Twelve Labrador Retriever puppies, part of the U.S. Customs Service breeding program, joined the Customs canine family on January 25 and March 1, 2001.

Photo Credit: James Tourtellotte

"I" litter puppies still nameless in Front Royal.

The litter born on January 25 consists of seven puppies: six males, and one female. They were the eighth litter of the breeding program and were designated as the "H" litter. All of their names begin with the letter H: Hope, Hoagie, Hickory, Hugo, Hyatt, Hobbit, and Hammer.

The proud mother of "H" litter is "Uren," a yellow Labrador Retriever. This was her second litter. She was a positive-response-trained detector dog and worked with former Canine Enforcement Officer Pete Lambert at Dulles, Va. For the next few months Uren will continue her career at Front Royal as a demonstration dog. The father is "Eba," a privately owned black Labrador Retriever from Illinois. He is an Amateur Field Champion.

Another five puppies, all female, were born on March 1. This litter was designated as "I" litter and will all have names beginning with the letter I. The parents are "Billie," a U.S. Customs yellow Labrador Retriever, and "Slim," a privately owned black Labrador Retriever from Georgia. This was Billie’s first litter. She was a positive-response-trained detector dog and worked at Dulles, Va. She will probably return to the field after her puppies are weaned. Slim is a Canadian National Champion, a Canadian Amateur Champion, and an U.S. Field Champion.

Eba and Slim were selected as part of the outcross breeding program. This program brings in top field trial dogs (champion Labrador Retrievers in the United States) that are outside of the Customs gene pool. Canine Enforcement Officers attend hunting field trials around the country looking at dogs and talking to the owners about using their dogs in the breeding program. All dogs that are candidates for the breeding program are researched for pedigree and background and are either Amateur Field Champions or National Field Champions. The prospective fathers must have sired 200 puppies or more so that the medical histories of the puppies can be researched.

At the age of 10 - 12 weeks, Uren and Billie's puppies will be fostered out to various families, but the canine breeding program officers are still looking for additional foster parents for these and for future puppies. For information on the foster parent program, contact Mike Bashford, Canine Training Center, Front Royal, Va. at (540) 631-2662.

Litters H and I have distinguished parentage and will surely go on to successful careers as part of a U.S. Customs canine enforcement team.