Wimberway Kennels, Labrador Retrievers, Border Terriers, and Border Collies

RR 4, Powassan, Ontario, POH 1Z0, Canada
e-mail us at : Wimberway

"General"

Breeding Labrador Retrievers since 1960; and Border Terriers since 1980.

We are members of:

The Canadian Kennel Club (Life member) CKC

Labrador Owners Club, (Life Member) LOC

Labrador Retriever Club of Canada,LRCC

Canadian Border Collie Association CBCA

Border Terrier Club of Ontario. BTCO

Border Terrier Club of Canada

Golden Retriever Club of Canada

EPS Training Associates. EPS

Agility Association of Canada, AAC,

Canadian Association of Rally Obedience CARO ,

Professional Dog Trainers Association of Canada (PDTAC)

East Parry Sound Cattleman's association (Director)

Ontario Federation of Agriculture OFA

The gang out for a run in the fields

Welcome to our Retriever paradise: 200 acres of rolling hills, open fields, bush, ponds, and creeks. It is home to the WIMBERWAY Labrador Retrievers, Border Terriers, Golden Retrievers, and Border Collies, as well as herds of Charolais and Charolais-cross bred cattle, and Boer and Boer X Alpine goats.
Sandy is approved to judge CKC Obedience trials, Retriever Working Certificate and Hunt tests, Tracking tests, and Rally trials, and is also approved to judge CARO Rally, ASCA Obedience trials, and NAMBR Obedience and Tracking tests.
Before embarking on a lifelong passion for breeding and training, Sandy worked in several breeding, and boarding kennels, as well as for a Vet. clinic. She studied structure/conformation of dogs, in the first 'guinea pig' group that was the foreunnerm of the Canine Scvience Course, first at OVC and later, in church halls. The course got refined, and expanded and later became available to those interested in learning. Sandy, and the founder Casey Gardiner, frequently travelled together and worked with their respective breeds (Labradors and Kerry Blue Terriers) in moulding the different parts of the course and anatomical sketches.
Sandy also took courses in obedience trial judging, and has attended, and given, seminars on training for obedience, field work, tracking, as well as obedience judging.
Ivan has judged at Retriever Working Certificate and Hunt Tests, and also uses the dogs for hunting. he regularly guns and throws birds for training sessions, and trains his own dogs for obedience and field work.
A 10,000 sq foot fenced area, with its own parking area,is used for training for agility, obedience and rally-o classes, as well as for conformation shows, obedience trials, CKC & AAC Agility trials, CARO & CKC Rally trials, and fun matches. With 4' chain link fencing around the perimeter, and canopy tents up on the north end through the season, people can relax and watch as well and have some shade on hot days.
The fields and ponds are used for field training, tracking, Working Certificate and Hunt Test training, and trials. The parking area is beside a large deep pond, complete with ducks, geese, and swans, and also opens onto space to walk and exercise dogs.
Located near North Bay, Ont., 'the gateway to the north', we are easily accessible by major highways from Ottawa, Toronto, Sault Ste Marie and Timmins. We are on a paved road, east of the town of Powassan.
The dogs get regular "pack runs" on the home farm and adjoining crown land. In the fields, bush, and rocky outcrops, they learn to run, jump, turn, weave, use their noses, track, swim, play, and live together.
All litters are born in the house, and the pups are home raised. The pups are started on their house training, vaccinated, wormed, tattooed, and fully weaned before leaving for their new homes at 7-8 weeks of age. When leaving for their new homes, the pups leave with a full information package, 6 weeks pet insurance, as well as some puppy food. All our pups are sold on a removeable No-Breeding contract to ensure that only dogs with genetic clearances and that are suitable for breeding, are used for breeding. We do recommend pups sold as pets be spayed/neutered.
All our adult dogs, and those used in our breeding prgram have OVC (Ontario Veterinary College) hip and elbow cetifications; and current DACVO (Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Opthamologists)eye clearances. Our Labradors are Optigen clear/normal or Optigen Clear/Normal by parentage, tested clear of CNM (Centro-Nuclear Myopathy), and tested for EIC (Exercise Induced Collapse). Our breeding program only uses dogs of sound temperament, and with appropriate genetic clearances. We expect our Labradors to look like Labradors, and to work like Retrievers. We train and handle our own dogs in shows, field tests, agility, tracking, rally, and obedience.
The Border Terriers have to get along with the bigger dogs, and are natural hunters. They also have hip, elbow, and eye clearances, and all pups are checked for heart murmurs before leaving here.
The Border Collies are not bred for show or obedience, but for working livestock, but many do well in flyball and agility. Our two current adult bitches have hip, elbow, and eye certification, and the older one is also hearing tested as normal.
Ivan's Goldens are also bred for type, temperament, and trainability, and they are raised with, and live with, the Labradors. They have OVC hip and elbow certification, annual eye clearances, and are Optigen clear/normal.
Because we try to breed only when we have reservations for puppies, deposits put on puppies are non-refundable so that we don't disappoint potential customers by telling them we have a long waiting list for puppies, and then find we don't have customers when the pups are ready to go. We have a limited number of litters each year, and possibly only one Border Collie litter every year or 18 months.
WIMBERWAY was registered as a kennel name with the CKC in 1960, and became permanently registered in their records a few years later. WIMBERWAY is also used as a herd name with the goats.
Our current kennel building was built in 1996/97. It features in-out kennels, and completely covered runs on the east side. Dogs can let themselves in and out from their inside pens to their outside runs. All breeds of dogs are accepted for boarding and training. The kennels have been designed and built with safety and comfort in mind. For visiting dogs, there are individual covered runs and heated inside accomodation in winter. Our own dogs have in-out pens overlooking the big west pond, and go for runs and swims most days.
The farm is a working farm, cleared over a hundred years ago, and originally there was a saw mill on the creek behind where the barns are now. The cattle graze the fields keeping the cover at a suitable height for training the retrievers and running trials/tests here. Their curiosity also makes them a great distraction. The original beaver ponds have been enlarged and improved to provide suitable training water for very young pups as well as more advanced work for the older dogs. The ponds also enable our own dogs, as well as reliable boarding dogs, to have relaxing swims in hot weather.
The rock piles and remains of old stone fences intrigue the terriers. There are local foxes and groundhogs that leave interesting smelling burrows that have to be checked out regularly, as well as tracks of other wildlife visitors such as moose, deer, bears, and wolves.
The Border Collies are kept to work the livestock, and there are many days when they work long and hard. We do do not trial them, but they are excellent 'extra hands' when rounding up, and moving the cattle and goats. The older one,(Chuffie), comes from parents that work regularly with sheep, and the younger one (Kit) tried her first herding when about 6 weeks of age.
We train and handle our own dogs in conformation shows, Obedience and Rally trials, Working Certificate tests, Hunt Tests, Agility trials, Tracking tests, as well as a variety of other activities. We have not kept count of how many titles dogs we have owned or bred have accumulated, but "Penny" (1997-2009) accumulated 32 titles alone. Several dogs we have bred have become the top Obedience Labrador in Canada, trained and handled by their owners, and we have also owned/trained dogs in the top ten all-breed conformation shows in Canada, and in the top 5 for the breed in Rally trials. See our "Winners" section for current wins and titles.
While we like to meet new owners, we can ship puppies across the North American continent as well as internationally where there are direct flights from Toronto, or good connections. Many of our customers have become friends, and some families have had many repeat visits to get pups for members of the family, or to get another themselves. With some 'original' customers, we are now seeing their grandchildren coming for pups for their families.

A cool dip on a hot day

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