Beaver Creek Kennels Inc

09/07/2026

Opening weekend of dove season is in the books!

There’s not much better than getting back into the field and watching some awesome dogs do what they were bred and trained to do.

Swig also got his very first go at the dove field this weekend! He had a great experience putting his training to work and is still looking for his forever hunting buddy. We’d love to see this boy spending many more dove weekends in the field with his person.

As much as we love the hunt, early dove season in the South can be HOT, and taking care of the dogs we ask to work alongside us will always come first. A driven retriever may happily keep going long after they’re getting too hot, so it’s our job to pay attention and make smart decisions for them.

A few things to keep in mind:
• Bring plenty of fresh water & ice - offer it frequently.
• Take intentional breaks in the shade and give your dog time to actually cool down.
• Use cool water on the belly, groin, paws, and underside to help dissipate heat.
• Keep an eye on panting, coordination, energy level, and recovery between retrieves.
• Know when to call it. There will always be another bird and another hunt.
• Buy the dewalt fan. You won’t regret it.

And if you had a Beaver Creek dog out for opening weekend, post your pictures in the comments! We’d love to see our past and present dogs doing what they love. 🤎

09/03/2026

Turns out, not every thought needs to become an action. 😂

For a dog whose brain is constantly screaming “WHAT ARE WE DOING NEXT?!”, learning to just exist is a skill all by itself.

No herding. No supervising. No inventing a job. No pacing around looking for something to obsess over.

Just… ✨ chill & look SUPER CUTE while doing it✨

Sometimes the most important thing we teach these busy little brains is that doing absolutely nothing is, in fact, an option. 😂

09/02/2026

A CAER (Companion Animal Eye Registry) exam is performed by a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist. The eyes are dilated and examined for inherited or potentially inherited ocular abnormalities that may not be obvious during a routine veterinary exam.

For Labradors specifically, these exams aren’t always as simple as “pass or fail.” A dog may have a completely normal exam, receive a Breeder Option finding, or have a finding significant enough that breeding is not recommended.

Breeder Option findings can include things like distichiasis, certain corneal changes, persistent pupillary membranes, minor lens opacities, persistent hyaloid arteries, and some retinal findings. These dogs can still receive an OFA eye certification, but the finding is documented so the breeder can take it into consideration when evaluating the dog, pedigree, and potential mate.

On the other hand, more significant findings—such as certain cataracts, glaucoma, progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), or more severe forms of retinal dysplasia—can make a dog ineligible for eye certification and come with a recommendation against breeding.

That’s why these exams matter. A dog can see perfectly well, hunt, retrieve, compete, and live a completely normal life while still carrying an ocular finding that is important from a breeding standpoint. Some conditions can also develop with age, which is why CAER exams are recommended throughout a breeding dog’s life.

Responsible breeding isn’t about producing “perfect” dogs. It’s about having the information available to make educated pairings and protect the health, function, and longevity of the generations that come after them. ❤️

08/26/2026

Happy National Dog Day to the ones who make life a whole lot better 🐾🤎

The ones who keep us laughing, keep us humble, teach us patience, challenge us, adventure with us, work alongside us, and somehow manage to take up approximately 97% of our camera roll. 😂

Dogs are quite literally the center of our world around here, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Here’s to the good dogs, the naughty dogs, the working dogs, the couch potatoes, and every dog somewhere in the middle!

Tell us about your best friend! ⬇️

08/23/2026

Sometimes the best thing you can teach your dog is how to do… nothing.

Tethered decompression is one of my favorite tools for both young puppies and adult dogs who struggle to settle on their own. Keeping a leash on your dog inside the house limits their ability to wander around looking for something to do, while creating an opportunity to simply exist calmly within the environment. For puppies especially, this is a huge part of developing an “off switch”—because more freedom doesn’t always create a calmer dog. Sometimes it just creates more opportunities for chaos.

The leash also gives us a clear line of communication and, more importantly, a way to follow through with that communication. If the dog makes an undesirable choice, we can calmly interrupt, redirect, and reinforce the expectation without chasing them around the house, repeating commands, or allowing them to continue rehearsing unwanted behaviors.

Ultimately, freedom is earned through good decision-making. We often give dogs more freedom than they’re prepared to handle and then spend our time correcting behaviors that could have been prevented with a little more structure. The leash isn’t meant to be permanent—it’s a tool for creating clarity, teaching calmness, and helping your dog develop the skills to eventually make those same good choices without it.

08/13/2026

OFA Elbows — What are we looking for and why does it matter?

We’ve talked about hips, so now let’s move down the leg and talk about elbows. Elbow testing is another important part of health testing in Labrador Retrievers, but it doesn’t always get the same attention that hips do. For an active, athletic breed like the Labrador, elbow health can have a significant impact on comfort, mobility, working ability, and long-term soundness.

Elbow dysplasia isn’t actually one specific disease. It’s a general term used to describe several developmental abnormalities within the elbow joint. These abnormalities can eventually lead to pain, lameness, decreased range of motion, and arthritis—sometimes beginning relatively early in a dog’s life.

So how do we evaluate them?

The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) evaluates X-rays of the elbows for evidence of elbow dysplasia. Just like OFA hips, a dog must be at least 24 months old to receive an official OFA elbow certification. Preliminary evaluations can be performed before two years of age, but they are not considered the dog’s final certification.

Elbow results are a little simpler to understand than hip scores. A passing elbow evaluation is reported as Normal.

If abnormalities consistent with elbow dysplasia are identified, the result is reported as Dysplastic and classified as Grade I, Grade II, or Grade III depending on the severity of the changes seen. Grade I represents the mildest changes, while Grade III represents the most severe. Any grade of elbow dysplasia is considered an abnormal result.

Health testing can’t guarantee that a dog will never develop an orthopedic problem. Genetics are one piece of a much bigger picture that also includes nutrition, growth rate, body condition, exercise, injury, and environment. What testing does give us is more information to make educated breeding decisions. By selecting breeding dogs with normal elbows, we can work toward reducing inherited risk in future generations.

And just like we talked about with hips, you have every right to ask to see the results. OFA results that have been made public can be searched through their database, making it easy for puppy families to verify health testing themselves. Ask for the parents’ registered names, look up their results, and ask questions if there’s something you don’t understand.

08/11/2026

Mia is a beautiful 10-month-old Husky/APT mix who has completed our Board & Train program. She is fully e-collar conditioned, reliable off leash, and has a strong obedience foundation.

Mia is an absolute love bug who bonds deeply with her people. She adores adventures, boat rides, swimming, and being included in whatever her family is doing. She is affectionate, fun, and eager to experience life alongside her person.

Although Mia has extensive training, she does struggle with anxiety and occasional situational reactivity toward people or other animals in public. She can be redirected and recalled back to a neutral state, but she needs an owner who understands that training is an ongoing commitment—not a substitute for thoughtful management. Her person must be willing to advocate for her space while also holding her accountable for her choices.

Her current family has put a tremendous amount of effort into making life with Mia work. However, as first-time dog owners with three teenagers, a busy home with frequent visitors, and Mia’s littermate brother also in the household, they have recognized that their environment does not give Mia the best opportunity to thrive. This decision is being made out of love and a genuine desire to place her in a setting better suited to her needs.

Mia’s ideal owner will be confident, consistent, willing to continue her training, and able to provide clear structure and appropriate outlets for her energy. We will be thoughtful and selective in choosing her next home to ensure it is truly the right fit.

Please message us if you are seriously interested in Mia and would like to learn more. ❤️

08/10/2026

OFA, PennHIP, hip scores… what does it all actually mean?

If you’ve been researching Labrador puppies, you’ve probably seen breeders mention OFA Hips or PennHIP. Both are valuable tools used to evaluate hip health, but they look at slightly different things. Understanding that difference can help you better understand what health testing actually tells us.

Hip dysplasia is one of the orthopedic concerns we pay close attention to in Labrador Retrievers. Genetics play a role, but growth rate, nutrition, body condition, exercise, and other environmental factors can also influence how a dog’s hips develop. Hip dysplasia can eventually lead to arthritis, pain, decreased mobility, and sometimes the need for lifelong management or surgery.

OFA evaluates the overall shape, fit, and conformation of the hip joints using X-rays. Dogs must be at least 24 months old to receive a final OFA certification, although preliminary evaluations can be performed earlier.

OFA hips are rated Excellent, Good, Fair, Borderline, Mild, Moderate, or Severe. Excellent, Good, and Fair are all considered normal passing results. Mild, Moderate, and Severe indicate varying degrees of hip dysplasia, while Borderline means the findings weren’t definitive enough to classify the hips as either normal or dysplastic.

PennHIP approaches hip evaluation a little differently. Rather than primarily evaluating the overall appearance of the joint, PennHIP measures how much laxity, or looseness, exists within the hip. That laxity is reported as a Distraction Index, or DI. Simply put, a lower DI means a tighter hip joint, while a higher DI indicates more laxity and a greater risk of developing osteoarthritis associated with hip dysplasia.

One benefit of PennHIP is that it can be performed as early as 16 weeks of age, allowing breeders to gather information about a young dog’s hips well before they’re old enough for final OFA certification.

One of the things we especially appreciate about OFA is the transparency and accessibility it provides for our puppy families. Once results are submitted and publicly available through the OFA database, you don’t simply have to take our word for it. You can search a do

08/05/2026

Welcome to our new Breeder Series! Designed to educate our peers, clients, and others on the reasons why we structure our breeding program the way that we do.

If you’ve started researching Labrador puppies, you’ve probably seen terms like health tested, genetic tested, OFA certified, clear by parentage, and more. All of these buzzwords can be thrown around and it can quickly becoming overwhelming, especially if this is your first puppy.

Forty years ago, many of the health tests and genetic screenings we have today simply didn’t exist. As research, veterinary medicine, and technology continue to advance, so do the tools available to help us make better breeding decisions.

As we’ve developed our breeding program over the years, we’ve changed the way we do things too. We challenge ourselves as we believe it’s our responsibility to continue learning, growing, and improving. When better information becomes available, we believe it’s our job to use it.

Today, responsible Labrador breeders commonly evaluate things such as:

🐾 OFA Hips & Elbows (PennHIP)
👀 OFA CAER Eye Exams
🧬 DNA testing (Embark, UC Davis, ETC) for inherited conditions like Exercise-Induced Collapse (EIC), Centronuclear Myopathy (CNM), Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA), Hereditary Nasal Parakeratosis (HNPK), Skeletal Dysplasia 2 (SD2), and others.

Knowledge allows us to make better choices.

As puppy buyers, you should never feel hesitant to ask questions. In fact, we encourage it! Ask what health testing has been completed. Ask to see the OFA certifications and genetic testing results. OFA results are even public record and can be found on the OFA website by name search. Ask what those results mean. A breeder who invests in their program should be happy to educate you and share the information with you.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be breaking down each of these topics one at a time so they become a little less intimidating and a whole lot easier to understand.

08/01/2026