down and fight the impulse to jump clear off where he might injure himself (also good to be able to get your hunting dog to slow down)...then a really hard thing #4...Yeah only at #4! The dog has to jump the bar but the map has the number on the far side of the jump meaning the dog has to jump it going around from the back side. That's a distinct command not like hunting...and more like herding, telling a dog to go around behind a stray sheep and bring him to you. But at any rate agility has made our dogs and us better teammates. See more

Cookie: potential in the field with a nice "turn off" switch for the house

Spring Training is showing up some "need" in all the dogs....think we're waiting awhile before entering anything!

Proud of Stephanie Podejko of Stone Hill Training and our boy Fonzie placing 2nd in Standard Agility Preferred! Were it not for an extremely proficient, experienced and talented handler....this green dog could never have qualified! BIG HUGE THANKS from Grace Farms Labradors!

Almost 14 weeks now

Cookie determined to have hold of her leash

Grace Farms Four Wheel Drive CDX JH "Jeep"

On the left is OTCH Liberty's Char of the Hills UD . She is the mother of our foundation Liberty's Grace Farms Freedom CDX JH

Exploring the Hunting Lab Pedigree data base and filling in names of dogs that were missing in some old pedigrees. Clicked on a few ancestors whose structures are evident in working Labradors in our dog's pedigree despite decades of breeding to the more stocky type

FC AFC CAFC Money Talks II Abnaki Kennels

It is handy to train your dog to wait on a box or pad. Leaving the boundary of the sit-stay is easy to see. Distraction training is going on here. Although a dog normally would not be interfered with while waiting for his birds to fall, or while on an agility table, or while doing a sit or down stay....It has happened. I have observed people yelling "LOOSE DOG!" at hunt tests, at agility trials and at obedience trials. It happens. So if another Fido comes up to your dog while he is working, he should remain in position...and that is what is being practiced here.

WHY people may be afraid of BLACK DOGS: AKC article: https://www.akc.org/expert-//why-people-afraid-black-dogs/

This is a conformation Champion/Master hunter in "fit" condition

Petition to AKC concerning the conformation judging of LABRADOR RETRIEVERS https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/endlabradorobesity

Anyone who spends time out of doors could run into this tragic accident. We told a trapper he could not trap on our land, yet he did anyway, and our dog's foot was caught in a leghold trap...These are indiscriminate and baited...so animals ARE attracted to them...Thanks for the post on Finger Lakes Retriever Club facebook page for thisL https://www.youtube.com/watch

It is very important to warm your dog up before competition of any sort. Your dog is an athlete. Speed up your dog's heart while you are waiting with some little games, get that fresh oxygen in all his muscles and in his brain, and alleviate some of the pent up anxiety he may have built up from sitting around. Trainers believe there is less chance of injury doing this. for your dog.

Something good coming and its not in this dreadful year of 2020...but its "just around the corner" we HOPE...Amateurs running their dogs might be able to enter the DAY before Professionals...in MASTER hunting tests....(Also the dreadful competition on "enter day" is WAY less for entering tests that are NOT "Master National" tests...if you are NOT trying to get the Qs to go to or qualify for the MN, then think about going to a club trial that doesn't belong to the Master National Club....an MH will still be on your dog's name running non MN club trials...just an idea!

DO NOT BUY! Nostalgia might be a reason for buying a GLASS Labrador Retriever ornament...but it is extremely dangerous if a pet plays with it, breaks it! There are solid material ones being sold that will not create sharp shards....eeeek!

Let's look at feet. Two sets of front feet of 2 Labradors. .I like nice arched foot with a pretty upright pastern. Other breeds can have other kinds of foot "engineering" which works for their particular breed's weight and behaviors. Labradors weigh around 55-80 lbs...and some are way heavier. They run hard, leap up and over things in the field need a good foundation to land on. They also are a breed that generally loves to swim and will spread their toes as they padd...le exposing what has been called a webbed foot. Its not exclusive to Labradors though. I notice the dew claws are present on the upper photo. When ever I have puppies, if their dew claws are not pendulous, they are not removed. My dogs hold their chew bones with their dew claws using them like thumbs, and they use them climbing up steep muddy banks. It seems to me they use them. Some breeders remove the dew claws because of having had an experience of getting one ripped or cut, and just avoid the whole scene by removing them. The lower photo shows what seems to be a pastern that is more laid back which allows for and forces a flatter, less arched foot. Flat feet won't give the "spring" of the arched foot. A good foot structure is a foundation for supporting the the rest of the skeletal system during the whole life of this active breed. Generally good feet are something to breed for, but some vitamin deficiencies may contribute to pasterns that are like the bottom dog's...(unknown) See more

Ironweed EZ Money at Grace Farms RN MH (Red) out of FC Money Talks II X Ironweed Boom Boom Butterfly MH.....getting older and calm ...well sorta!

We need RAIN/SNOW. A pond that has never dried up looks like this!

One new place to train land that I did not have before bulldozer work to the right

Its just a trick. Train it in your dog, message us a pic?