About Sue Willumsen: Sue works in veterinary medicine and got her first Labrador in 1980. She has been very involved in the dog world ever since, showing and competing with her dogs. She is an AKC-licensed judge in several breeds.
About Barbara Gilchrist: Barbara got her first Labrador in 1964. As the dog was rather difficult, Barbara focused on getting involved in obedience with her. She was then the first woman to be hired at a local field trial kennel, for which she dropped out of college to work for. She’s been very involved ever since, breeding many champions along the way.
About Susan Patterson: Susan is a renowned Labrador Retriever breeder and breeds under the Fenwyck Labrador Retriever name. She has been breeding since the 80's when she first got involved with various Labrador Retriever clubs.
Our guests discuss the history of the Labrador Retriever breed standard (and why we shouldn’t be asking about American versus English Labs). The breed standard was written by the parent club which was very field-oriented at the time, which has misrepresented the current state of the breed to a certain extent.
They also talk about the temperament spectrum, and what to think about and what questions to ask before getting a Lab (or a dog in general).
Sue talks about the health testing typically done on Labs (and what advances have been made in testing).
They finish by discussing the ‘24/7 tech support’ that breeders provide their puppy buyers - how important it is, and how fun it is for them to keep up with the growth of their dogs!