Our kennel in Illinois was established in 1997 on a rural farmstead near Fisher, which is
about a 2 hour drive south from Chicago.
We have sold the country farmstead and moved to Champaign, IL
Tucker, Emily, Kada, and Ellie (foreground) in Florida
Our journey with Labradors started in the early 90's in Florida. Our
first Lab, William Tecumseh Sherman (we called him Tucker),
caused us to fall in love with the breed. Unfortunately, Tucker's life ended prematurely
due to an accident. Before having Tucker, I owned and bred German Shepherds.
Basement Puppy Whelping Rooms
All of our puppies are born in the house and spend their first 10 days to 2 weeks
in the basement whelping rooms.
Puppy Growing House
In the summer of 2005 we made a major addition to our kennel by
building a new garage with drains and heat elements in the floor. This facility allows us to
raise puppies during the winter months. Puppies and moms leave the basement whelping room at about
10-14 days of age and move to the growing house. They can stay here until weaning age - at about 5
weeks.
Puppy Garden (Barn)
A livestock barn was converted to a puppy garden. Puppies go here after
leaving the growing house.
Inside the Puppy Garden
Inside of the Puppy Garden (Barn) there are four large size puppy pens. Each is installed
with heat lamps or fans, depending on the season.
At this time the puppies are eating solid food. In the beginning the moms are with the
puppies, but gradually the moms are given less time each day with the pups. The pups are usually
completely weaned from their mothers by 7 weeks of age.
Corn Crib Kennel
A converted corn crib functions as the central kennel for our breeding females.
The old, but solid, corncrib was converted to 12 inside/outside runs, and a new roof was installed.
Yellow and Black Girls
We have three Champion males (Dealer, Cree and Sammy) that we usually breed to our yellow and black girls.
Older Puppy Runs
We try to keep quite a few pups each year, so as to constantly upgrade our
kennel and to evaluate first hand
the puppies that we are producing.
Emily and pups cooling off on a hot summer day
When the weather is appropriate, Tecumseh puppies get introduced to water at a young age.
Evaluating Puppies
Evaluating puppies is an important aspect of the breeding program.
Showing Our Dogs
Dog shows are one of the methods that we use to evaluate our breeding dogs. For dogs to
do well in shows, they need to have proper Labrador conformation, excellent movement, and a good
temperament.
