Field Trial Labrador Retrievers at Ravensbank: Ivy, Waggie, Flo and Jock

Ravensbank is a kennel with entire focus on the working Labrador Retriever. Our dogs are bred on Irish and British Field Trialing lines.

Many people think that a field trial Labrador is bred to be particularly small, skinny and with snipey noses. While that can be true for some, most modern breeders of the FT Labrador Retriever aims to develop their lines to be both good looking yet sound and stylish workers.

The FT Labrador is the result of more than 150 years of breeding in Britain and Ireland. Through generations these dogs have been developed to serve the gun after the shot, and breeding has been based on sires and dams who have carefully been selected for their working qualities and above all their "will-to-please".

Our dogs are trained retrievers, used for picking-up and as sporting dogs in tests (cold game) and trials (warm game).

I often use the dogs for picking up on organised shoots during the shooting season in Denmark (from September to January).

In my work as a breeder, i prioritise that both sire and dam are healthy, strongly built and above all have excellent temper. I will want to be assured that they are well balanced dogs and they are known for their trainability.

I do study pedigrees, but in my eyes a lot of "red ink" (e.g. champion merits) in the pedigree of parents does not necessarily guarantee that their puppies will be good workers.

In 2004 I imported Tidemark Ivy (Ivy) from Angela and Andy Markham, Kennel Tidemark in England. One year later I had Tidemark Jill (Jill) from the same fine Kennel. The qualities of these two dogs boosted my interest for gundogs even more and in 2006 I had the first litter of pups with Ivy as the dam. From this liitter I kept two puppies, Ravensbank Wagtail (Waggie) og Ravensbank Robin (Robin).

In 2008 Jill and Robin moved to new homes, both serving as gundogs and sporting dogs.

I May 2009 Waggie had a litter of puppies Sired by Lochiness Green Chive (Chive), and in January 2010 Ivy's third litter of puppies Sired by DKJCH DKBRCH Cynhinfa Emperor (Leo) left home. Except Ravensbank Jock (Jock), a lovely dog puppy who stayed with us.

Please read more about the individual dogs below. Click on the name to see the pedigree of the individual dog, og click on the picture to go to the gallery where you can see pictures of the dog. Please also visit the gallery to see pictures of other dogs I have had.

Tidemark Ivy

Ivy is the first dog I imported from England, and she is 5 years 9 months old. She is bred by Angela and Andy Markham, kennel Tidemark. Ivy's sire has qualified to the IGL Championship four times. Ivy is well merited on tests and trials and she was awarded a bronze medal from Danish Team Championship in 2006. Ivy is the dam to three litters of puppies from August 2006, May 2008, and November 2009. All these three litters has been sired by DKJCH DKBRCH Cynhinfa Emperor (Leo).

Ravensbank Wagtail

Waggie is from Ivy's first litter and she is 4 years . She is a well balanced and competent retriever with immense speed and style. It goes for all the puppies from this litter, that they are highly trainable. Already at the age of 20 months, Waggie was ready for competition class on cold game, and a few monts later she was cleared for paticipation in open competition class field trial. Two of Waggie's siblings were awarded 2. og 3. place at the Danish Young Dogs' Championship 2008, and a sibling, DKBRCH NOJCH 3UM2008 Ravensbank Swift (Swiffer) became Danish Working Champion (both cold and warm game) at the age of three years, and Norwegian Field Trial Champion before the age of four years. Waggie has had one litter of puppies in 2009 which was sired by Lochiness Green Chive (Chive), and a second litter in 2010 also sired by Chive. Waggie has clear hipscore (A), 00 in elbows, Genetically tested clear for PRA-prcd (Optigen), CNM and EIC. She carries an eye-certificate from March 2010 clear of any heriditary eye diseases.

Ravensbank Jock

Jock is from Ivy's third litter, and with his 9 months he is the youngest dog in our pack. He has already proven himself as a very trainable young retriever. Jock will most likely be introduced to picking-up in the shooting season of 2010.

To see Jock acheive a first price at an unofficial cold game test by the age of just six months please click here.

Ravensbank Flo

Flo is from Ivy's second litter in May 2008, and she is 2 years 3 months old. She is a fine small bitch and posesses all the good qualities I like to see in my breeding. She is very calm and easy to work with, and at the same time she is a fast and competent retriever, which I am confident will make her the perfect shooting companion.