I was a geek before it become a good thing - if it ever did become a good thing. My training, skills, and innate analytical bent started me down the path to computer programmer/analyst when computers were bigger than a small house and about as powerful as a desktop calculator. Along with my love of computers and all things logical was my equally pervasive love of animals -dogs, cats, horses. I even brought home a garter snake or two in grade school. For much of the 80's, my weekends, holidays, vacations, and more than a few sick days, were spent at, or traveling to and from, a dog show or a horse show.

My first "show dog" was a little Yorkshire Terrier. I entered him in the puppy classes at a show in Dayton Ohio in the early 70's and was mortified to learn that you can't show a dog in conformation without his testicles! After that embarassment, I concentrated on the obedience rings and my horses until the early 80's when I got my first real 'show dog', a Golden Retriever. I spent the next 10+ years showing my goldens, dobes, and smooth fox terriers in both conformation and obedience until family and career demands forced me to make some choices in 1992. I didn't step back into the show ring until January 2009 in Minneapolis, Mn with a 6 month old black Lab puppy named, appropriately, Fenwyck's Never Again aka 'Conner'.

Conner is neutered now and sleeps at the foot of my bed every night. He and his son, Gage, have started their obedience training and will be competing for their CD in the spring. I'm also looking forward to opening a new door in the world of canine competition, field training. It's been a long, and often painful and bumpy ride to where we are now, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I'll still take a few dog hairs in my home over an animal free environment any day of the week.

I have a Post Graduate Diploma from Georgian College (Barrie ON) in Fundraising and Resource Development and currently work as the Coordinator of Annual Giving at a University. I worked for the YMCA for 5 1/2 years on a $12 million Capital Campaign to build a brand new facility.

My first two dogs were from less than ideal breeders – our first was from the newspaper, an oops litter between two neighbouring labradors and our second had to be put to sleep after only 48 hours in the home because of aspirated pneumonia due to megaesophagus. Since then we have only dealt with Reputable Breeders and vowed to make sure we did everything correctly when we started breeding. I am a member in good standing of the Canadian Kennel Club, Labrador Owners Club and the Eastern Ontario Labrador Breeders Association. I currently have three females, one of which is retired and one male.

My background includes 4+ years in the USAF and 2+ years of liberal arts college. My latest career has been managing the commercial office building my husband Paul, and I have owned for the last 9 years. I have been married 20 years and have 2 sons, Dale and Reed. I started in 4-H with horses in 1960, and have been invloved with Labradors since 1999. I have been a member of the Puget Sound Labrador Retriever Association since 1999 and the Rainier Hunting Retriever Club since 2001. I have served as RHRC Newsletter Editor 2001 – 2003 and a Board Member since 2002. I participate in conformation shows and Hunting Retriever Tests and am an AKC approved Junior Hunter judge. I have served as HRT Chair, HRT Committee member, Stake Chair & Marshal (2000 - present), as well as the WC Chair for PSLRA Specialty 2004 – 2005.

I am committed to the free exchange of truthful information between owners and breeders of Labrador Retrievers for the betterment of the breed. I have volunteered to serve the cause of The LabraData Foundation and donate in any way I can to this worthy endeavor.

I hold a Masters degree in Animal Husbandry and never worked in my field of education, but it gives me a good understanding of genetics and husbandry. I moved from Holland to the USA 24 years ago to get married. My husband is a CPA and we have our own accounting business. I have experience with accounting from the ground up, starting with keeping and correcting the books for small to large companies all the way to completing IRS Income tax returns for individuals, corporations and non-profit organizations.

We acquired our first Labrador in 1982. I started out doing obedience and tracking, then got interested in conformation and subsequent Labradors were purchased with the intent of pursuing conformation and performance titles. So far I have bred 10 litters. Some of the puppies that stayed here have completed their conformation title and most also have a performance title. I have trained and handled different dogs to their AKC CH, TDX, OTCh, MACH and JH titles. I am a member of the LRC, Inc., Alaska Kennel Club, Puget Sound Labrador Retriever Association and the Obedience Training Club of Chugiak. Since 2 puppies bred by me have shown up with PRA and some others with elbow problems, I am very excited about theLabraData Foundation's goals of sharing health information so that we can all benefit from better knowledge about the health issues facing the breed.

I attended college for 2 years and have always loved science. I took a genetics course and the study of DNA was thrilling to me. My father did limited breeding and field work with Irish Setters, which is where I began my dog training. I have raised Arabian horses, cattle, pigs, and about every farm animal there is, but dogs have always been my best friends. I am married and live in Kenai, Alaska. My two children are both grown and married, one living in Alaska and the other currently in Peru. I work for Marathon Oil Company and am the Purchasing Coordinator for Alaska. I have an excellent knowledge of databases as that is the major part of my job. I am also responsible for training our Alaskan staff.

I began showing Labradors in 1998 and my first litter was born in 2001. I currently have 7 bitches (2 retired) and 3 dogs (1 retired). I have bred 5 champions to date and put obedience, agility, and rally titles on multiple dogs. Two are currently certified pet partners. I have served on the Board of the Kenai Kennel Club for about 4 years, been chief ring steward and currently am president. I teach basic obedience, competition obedience, puppy classes and CGC. I am also a member of the Puget Sound Labrador Retriever Association. I am so excited to be a part of the LabraData Foundation as I see this project becoming the best worldwide source of information available to the Labrador community.

I earned my living for many years as a writer for radio, television, advertising, educational films, documentaries, aircraft, computer systems, medical and veterinary journals and even the military. An insatiable Sci-Fi fan, I was always interested in computers and wrote my first program in 1964 for an IBM mainframe that was bigger than my current house! In the mid-1980s, I migrated from technical writing to computer programming and worked for 10 years as a systems software programmer/analyst and Database Administrator for a nuclear power plant. After retiring from my "corporate" career, I went to college and now hold a BA in Psychology/Sociology, BS in Nursing and MA with a specialty in Health Information. I am an adjunct lecturer for Wichita State University in the School of Nursing and the Computer Science department.

I purchased my first show dog in 1968 and was hooked for life! I have bred champions in four breeds and group winners in three. Time and injuries have changed my priorities in the ring and I am now an AKC approved conformation judge for several breeds. I am a member of the Labrador Retriever Club, Inc and the Labrador Retriever Club (UK). Although I love the "sport" of dogs, my greatest joy is still in plying both the science and art of breeding. It is my fond hope that the wealth of information gathered by the LabraData project will provide assistance and insight into the challenges Labrador breeders face now and for the future.

I got my first Labrador when I was 14 from a pet store in our local mall. She became very ill the second day we had her and was diagnosed with Parvo. She was hospitalized for a week and recovered. I ended up working for the Vet to pay off the bill. I continued working for the Vet through High School graduation and learned the importance of a good health background as well as good care.

I have two young daughters and I drive a School Bus for the city. This also gives me weekends, holidays and summers off to work with the dogs. I currently have a Lab that I am showing in conformation, obedience and dock diving.

G’day all – I am the Australian connection for this important project. I have a background in nursing for 20 years then changed to local government managing a large team delivering home support services to the community for the past 10 years. I have lived in rural Victoria since my late teens and consequently I have always been surrounded by animals and lots of dogs and my family of 4 children and now 2 grand daughters. In 1977 we obtained our first Labrador as a companion for our baby daughter and gundog for my husband. As this girl was pedigreed, we decided to start showing her and have been hooked ever since. We currently have 7 Labradors ranging from 10 years to 18 months, 2 Dachshunds and 3 German collie sheepdogs.

I am passionate in trying to breed the best dog possible and this can be seen in my bloodlines, using dogs predominantly from the UK and 3 years ago importing semen from the USA. LabraData to me is an extremely important tool that I can use to research health issues, look at litters that have been sired by a particular dog and it’s siblings to determine the type of dogs being produced. The tyranny of distance will be overcome for breeders living on the other side of the world!

I graduated from Hamilton Business College as a Business Administrator and have managed several businesses with job duties including basic bookkeeping, inventory control, employee management, etc. I am experienced in Microsoft Office 2000, including Access database management, and my current employment (bookkeeper) includes designing and creating brochures, flyers, advertisements, tickets, etc. I also design and maintain websites.

I have been involved with dogs all my life. I got my "start" in the show ring as a 4-H'er showing my rescue collie mix in obedience. That snowballed into helping my mother with her collies, then branching out on my own into Labradors. While not a "breeder" per se, I have bred one Labrador litter. I have been a member of Mason City Kennel Club, Inc. since 1975 and have served as historian, librarian, recording secretary, board member, and have also taught many obedience classes. I am currently the conformation/showmanship instructor (going on 15th year of that!) and I also handle show dogs for others.

I am the daughter of a Union Ironworker who lived all over America before settling in Florida when I was 12. I was blessed to go to Cocoa Beach High School and the local Community College prior to meeting my children's Father and having my three daughters, all grown up and now giving me Grandchildren. I have had a Labrador since a young adult, starting out in Obedience with a Chessie. Going from a Chessie to a Labrador is a piece of cake! In college, my major was Political Science yet I worked as a Secretary/Office Manager after school. My passion is pedigree work, both my family and our Labradors. My daughters and I are proud members of the Orlando Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

We, my family and I, have been involved full time in Labradors for two decades. I have one mission - educating the public about Labrador Retrievers and the multi-purpose dogs they are, and genetic testing. LabraData opened a door for those of us who are determined to maintain accurate and verifiable records for not only our own studies but for many generations to come. I am a member of the Labrador Retriever Club, the Labrador Retriever Club of the Potomac and Vice-President of The National Labrador Retriever Club. I am also sitting chair of the Central Florida Labrador Breeders & Friends.

In 1972, my father passed away leaving my mother with me (5) and my 2 older brothers, 12 & 13. No one seemed to have time to spend with me so my mother decided to grant my wish of giving me a dog. I was blessed with owning the ugliest but smartest, puppy mill Min. Schnauzer anyone had ever seen. We were constant companions and my love and respect for animals grew from there. While Prince was extremely smart, he was definitely not a show dog. By 12, I had saved enough money to purchase a young show quality Min Schnauzer bitch and my love for conformation took off. I showed many breeds while I was in high school, toy poodles, Min. Schnauzers, Boston Terriers, Boxers, GWP, Maltese and Yorkies. I even had a small grooming shop in my mother’s basement and groomed all the local dogs.

In 1985, I purchased my first Labrador from Fran Benedict of Greenbrier Labradors. He was a son of Shamrock Acres Light Brigade. Pow was an amazing field dog. Unfortunately, he was dysplastic and I was given a gorgeous yellow bitch as a replacement. Kahlee was a granddaughter of Crofter and she became the foundation of my yellow line. While breeding sparingly, we are now on our sixth generation of Forsythe Labradors descending from Kahlee. Our chocolate line is descended from 2 foundation bitches, UK import Mardas Maduro Wrapper and Windfalls Shadowfax at Forsythe. I enjoy showing in Conformation and Field activities.

I graduated from Indiana University’s Nursing program and have worked as an R.N. in Trauma Emergency rooms all over Northwest IN, Chicago and Western MI. I also worked in invasive Cardiology as a scrub nurse and have done non invasive testing as well. In 1995,my dashing husband and I settled in Grand Rapids MI so he could finish his Family Practice residency. We have a beautiful son and enjoy the outdoors with our dogs.