Where Bella Came From

Last week I wrote about the “saga” of finding Chilbrook Kennels. But I didn’t explain much about Chilbrook and Debby Kay, the owner. I would like tell everyone where Bella came from and the prestigious Debby Kay.

Debby Kay established Chilbrook Kennels in 1969. When selecting a breeder it is important to understand why the breeder is breeding dogs. Debby Kay fell in love with labs (who wouldn’t) and decided to breeder the English style lab who could not only excel in winning show championships but could also win in the grand master championships in the field, which is mostly dominated by the American style Labs. She believed the English style labs were not only gorgeous with their shorter muzzles; boxy heads and broad chests but were also smart. So she set out to create a select bloodline of versatile performance Labradors. She is a master trainer, author of several books on labs, founding officer of the Labrador Retriever Club of the Potomac, a member of the Labrador Retriever Club Inc. and the Blue Ridge Dog Training Club, and an UKC and AKC judge. She is a professional member of the Dog Writers Association of America and the International Association of Canine Professionals. She recently went to China be a judge for a Chinese Dog show.

Chilbrook Kennels has produced lab bloodlines which have produced detector dogs, guides for the blind, service dogs for the physically challenged, seizure alert dogs, search and rescue dogs, specialty and group winning show champions, grand master champions in the field, High in Trial obedience competitors, rally, tracking and agility. The American Kennel Club has awarded Chilbrook Kennels with the “Breeder of Merit” award. A few of Bella's littermates will live service lives. One male, Charlie, will be a Diabetic Alert Dog. And one of her female will be a service dog for a Park Ranger at Grand Canyon National Park.

We made a visit to Chilbrook when Bella was six weeks old, we met Debby for the first time and we saw and played briefly with JoJo, Bella’s mom.

Debby took in Johanna Reis Mona De Leon, aka JoJo, as a favor from a close breeder friend. JoJo's breeder sold her to a nice family. Responsible breeders will periodically checking of their bred dogs. When the breeder checked on JoJo, she found out that JoJo was being kept in an outdoor run with automatic water and food feeders. The family admitted to not seeing her for days and when asked if they would like to give her back, they jumped at the chance to give her up. JoJo’s breeder lives in a state that regulates how many dogs are allowed to live on a property and JoJo would put her over the limit. Debby offered to take her and fell in love with her. 

CH Chilbrook Lord of the Rings, aka Petey, was bread at Chilbrook. As a champion he is a popular stud at Chilbrook. (http://www.chilbrook.com/petey.html).

This is Chilbrook’s first litter of JoJo and Petey puppies. And Debby told us she is very pleased and impressed with this litter. All of the puppies started to walk before their eyes opened and the way Bella is picking up new commands shows how advanced and smart her linage is. Dave and I are looking forward to enrolling her in Puppy Kindergarten next month.