Puppy FAQ's
* What makes your program different? Our puppies are in the center of our home from day one. They are hand raised by our homeschooling family. We have a cage-free approach for our puppies and they are never put outside in a kennel or outbuilding. Loyal Labradors is a small, woman owned business that has been operating for over 16 years. My earliest experiences with raising Labs began in the 1970's when my father and I raised Labs together. Our family has over 3 generations of puppy raisers and we know the key to raising top quality English Lab puppies. Most of our litters have 5 or 6 generations of our own bloodline in the pedigree so we can say that we confidently know what we are raising.
* Do you sell service and Therapy dogs? Yes, many of our dogs have become service dogs or therapy dogs or have been purchased to be trained as potential service or therapy dogs. See this page we have started for those dogs and we will update photos as we get more. We focus on good early experiences for each puppy and they are socialized well while being handled daily.
* What steps are you taking to help prevent Covid? We are following CDC and AKC guidelines for careful measures. Picks done at 7 weeks old by photos and videos. No early visitors are allowed to our home. Pick up is done at 8 weeks old outside or on our covered porch. Nobody outside of our family will handle your puppy before you pick up your puppy. During cold winter weather we will ask that no more than two people arrive to pick up your puppy.
* Where are you located? We are located in Mora, MN. Mora is a small Swedish town located 1.5 hrs north of the Minneapolis airport.
*What form of payment do you take? We take personal checks or Zelle before 3 weeks old or Cash at the time of pick up. Please don't send any other form of payment. Payment instructions will be sent to you. Please follow payment instructions.
* What is a white Lab puppy and why are your puppies called white Labs? Our puppies are actually YELLOW Labs that are very light in color. People may call them white but they are in fact yellow Labs. AKC registers them as Yellow.
* At what age can I get my puppy? Our puppies leave at 8 weeks old.
* How long is the wait? Typically adopters wait 6-12 months to have a puppy born to them once their deposit has arrived. At times it could be much sooner. At times we may not take your deposit if we feel our list is too long.
* How much are your puppies? Our puppies start at $4,000. At times they could be priced higher if they are the "pick of the litter" male & female or 2nd pick male or female. Please email or fill out my form to find out more about how pick of the litter works. We do not negotiate on the price of our puppies. A backyard breeder can offer an inexpensive puppy. We have went to great lengths to health test the parents of your puppy. In most cases we own as far back as great great great grandparents so we know the longevity and health of our lines. We put a lot of extra time into the raising and training of our puppies. We have champion show lines in many of our dogs pedigrees and offer a very nice health guarantee to our adopters along with lifelong support.
* Do you ship? No, we won't ship our puppies. You are welcome to our home. For special circumstances we can meet you at the MSP airport ($250 transport fee). You must come to Minnesota for your puppy.
* Do you health test your dogs? Yes, we do! Health testing is located under each dog. Some of the things that our dogs are tested for are OFA hip, OFA elbow and many recessive genes. We provide copies of the parents health testing for you in your puppy folder.
* Do you offer a guarantee for hips/elbows & eyes? Yes, we do. We actually offer you a 4 year on hips/elbows/eyes. What you feed determines how long of a guarantee you'll get. Read about the food we feed and recommend by clicking here. We don't require you to feed the food that we feed. But, the better the food, the better the guarantee. You have a choice in the matter to receive a 1 yr or 4 yr guarantee. You get this guarantee in writing and it's signed by both the adopter and the breeder.
* Do you remove the dewclaws on your puppies? We do not remove the dewclaws on our puppies.
* Do you microchip your puppies? We do not microchip our puppies. Doing this at 12 weeks or older is recommended.
* What forms of payment do you take? We can take Checks, cash and Zelle for deposits. For final payment it is due at 4 weeks by check or Zelle.
*Will I get to choose my puppy? In most cases you'll get to select your puppy, unless you are at the very end of the list and have agreed to take the last pick. When I contact you about the litter you can opt to wait if you don't want the last pick. Picks are done at 7 weeks old by photos and video. Pick up is at 8 weeks.
* Will you help me choose my puppy? If you'd like help we can suggest to you the right fit for your home.
* Do you do Temperament testing & Volhard Evaluations?
We help guide you in the selection of your puppy. We specialize in "matching" puppies to their homes. We use a combination of several methods when evaluating our Lab puppies. Many of our puppies have gone to service and therapy dog homes. It's important to us that we help you find the correct match to your home, though all of our puppies have excellent temperament.
We use the Volhard puppy evaluation for the following:
Social attraction ~ Following ~ Restraint ~ Social dominance ~ Elevation dominance ~ Retrieving ~ Touch sensitivity ~ Sound sensitivity ~ sight sensitivity ~ Stability
