Labs mean litters of seven or eight, families who want a specific color and sex, and buyers who already know to ask about hips, elbows, eyes, and EIC. Whelpify gives your program a real website, a waitlist that remembers who wanted the yellow female, and deposits through your own Stripe account, with no marketplace cut.
The Labrador Retriever descends from the St. John's water dog of Newfoundland, brought to England by fishermen in the early 1800s and refined there into a retriever that would work all day in cold water. The AKC recognized the breed in 1917. From 1991 through 2022 it was the most registered breed in the United States, and it remains in the top two.
Lab buyers arrive with opinions. They want black, yellow, or chocolate, often a specific sex, and many already know the difference between English (show) type and American (field) type. They know that "fox red" and "white" are shades of yellow, and the better-informed ones know that "silver" is a dilute registered as chocolate and not a color in the standard.
Labs are generally sturdy dogs that live 11 to 13 years, but the breed has a well-documented list to screen for: hip and elbow dysplasia, exercise-induced collapse, centronuclear myopathy, progressive retinal atrophy, and a strong, partly genetic tendency toward obesity. Responsible programs test every generation and publish the results.
Honest context for planning a litter. These are the ranges we see on public listings and in parent club guidance; your region, your lines, and your reputation move them.
Three things that eat a Lab breeder's week, and how Whelpify handles each one out of the box.
Your application captures each family's color and sex preference, timing, and what the dog is for (hunting, family, service prospect). When a puppy goes available, the families whose preferences match hear about it first. No scrolling back through months of messages to remember who asked for what.
Every inquiry and application lands in one queue with a position, a status, and notes. Reorder it yourself, set follow-up reminders, and merge the family who emailed, then messaged on Facebook, then applied again. When the litter arrives you can see the whole list at a glance.
Offer a puppy to a family with a response window and collect the deposit the moment they accept, through your own Stripe account or by marking a Zelle or Venmo payment received. The balance request goes out on the date you choose, and every payment stays tied to its puppy and its family.
The Labrador Retriever Club asks breeders to screen both parents for hips and elbows, keep a current eye exam on file, and DNA test for the breed's known inherited conditions before breeding. Most serious buyers have read that page, and many ask for the EIC result by name.
OFA evaluation at 24 months or older (or PennHIP). Fair, Good, or Excellent are passing grades.
OFA elbow radiographs at 24 months or older, graded Normal or by dysplasia grade.
Annual exam by a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist, recorded through the OFA eye certification registry, watching for cataracts, retinal dysplasia, and PRA.
DNA test. Affected dogs can collapse after intense exercise or excitement. Carriers are healthy and can be bred to clear partners.
DNA tests for centronuclear myopathy and progressive rod-cone degeneration. Both are recessive, so a carrier-to-clear pairing produces no affected puppies.
Commonly added DNA tests: the dilution gene behind "silver" and "charcoal" coats, and hereditary nasal parakeratosis. Many programs also add a cardiac exam.
The full platform is included on every plan. Here is how the pieces map to a Lab breeder's week.
Families state what they want on the application. When a chocolate female goes available, the families who asked for one are notified, and anyone who missed out hears about the next litter.
Hunting or pet home, fenced yard, swimming access, experience with a 70-pound adolescent who still thinks he is a puppy. Build the form once and every family answers the same thing.
Deposits and balances go straight to your account. Prefer Zelle, Venmo, or a check for some families? Send a branded invoice and mark it paid in one click.
Log weights and weekly photos on each puppy record. Families on the waitlist get a litter page that updates as the puppies grow, not a text thread with nine attachments.
Mark a puppy available or publish a litter announcement and it posts to your Page and Instagram with the photo and the link back to your site.
Message any family with an account from the dashboard, drop a specific puppy into the conversation as a card, and see offers and updates land in the same thread.
The rhythm of a Lab program is particular. These are the numbers the workflow is shaped around.
Every puppy gets its own page, status, and deposit record from birth.
Preferences are captured on the application and matched when a puppy goes available.
Families who pass on a litter stay on the list for the next one without re-applying.
Hips, elbows, eyes, and the DNA panel attach to parents and appear on every puppy page.
Weigh-ins, photos, and litter page updates keep a color-specific waitlist patient.
Offers with a response window, automatic balance requests, and receipts for every payment.
Yes. Your application captures color and sex preferences along with timing and notes. When a puppy that matches goes available, those families are notified first. Final matching is always your call.
Yes. Each dog record has a health section where you enter results and registry numbers and upload certificates. What you publish appears on that dog's public page and on every litter and puppy page that descends from it.
Yes. Each litter has its own page and its own puppies, and the waitlist is one list across all of them. You offer specific puppies to specific families, and anyone who passes stays on the list for the next litter.
Yes. Each female has a heat-cycle tab with her history, a timeline of where she is in the current cycle, an estimated fertile window, and an email and dashboard reminder before her next heat is due.
No. Stripe is built in if you want card payments straight to your own account, and you can also send invoices for Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, or check and mark them paid yourself. Whelpify takes no cut of your sales either way.
Yes. Your contract becomes a signable online form with your terms shown word for word. Families sign with a typed legal name and date from their phone, and both of you keep a copy in the family's file.
Every plan starts with a 30-day free trial and includes the full platform. Most breeders have a site up in an afternoon.