.. ..I glance through the dusty and yellowed pages of old catalogues.. 28th National Display in Pisa, 30th June 1974, 433 entered dogs: 8 Labrador, 6 males and 2 females.. 7 of them property of the Montetuscio Farm, founded by the great cynophilist Dott. Beppe Benelli. They were certainly not the numbers we are used to see nowadays in display.the great boom of this wonderful breed made the fortune of great farmer (people that knew how and how many times their subjects could breed) and unfortunately also many "cagnari" people that have no scruples, most of the time farmers of 3 or 4 different breeds (by chance the most "trendy"), which organise real intensive farms, often without knowing about researches on different blood lines and, what is worse, entirely in the dark about or completely careless of the serious illnesses that could be transmitted to the puppies by the breeders such as the hip and elbow dysplasia, and the hereditary oculopathies.

..I go on glancing through...another memorable book .. 1st National Convention Retrievers Italian Club, 11th October 1981, "Il Monte" Farm - Galliano di Mugello (FI), 36 entered dogs..3 Golden, 33 Labrador.., there's no denying it.., a good subjects increase and a new awareness by the numerous people fond of this breed that during the years got organised and founded a breed's club (R.C.I. Club di Razza).

One thing attract my attention today...how many of those farmers-exhibitors are still going on with the Labrador farming after about 20 years?

And so we find ourselves thinking about how started the search of a Labrador puppy.. we were determined to have our first subject, we would him to be strong and rural, sweet and level-headed.. so is described by the standard and "on the paper" that was the dog for us...we did not know what to expect!?!

We started armed with many expectations and lot of enthusiasm, we made a list of about 10 farms reputed to be serious by different specialised magazines...we were not scared travelling, after all we were looking for a life-companion that would stay with us for years...we did not want a soft toy.we wanted to see the dogs close up, meet their farmers and understand why they decided to farm this breed and how they treated the dogs.

We met real dog lovers that understood what we were looking for and that welcome us in their houses, but unfortunately we passed also through many "much-prize winning" prisoner-camps, with mouth-filling names, that made us watching out. The starting enthusiasm that moved us was unfortunately buried in those places but a new emotion took place in our hearts. in some farmers eyes we found a particular contagious light, and still now, after years, looking at our "hairy kids". We are thankful of having had the instinct to refuse some offers even if it looked like to loose an opportunity, and of having met those that now are our best friends and collaborators.

There's no denying it.we were really lucky. but nowadays, despite the huge information offer is it still acceptable that such a beautiful experience is the result of luck? Is it fair to look on, or worse, to pretend not to see when some people exploit the animals very close, and often, further to the bearable limits? Is it fair to let them to put on the market a myriad of dogs often ill and without a particular value? These potential breeders to which kind of subjects will give birth? Where is going the wellness of this breed? These thoughts were going on in our head and together with the great passion that was growing in our hearts brought us to the decision of farming this wonderful breed: farm few and selected subject, find the way to distinguish themselves and give to some people the possibility to think about how a real Labrador should be, devote a lot of time giving information, which most of the times are not sale oriented but for this reason more incisive and appreciated. It is our firm believe that who would like to have a dog is a person with a special sensibility.and if we love our dogs we can not leave them to someone we do not like.

It goes without saying that if the first phase of the farming is the dogs' selection, the second (and probably more demanding) is surely the buyers' selection.and if we like a person, or better a family, so much to give them one of our puppies, it cannot be otherwise to become friends. Friends that badger you with thousand doubts and questions, that wake you up in the middle of the night because the puppy has tummy-ache and moans; they ask you, a bit ill at ease, how to teach it to foul outside he house;. or that ingenuously ask you to go with them for the first display, and even if they are at "just" 300/400 Km faraway..ho to say no?

All this is part of us. it would be as repudiate our being.this is also the reason that made us to have two seats and many partners all over Italy.we want to follow our puppies also during the growth and possibly for their future breeding. For the same reason for us is almost a rule non having more than a litter a year for every seat and never more than three in a female's life (they are our dogs, they live with us and follow us everywhere..we have to have time to fondle them and to follow at our best their puppies. We want to give them the time to recover their strength, because if a female is not at her 100% she can not transmit something good to her puppies.).

Often we try to help to solve problems about "behaviour or life in common" of dogs that were not sold by us.this does not stop us.after all we think more about the dogs than their owners.and when we would not be anymore able to do that, we will stop to breed. we do that because we feel good with our dogs, we like this kind of "extended family" and, something very important, fortunately every one of us has got another job so that we do not have to "make dogs" to live and pay the bills.