Hello! We would like to tell you a little bit about our family.

We are located in Virginia, Minnesota, an hour north of Duluth and a couple of hours south of the Canadian border. We are surrounded by the beauty of the lakes and woods of northern Minnesota.  Our inspiration for a kennel name came from living in the heart of the iron mining industry. Our name was no father than looking out our back door.

Our love and passion for the breed started with our 1st lab, Copper. We loved her temperament but soon realized we wanted to show in conformation so we bought Libby from Heartland Kennels. Libby & Copper opened our eyes and fed the passion to how truly wonderful this breed is.

 The dogs are my passion, that’s why all my jobs are dog related, I am an all breed dog groomer, I teach dog training classes, do private lessons, I’m an evaluator with AKC Canine Good Citizen program. I also have been enjoying photography .  Most pictures here on our web site I have taken.

Bill works for the City of Virginia’s Park Department. Even though he is always ready to help out with the dogs he’s the 1st to say “talk to Cathy”. Bills pride and joy in life is watching our children participate in all the sports that they love to do.

Scott is a hockey nut, he plays Division 1 hockey with the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. In June of 2007 he gave us the thrill of a life time and was drafted into the NHL by the Montreal Canadians. 

Emma loves her sports too, she is on the golf team and is a dominate force on her hockey team. As a sophomore Emma made to the state tournament in hockey and golf, and as a Jr she placed 10th at our state golf meet.

As you can see we are a busy family and that’s why we only have a few dogs and breed an occasional litter (quality over quantity).  All our litters are planned in between our family activities. It is all to important to us to give our puppies a strong foundation, we are very committed to each litter.

Thanks for visiting us.

Cathy and Bill