Why Do Our Dogs Participate In AKC Events?

Here at Laurie and Joe’s Labs, part of our commitment to excellence is having the dogs in our breeding program participate in AKC events. This is more than just a past time for us – we consider this to be a key aspect of ethical breeding. Many of our followers wonder about the reasons we put so much effort into showing or titling the dogs in our breeding program when they are just seeking a companion pet puppy from us. We consider accomplishments in the show ring, competive obedience ring, and in hunt tests to not only show dedication to the breed but it also demonstrate that the dogs in our program meet the standard for health, structure, and temperament. Through this participation, we are able to uphold high standards ensuring that each dog in our program is the best reflection of the Labrador breed, which ultimately benefits each puppy who comes out of our program.

Participation in AKC events gives us an opportunity to assess the prospects in our program ensuring that only the best prospects enter our breeding program. We can gain invaluable input from judges about the structure, movement, traits, and temperament. Participation in AKC events builds a special bond with our dogs even if they go to competions with a professional handler. We begin all their initial training here which includes puppy classes, CGC and CGGA testing, beginning conformation classes, and we trial many of our dogs in Rally ourselves.

Participating in AKC events also helps us socialize our dogs by exposing them to different environments, people, and other dogs. They become accustomed to being handled by different people and being surrounded by crowds of people and dogs, loud noises and unfamiliar scents. Their experience with competing fosters confidence and adaptability which allows them to remain relaxed under all conditions which translates into a well behaved dog outside the competition ring.

We encourage our puppy families to try the many AKC events that are out there. It helps puppies to become better trained and to therefore live a better life because they are able to get out and do more things. We also like to be able to evaluate puppies from our litters on an ongoing basis. Therefore, we offer a generous rebates program for earning applicable titles in AKC venues ( see the rebates section of our website for additional details ).