Welcome to
Flair Creek Labs
Farm-Raised Labrador Retrievers
Located in Western Iowa, we are a small breeding program dedicated to raising quality AKC Labrador Retrievers. Our goal is to preserve the integrity of the breed while maintaining high standards for health, soundness, temperament, and structure.
We are proud that many of the puppies we have raised have gone on to become successful therapy dogs, service dogs, hunting retrievers, and, most importantly, beloved family companions.
Health Tested
We extensively health test all of our potential breeding dogs prior to adding them to our program. We are proud that our dogs have pedigrees stacked with several generations of solid orthopedic and health clearances as well.
Hips & Elbows
X-Rays of the hips and elbows are taken at two years old and sent in to OFA. A panel of veterinary radiology specialists evaluate the conformation of the "ball and socket" joint and rate them compared to others in the breed. Elbow X-rays are evaluated for signs of dysplasia. Dogs with passing ratings have a significantly lower chance of producing a puppy with hip/elbow dysplasia.
Cardiac
Our dogs are evaluated by a board-certified veterinary cardiologist to detect any congenital heart conditions. Tricuspid Valve Dysplasia (TVD) is a congenital heart defect seen in Labradors that can not be picked up by just listening to the heart, so an echo is necessary to make sure a potential breeding dog is free from TVD and other defects.
Eyes
Our breeding dogs have their eyes examined by board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist annually. The purpose of this is to look for any eye problems that may pop up from year to year. Since Labs are a sporting breed, good eyesight is very important for being functional hunting and service dogs!
Genetic Panel
We test for all of the genetic diseases relevant to the gene pool. This includes EIC, MCD, HNPK, SD2, CNM, DM, PRA-prcd, CT ATP7B, and Stargardt. We believe that Labradors exclusively come in Black, Chocolate, and Yellow. The dilute gene does NOT occur in the purebred Labrador Retriever therefore all of our dogs are negative for the dilute gene.
How We Raise Them
All of our breeding dogs are our pets, first and foremost. They live a fun life here on our farm where there is plenty of space to "be dogs". High quality nutrition, free-range exercise, and plenty of quality time are some of the things we provide to keep them in great shape mentally and physically.
Our puppies are raised with plenty of hands-on attention and socialization. We are firm believers in "a little dirt never hurts", our puppies explore and tumble around outside from an early age. We feel this sets them up for a life as healthy, adaptable, stable companions.
