Ellensburg Labs

25/04/2023

Interesting. I never knew this, and have a few of the 'toxic' plants around the yard. Thankfully we have never an issue. 🤞

with spring finally coming here are some reminders

06/01/2023

Less than 1 month until Genessee's litter turns 3!! Can you believe it?!?! As requested from one family, please use this thread to post any pictures you would like to share of your pup from that litter. 😍🥰😍

06/01/2022

Don’t lose the white puppies!!! 🤣🤣. At least Stihl has this small horse, Moses, to break path for him.

08/11/2021

This is so important!!!!

22/05/2021

Aren't they beautiful????

03/02/2021

💥💥💥❤️ Happy 1st Birthday to our Puppies of 2020!!!❤️💥💥💥

20/01/2021

In the last couple of weeks, I have had a few, various people asking me questions about breeding their dogs. I figured I’d share some important information to help those and anyone else. This is all based on my experience, research, and sometimes opinion. I’ll happily accept the input from other reputable breeders that read this. (Because I’m always looking to learn to better myself and my processes.)
First, if you are considering breeding, you really do have a big responsibility to BETTER THE BREED. Do NOT breed your dog because “She is so pretty”, “He’s the nicest dog”, or “They would have such cute puppies”. Seriously, ALL puppies are cute!! Heck, even baby elephant seals are super cute. Nature makes it that way. Make them all so cute as babies that you fall in love with them, so when they grow up you don’t rehome them when they do stupid or naughty things. (Is this about animals or kids???) 😉 We got our last dog with the intention of breeding. After the first year or two, I knew she didn’t better the breed. She was a fantastic pet for the 12 years we had her. That doesn’t better the breed, and it’s not responsible to breed for that. There are PLENTY of mixed breeds that are fantastic pets that should be adopted.
Next, part of “Better the Breed” is making sure the dog is healthy. Not just a quick vet check, but real health certifications. Find out the issues for your breed, and figure out how to test for them. Hip dysplasia is a common, major issue for labs. Getting their hips and elbows x-rayed then rated by OFA is important to not pass this on and keep it in the breed. Personally, I know of someone in this county that bred a lab that passed on hip dysplasia to a litter of pups, one of which a friend got. Certainly, the breeder never meant to do this, but they certainly didn’t act responsibly to prevent it. Whether it was too much time, money, effort, whatever, I don’t know. If you can’t be responsible, don’t do it.
Last (for this post), it’s not all wine and roses. Today, I was planning on being a few days from a new litter from Genessee. I determined about 2 weeks ago that the breeding didn’t take. ☹ Just for this breeding, there were multiple vet visits and fees for blood work, then two 3-hour drives each way for the AI breedings, so more vet bills, plus all of our time. Shoot, but OK. It’s never guaranteed. Had it taken, we just hoped for a healthy litter. However, I know of reputable breeders that in the last year had: 1. A litter of 2, and both pups died within the first 2 weeks, 2. A litter of 5 that required scheduled C-section because the pups were too big, 3. Multiple breedings that didn’t take. 4. Emergency C-Section and, of course, it was in the middle of the night on a weekend. Things don’t always go as planned, and they can get expensive, fast. I remember a former co-worker had great safety measures in place to protect one of her litters of poodles. Still, Parvo somehow was introduced and killed over half her litter. The few pups the vet was able to save lived for weeks at the vet for continuous medications and monitoring until they were deemed healthy enough to return home. It was very sad and unfortunate.
I hope this helps those that have reached out, and anyone else understand a bigger picture of what breeding animals takes. I’m sure all of the fun and cute pictures posted these days make it look so fun and easy. But just like everything else on social media, it’s only a small, incomplete view of real life. The preparations and hardships aren’t pretty, fun, or easy.

23/11/2020

Sorry. 😔. No Dogs or Puppies currently available. 😔.

25/10/2020

Interesting post on dog food - specifically troubles a grain free food can cause.

On Monday I took Sina's puppies to Dr. Bostwick in Missoula to have their hearts checked. They were all normal. Dr. Bostwick is a cardiac specialist and one of a very few in the state of Montana that can clear canine hearts for OFA. This picture is of the puppies once we got home. Traveling the 45 minutes in the car each way, plus getting examined was a little stressful for these three week old puppies. They slept well when they got home!

Three years ago in Sina's litter we lost two of her siblings to dilated cardiomyopathy at ten months of age. It was devastating, not only to these poor puppy's families but to me as a breeder. The first thing I did when I found out was to take Sina and her parents Kuma and Griz to get their hearts checked. They were all examined by Dr. Bostwick and were all normal.

So what caused the DCM when I have never had heart issues in my puppies or dogs? The only thing that was different was the puppy food. Costco stopped carrying the puppy food I have used for over 20 years with great success in their warehouse and they started carrying a grain free food. So I tried it since it was available and Costco generally carries good products. However, when my clients lost their puppies I switched puppy foods immediately and then started to do a great deal of research, apparently at about the same time a lot of other people were, including the FDA.

When I heard that the FDA was investigating canine deaths in dogs which have never had heart issues, I contacted them. I spoke with their veterinarians and then contacted my clients who lost their puppies and submitted their medical histories. Those cases are now part of the FDA study. We also had a client lose their seven year old dog and one lost a three year old all to DCM. The older dogs were also fed grain free foods.

This was a very dark time for Zumi's Labs. Our losses were huge. Not only did the puppy food cause deaths, but of the several puppies I kept that were fed the grain free food all were ten pounds under sized and many had elbows that did not pass OFA.

We learned the hard way. So I share this story to remind you to please NEVER NEVER NEVER FEED GRAIN FREE FOODS to your dogs. For the health of your pet, also stay away from foods with the main ingredients of peas and potatoes.

I've attached the FDA study link in the comments below.

29/08/2020

Momma, Genessee, and daughter, Brodie. She’s about as big as momma. ❤️

04/08/2020

Happy 6 Month Birthday, puppies!!

10/05/2020

Happy Mother’s Day! Genessee got to see one of her babies, Stihl, yesterday. So cute.

03/05/2020

Happy 3 Month Birthday to all of our puppies!! 🤗🎉🎊

29/04/2020

Take a look at handsome Hank!! Looks like a lot of fun adventures with his family.

25/04/2020

Almost a hour later, she’s still sucking on the same bear. 😴🤗🤗

09/04/2020

Such a handsome boy!!

06/04/2020

Genessee had a fun day today, she loves going to the cabin. And I’m starting to notice that she’s back to her normal free-feeding for food (which is so nice!). The last few weeks that the puppies were here, she was eating SO much food I wondered if she would ever slow down. 😆😆

26/03/2020

Something to consider if your puppy is getting a lot of attention now, but schedules may change and they will have to spend some time alone.

23/03/2020

Today was the first morning without any of our sweet, fluffy, chubby bundles of joy. Boy, we sure miss them, but there are at least 15 kids that should be in school this morning that get to love on and play with their new partners. And getting some great updates this morning, sure made me smile. If you have one of our pups, please feel free to share pictures, videos, and/or updates. ❤️❤️

21/03/2020

This weekend is bitter sweet! Our puppies are leaving us, 😥 but seeing the love and excitement on the new families faces is so uplifting - especially with the world today. 😍😍. The Boast twins (former “Lucky family” to keep the surprise) got twin girl surprises for their 13th birthday. So fun to be a part of a birthday surprise. The three girls are now gone as well as two boys. The last three boys are going tomorrow afternoon. I’m sad to not be sharing sweet puppy pictures and videos to bring a smile to your faces, and mine. Stay safe, my friends. ❤️❤️❤️

18/03/2020

Only a few more days for videos and photos before the love and chaos subsides (well, the puppy-related chaos). 🤭. We have all had so much fun with this great litter. ❤️. I’m looking forward to puppy pictures and updates in the future from all of the lucky families!!

15/03/2020

Shhhh. They are finally quiet. 🤗

13/03/2020

WARNING!! This video is over-flowing with total cuteness! ❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙

13/03/2020

They really are cute and fun (easily said right now because I’m not in the middle of cleaning up a messy pen and messy puppies). 🤭😉. All of the pups in this litter are spoken for (last one will go to one family or another). We hadn’t planned on another litter, but.... with so many people wanting one of the pups and we have no more of this litter, we are reconsidering. We will decide in a few weeks which way we plan to proceed, and then will share our decision. (It just doesn’t seem fair that not everyone gets to share the love of these sweet babies.). 😍😍

12/03/2020

Outside play today. Sharing for the joy of all, but especially those lucky families that get to love on these rascals for years to come. ❤️

12/03/2020

Well, you can’t say these pups aren’t socialized or won’t be used to activity. Lol. They had baths tonight, and then the fun night of chaos began. 😆😆. How different the house will be in just a short 10 days. But I’m excited for the fun they will have at their new family’s homes. ❤️❤️.

10/03/2020

They sure are fun, cute, and funny. Constant entertainment. 😍😍

09/03/2020

Such a beautiful day outside. They got to spend quite awhile soaking in the sun and playing in the grass these last 2 days. Feel goods: 1. One family choosing to add 2 pups instead of just one, 2. Another family strongly considering choosing a second, and 3. (The best feel good) hearing “I don’t care so much about the registration, I just know that I can trust the quality of your dogs.” I wouldn’t breed if I didn’t know these dogs better the breed. I have passed on breeding a different lab we initially planned to breed. She was a fabulous pet, but didn’t have a high quality of all traits that I feel is important to better the breed. This breed is amazing, and these pups are perfect. ❤️❤️

05/03/2020

Soooo adorable!! The puppies are getting big and fluffy. They are starting to play and grow into their personalities. We have them getting introduced to carrier kennels for sleeping and pads for beginning potty-training. They are having fun during outside playtime, too!!!

28/02/2020

No, not all puppies have been spoken for. We still have some available, but we will be advertising soon. Yellows are a desirable color, so they will go fast. See the pinned post at the top of this FB page on how to get your deposit in. ❤️❤️. These chunky monkeys are so sweet!

25/02/2020

They are getting so active! ❤️❤️❤️

17/02/2020

Blackberry paws. ❤️❤️❤️

14/02/2020

Their noses and paws are getting darker. They are getting SO big! And eyes are close to opening!! ❤️❤️

08/02/2020

Adoption information below!! 🙂
Lucky puppies/Lucky Families:
1st male pick - Fred & Erin Schlect 💙
2nd male pick - Shellie & Dave Matthews 💙
3rd male pick - The Montgomery Family 💙
4th male pick - The Havercroft Family 💙
5th male pick - The BS Family 😉 💙
1st female pick - Jeff & Lori Thorpe 💖
2nd female pick - Boast Family 💝
3rd female pick - Boast Family 💝💝

• Deposit - A deposit of $400 (1/2 refundable) will reserve your puppy. Check or Venmo (-Bala w/ a letter "B" as the pic).
• New Homes - The puppies will be ready for pick-up starting 3/21/2020-the start of spring break! 😊
• AKC Registration - Forms for AKC Limited registration will be provided when the puppies go to their forever homes.
• Health - When the puppies are ready to go to their forever homes, they will have had their first vaccinations and started on the de-wormer regiment. Additionally, the dew claws have been removed.
• Questions - If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us anytime!!
• Bloodlines - Genessee came from "Little's Labradors" (FB Page name) 2016 litter, and Charlie, the stud, is from "Pure Joy Labradors".

08/02/2020

I’m not really sure how I’m going to get anything done today - or for the next 6 weekends?? 🤨🥰🥰. These sweet babies are becoming more vocal, and their paws and noses are starting to turn black. They double their birthweight in just the first 8 days. ❤️❤️

07/02/2020

Looks like momma wanted a break, but someone was determined to sneak another snack. 😆❤️

05/02/2020

Auntie Carolyn Rathbun Townsend’s baseball hat is too small for the big headed kids, but is still perfect!! ❤️ ⚾️ ❤️