LegaSea Labradors

I am a hobby breeder currently living in the Dallas metroplex, Texas, but my start in Labradors came while living in Southern California. Easy is my first show dog (on left above), and he is the one that got me hooked on the breed by going RWD in the first specialty we entered, going WD/BOW at the third one I entered him in, and consistently placing in others. The house is currently filled with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, coming down from his daughter Ch. Sureshot Hyspire Born Ready, JH, who was the foundation on which my breeding program has grown. I was honored to have the opportunity to stand Olé (on right above) at stud and show him in the US in 2005-2006 and look forward to watching his North American progeny mature over the next few years!

All of the dogs at LegaSea share my home with me. While there is a small kennel, the dogs only use it if no one is home for an extended time. Although they enjoy taking in the fresh air, all of the dogs are house dogs and spend much of their day inside with me. I am fortunate to be able to work from my home, and spend the majority of the day with my dogs. Most nights I will have at least two dogs on the bed, and usually another one or two will snuggle in just before daybreak, with the others within tripping distance! We go for walks through the neighborhood as well as make frequent trips to the lake and nearby parks, and will soon have a swimming pool at the new house!

In Memory of Klassic Honeysuckle Rose, CGC Easy came into my life when I lost Honey in 2000.

July 1, 1997 - December 8, 2000 This is a friend's watercolor of Honey

The Kennel name "LegaSea" was derived after I lost Honey in 2000. Honey and I lived 1 block from the beach, in Hermosa Beach, just outside Los Angeles and Honey loved to go swimming in the Pacific whenever I could get to Huntington Dog Beach! My introduction to the Labrador fancy was all by chance, when I unexpectedly lost Honey to acute pancreatitis and wanted a black dog to warm my feet. Easy filled the emptiness in my heart and Honey's "Legacy by the Sea" was started. We've since moved far from the sea, but the LegaSea continues in Texas.

In Spring of 2005, I converted my chlorinated pool in my previous home into a saltwater pool with a Gold Line Aqua Rite Salt Chlorinating System. The Aqua Rite uses common salt (the same salt used in water conditioners) and converts it into "free" chlorine. The chlorine sanitizes the pool and then reverts back into salt, so it does not require the maintenance of a chemical-sanitized pool. It's not "salty" like the ocean, but has the same pH as saline, so you can swim with your eyes open underwater and it won't hurt the dogs either. With only a teaspoon of salt per gallon, the Aqua Rite produces enough fresh chlorine to keep a 40,000-gallon pool clean without the chlorine smell. The dogs' coats don't dry out and that lingering smell of chlorine on the dogs, towels, bathing suits and patio are gone! Email me if you want more information-- I don't work for the company, but I'm a believer in the system and wish I'd done it earlier!! Now that I've moved, there isn't a pool yet, but when I put one in it will have a salt system!

Multi Ch. Olé came to stay with us in January 2005 through April 2006. He earned his championship with two specialty five point majors, RWD at a third specialty, and two all breed group placements. He was Best in Specialty Show from Open Black under Betty Graham at DFWLRC in 2005 and he also earned his Junior Hunter title while here. In addition to just being a wonderful dog, Olé introduced me to his owner, Anne-Charlotte Dreyfus, and all the European breeders who share similar values and visions for the future of our breed.

The year 2006 brought three champions to my breeding program, including my first homebred Champion. To top it off, Bonus and Dapper finished their championships at the same circuit! October of that year, I loaded up four dogs and headed to the National in St Louis!! My goal was to earn Dog For All Reasons awards for all the dogs, and to my incredible surprise, five year old Diva was Winner's Bitch and Best of Winners and also brought home Best Brood Bitch honors!!! Gussie, Diva and Bonus each earned a JH leg; Gussie and Diva completed their RN titles, and Bonus got a leg on his RN; Aria completed her CD; and Aria qualified in Open Agility and Rally Advanced, with first place honors!!!! As I'd hoped, Diva and her three offspring earned Dog For All Reasons recognition for competing in performance, obedience and conformation events!! Then, two weeks later, Diva finished her championship at the HOTLRC Specialty, while her daughters Gussie and Halle were 2nd in BBE and 1st in Am Bred! The following weekend, Gussie earned her JH and Diva also passed both days for a total of three legs! 2006 was a good year!!!

In early 2007, Diva finished up her JH and I took her out to San Diego for SDLRC, where she was Best Hunting Retriever and earned a JAM under Lisa Weiss! While she didn't get pregnant that year, her daughter Gussie had her first litter of ten pups by Ch. Sureshot Hyspire Impressive, a dog that I loved the first time I saw him in puppy class at LRCSC! Gussie was a fabulous mother and the pups were all healthy and strong, with Gussie's incredible drive in the field! We spent the end of 2007 picking up some points in the ring with Jack, Twister, and Buddy, and training in the field!

All that training paid off, as in spring of 2008, Dapper, Jack and Carmen each earned their Junior Hunter title. Twister earned three legs and is still waiting for me to be home one weekend and get that final leg! We were thrilled with Diva's final litter by Ch Tremont's Fu Man Chu and kept two pups from the litter, Panda and Finn. Diva had a tough delivery, but bounced back well and cared for her ten pups like the earth-mother she is. When her pups were four weeks old, a friend called to say that a dam with four-day-old pups' was ill, so the pups came over and Diva nursed them as well! Super mom!!! Aria and mom earned their CD and more agility titles, and Jack is on the way to his CD as well! We had a great time at the HOTLRC specialty in October, with three of my four entries winning their classes (Gussie, Halle and Twister) and Diva came home with Best Veteran, a JAM, Best Brood Bitch and Best Opposite in Sweepstakes. Twister also made me proud by winning Best Bred By Exhibitor, a breeder's honor!

In 2009, two of our dogs earned their Junior Hunter titles, Caviar and Twister. Twister also picked up her first major and has gone reserve to two majors, with limited showing. Gussie had her second litter, an all yellow litter by Ch. Shannon's Peppar Salty Dog and the pups have all gone to new homes. Jack earned his CD and Twinkletoes and Halle earned their RNs this summer. In the obedience ring, Aria is well on her way to her CDX and Caviar is on her way to her CD! Chamois, Caviar and Bugle have also picked up championship points with limited showing.

The year 2010 was a somewhat slow year for shows, as I took time to raise Twister's first litter, and also raise a litter for one of my co-owners. I still found time to get Bugle out to some shows and put rally titles on both Bugle and Caviar. Caviar also earned her CD with handler Betsy Arellano. Near the end of 2010, we lost our beloved foundation bitch, Diva. She won an award of merit at the HOTLRC specialty on October 29th and was gone less than a month later. She had a small mammary tumor that had metastasized to her lungs before we could detect it. We all miss her dearly but being surrounded by her kids and grandkids constantly remind me of her unflappable temperament and the influence she had in my small breeding program.

In early 2011, I bit the bullet and moved to a new house in the 'country'!! The dogs and I are just northeast of Dallas on three acres surrounded by horse properties. The dogs are in heaven, and as soon as I can get the house and property customized, I will be too! While I took some time away from the ring and field to get settled in the new house, Bugle picked up back to back majors to finish in June and the fall of 2011 brought majors for Twister and BeBe, and some nice BBE wins for my young boy Duke and a total of five minor points. I'll be looking to round out some championships in 2012.

The first show of 2012 started with a bang, as a co-owned boy, Dakota, picked up his first major! Hoping for more great things from the dogs in 2012!