About our Kennel
Marble Mountain Kennels is a family owned and operated kennel that produces about a dozen litters a year. We are located in the northern extreme of California in the heart of the Pacific Flyway, where quail and pheasant can still be found in their natural setting with the beautiful backdrop of the Marble Mountains.
Our goal is to produce retrievers with both outstanding natural hunting skills and well-balanced, personable dispositions.
We strive to produce dogs with the following five traits: 1) superior intelligence, 2) terrific personalities, 3) outstanding hunting desire, 4) natural pointing instinct, and 5) superb looks. We would like these dogs to be equally welcome in your home as companions, in your duck blind as a retrieving machine, in the grain field as a pheasant pointing and retrieving partner, or at the hunt test or field trial as a competitor. We are also making an effort, with most breedings, to produce natural born pointing retrievers.
We hunt over our dogs, and choose to use our labs in both upland and water fowling situations. We are looking for true versatility in the best gun dog breed developed--the pointing Labrador retriever.
We also believe that you hunt with a dog 30-40 days a year (if you are really lucky), but you live with him 365 days a year. So a gentle disposition and good socialization are extremely important to our breeding program. (For a real job I run a summer camp for kids, so our dogs must be good around adults and children).
People often comment on how attractive our web presence is, but we hope that it is not just a great home page that they appreciate. We work hard to give you the information that will be most valuable in helping you choose your next canine companion. As we continue to develop our website, all of the primary dogs mentioned will have multiple photographs, a pedigree, and a helpful description. When you click on "upcoming litters" you will learn valuable information on the parents, see the puppies’ pedigree, view pictures as the puppies mature, and have a link to our live puppycam to watch these pups eat, sleep and play.
Internet assistance is great, but we also know that for many a big decision like a new dog will often lead to more specific questions and we would love to talk to you about any questions you might have.
About Pointing Labs
Pointing Labs are a new wrinkle in the hunting dog world, and for some the idea of a Lab as a pointer is just too extreme. But, for a hunter like me who wants to hunt it all, and loves the temperament of a Labrador, a pointing Lab is hard to beat. We are aware that dogs bred with superior intelligence, good looks, and a calm disposition will be valuable in many other areas as well. We currently have dogs working as search and rescue team members, military and security bomb and drug detection agents, advertising models, elder comfort dogs, obedience and agility players, members of student projects, and hunt test and field trial competitors.
Pointing Labs have been bred in kennels in the United States for the last 80 years, but have become popular in the last 20 or so. They are, to those who hunt with them, the best of both worlds. They are patient in the blind, love water, and handle cold temperatures well. At the same time they quarter, search out and point sitting birds, but can also flush running birds. They are absolutely deadly on pheasants, quail and all kinds of waterfowl. But please note that NOT ALL PUPPIES POSSESS THE NATURAL POINTING TRAIT. This is due to the fact that we have chosen to emphasize superior hunting ability, intelligence, and disposition above the pointing trait. However, the more generations of pointing in the background, the stronger are your possibilities of getting a dog that points. Many of our litters have 3-8 generations of known pointing labs.
Reservations
All pups will have dew claws removed, first shots, and a full guarantee on hips, elbows, eyes, general health, and hunting desire. Your pick in the litter is determined by the date on which your $200 deposit is received. Deposits can be made with the condition that you get either the gender or the color puppy you desire. Deposits are otherwise non-refundable, but can be transferred to a future litter if desired. There is a puppy reservation form that should be filled out by all prospective owners. This form can be reproduced by clicking below and printing out the form. By FAXing or emailing the form and a copy of your check you can hold your spot for 7 days until your check can arrive in the mail.
Printable Puppy Reservation & Policy Form
Puppy Raising Process
Marble Mountain Kennels is not a large kennel and we are proud of the care that each of our females and their litters are given. Our unique approach in breeding is to place many breeding females in homes where they will be loved, trained and hunted. This process allows them to develop fully as dogs, live a satisfying life, and gives us a chance to evaluate them in the type of setting in which we intend their offspring to thrive.
In addition, Marble Mountain Kennels put a state of the art whelping kennel facility to better care for our litters. The kennel was designed to allow us to house our new litters in a safe, clean and stimulating environment. Finally we believe that the socializing process is crucial to a healthy puppy. Fortunately, my three daughters and two sons love puppies, and play with them daily. But to insure that puppies get enough interaction when I get busy, I hire students to come and play with puppies (it's a tough job, but somebody has to do it).
If you are looking for a quality lab, or know someone who is, call and make your reservations soon. Our litters generally go quickly (females go the quickest), often more than half the litter is spoken for before they are born.
At five weeks old we also mark puppies with colored collars and start to make observations about their behavior. As the puppies approach adoption age, we then put the pups through puppy profile tests. This allows us to have some clues as to where the individual pups rank with their littermates in a variety of different traits. Puppies are ideally adopted out between seven and nine weeks of age.