Lenore has two new sisters and a brother, lovingly bred by Gretchen Pinkel and her husband John of Kee-Pin Labradors of Argyle, N.Y. They are five weeks old, and all three have long been spoken for. One is going to Rhode Island, the other two to Virginia. I came over this afternoon to meet the pups – bred by Lenore’s mother and father. All three are distinctly Lenore-like, friendly, social and energetic.
 I’m going back Thursday (Maria is squawking to meet them, and she had to work today) to help socialize them. Anything for a friend. Gretchen and John are wonderful breeders, careful, ethical and highly skilled at screening the people who get their dogs, and at matching them up well.
  They care about breeding well, and getting their dogs to good homes, where they will stay.
  Breeders like this are not in it for the money, but the breed.
  There are all kinds of good ways to get a dog, from rescue to good breeders, and getting a well-bred working dog from a top-notch breeder is a joy for me.
  Gretchen is one of the best breeders I have known. It’s difficult being a breeder, and requires constant, often unseen work, patience, and expense.
  Gretchen endures sore backs, sleepless nights, and long drives to trials and shows. But she beams when she hears Lenore will be the subject of some children’s books on her loving ways.
 I remember telling Gretchen the kind of dog I needed – grounded, trustworthy, intelligent, able to go to readings and do hospice work and survive the varied atmosphere of the farm. She plopped Lenore right into my lap and started doing the paperwork.
  I have to say Lenore is the most grounded, easy-going dog I have known, and I’ve witnessed some of the painstaking work that went into that.

Gretchen Pinkel and Lenore’s sibs