Driven By A Goal

Welcome to Archway Kennels, the home of quality, performance-bred Labrador Retrievers.  Owned by Ken Archer and Stacy Archer-Baker, Archway Kennels produce one to three litters of puppies each year.  Every litter is selectively bred to improve the performance and conformation of our own breeding stock from one generation to the next.  The over all quality of our dogs is thus enhanced every year as we add the best individuals from the latest generation to our breeding stock and find good homes to retire the older generation.

Our aim is to produce working Labrador Retrievers that are enthusiastic to perform, fun to train, easy to look at and a joy to live with.  We select our breeding stock from some of the best field performance bloodlines available in the United States and Canada.  From that short list we then look for individuals with the best working conformation, an ideal temperament for field and home and the necessary health clearances. Through the use of artificial insemination we have access to the best stud dogs in the United States and Canada.  We spend long hours searching for suitable stud dogs.  We spend even more hours researching their pedigrees and performance, production and health records.  Then we make the effort to see each stud dog that we intend to use in person,  watch him in training or field trials, and check for proper athletic conformation.  Since Archway Labs are bred to be hunting dogs, we place special emphasis on drive, marking ability and excellent feet and legs.  Finally, we select for dogs that have the ability to shut it off and be calm companions and family members in the home.

Medical research has given dog breeders some great tools and we use all of  them.  All of our breeding stock have their hips and elbows x-rayed for dysplasia and the results are certified by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA).  Their eyes are checked by veterinary opthomologists and recorded with the Canine Eye Registration Foundation (CERF).  Recently developed DNA tests also allow us to check for Centronuclear Myopothy (CNM) and Exercise Induced Collapse (EIC), both genetic diseases that have affected the Labrador Retriever breed for generations.  We have eliminated CNM from our kennel and we're working on the elimination of EIC, the most recent disease for which we have a genetic test.

Here at Archway Kennels we will always go the extra mile to make sure that every puppy we raise is the most talented, best looking and healthiest  puppy we can produce.  That is our goal, our commitment and your guarantee.

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