Ethos and Information

Here at Henleywood Labradors we breed Kennel Club registered Labrador retrievers, black, yellow and fox red in colour. We have fifteen acres of land giving our dogs the opportunity to enjoy life and keep fit. We also have horses and chickens, so they are used to all sorts of animals and sounds. Our Labrador girls are first and foremost our family pets, they live both inside and outside depending on their preference. We ensure security and the dogs are never left unattended.

Our ethos is that we don’t operate as a business but a family passionate for all things Labrador. We’ve owned Labradors all our lives and with our love for the outdoors combined with nature and the countryside we try our best to give our dogs and our puppies the best lives possible. We are proud to say that some of our puppies have gone on to become therapy dogs for the anxious and elderly, and one is currently in training to become a search and rescue dog at SARDA (shout-out to Barney!). Most of our puppies go to family homes as simple companions, we always ensure peoples homes and situation are suitable.

We do not re-home any of our retired bitches, as they become an ‘older dog’ they spend most of their time with us laid in the living room, in front of the fire when it’s cold. We do not have a litter from a bitch until they are at least two years old, with the appropriate health tests and more importantly, that we know they are physically and emotionally ready for motherhood.

We are careful and particular about selections of the stud dogs we use, taking into account health scores, temperament and biddability. They will also often be proven in the field as a working dog, however we put more emphasis on the former attributes I mentioned.

The bitches will whelp and give birth to their litter in the house, which is where they are cared for during the first ~four weeks of their lives. They get used to all sorts of sounds, smells and sights and are handled regularly to make sure that they get used to being held by people. We monitor their well-being, health, and condition closely. They will also have a chance to meet the children of our family too, so they get used to kids as well as adults.

Once they are old enough, they will then spend the day in a purpose-built kennel with access to the outside. While outside they will see the other dogs, and be able to socialise with them under supervision. We introduce puppies to various different play toys and they become accustomed to all the activity on the yard. For example, they will see and hear the lawn mower, the horses, hear the whistle, see our hens amongst many other things. When the pups are around seven weeks old they will have little adventures to the fields and become accustomed to open spaces. Our puppies are confident and outgoing although in any litter obviously personalities differ with some quieter in nature than others.

During the time puppies are with us, we provide the new owners with videos, pictures of the puppies, like the ones you can see here and in our gallery. All of this is done via our Facebook page with you can find by clicking here. We are happy for people to visit us and our girls, and the litter of puppies too if we are able to offer you one. We try our best to have an open-door policy, as long as the puppies aren’t too young and vulnerable, we advise people to visit from five weeks old and onwards.

A note on waiting lists - we do keep a list of people who have expressed interest in having a puppy. We would love to be able to provide absolutely everyone who wants one of our pups a puppy, but unfortunately there are always families we are forced to disappoint. If you are interested please use the contact form with your information and we will have a talk over the phone concerning your thoughts and requirements, and it’ll give you a chance to get to know us too, and ask any questions you may have. Puppies are offered to people on the waiting list a few days after they are born.

We provide life-long advice and very much enjoy remaining in touch with new puppy owners and are only ever a phone call or Facebook message away.