Thanksgiving Puppies!

Chipper and Tia Hit One Out of the Park

The human, Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones, Jr. was a third baseman for the Atlanta Braves, and was the National League MVP in 1999. The canine, Prairie Wind's Chipper Jones (Chipper) is a young black Labrador Retriever, who we believe is poised to make a name for himself in the world of Retriever Field Trials. We like him so much that in September we took our great female, Revilo's Night to Day (Sunny) down to Horsetooth Retrievers to introduce these two and hopefully produce some very talented puppies. The breeding was successful and on November 22, 2025 seven, healthy, beautiful, black, female puppies were whelped.

We are very excited about this breeding which combines some of the top genetics of performance retrievers in North America today. A review of these pup's pedigree will confirm the veracity of this pairing. Chipper is out of FC AFC Rimfire's Once Inna Blue Moon (Blue) and FC AFC Seaside's Smarty Jones (Smarty). In fact, both parents were National Finalists in 2021 and were bred shortly after that National to produce the litter that Chipper is from. Blue has proven to a producer and currently has eight progeny on the National Derby List. Chipper is from Smarty's first litter and apart from his own talent, has some very talented siblings, including Mind the Gap (Kew).

Sunny, is out of FC AFC Moody's Nitz (Smitty) and our great female, Revilo's Boogie Nights (Boo). Smitty accumulated 43 Field Trial points with limited trial exposure and produced seven titled offspring in very limited breeding. He is the paternal grandson of our own Revilo's Y2K Microchip (Mike). Boo, was a delight to train and hunt with and produced some excellent pups for us that are bringing much joy and fulfillment to their owners. She holds the record for the longest retrieve I have ever seen a dog complete. It was on a wild rooster pheasant and well in excess of six hundred yards.

As a breeder, one has two choices when selecting a prospective sire for your female. You can choose an known and proven sire for your girl, or you can trust genetics and choose a less proven, usually younger dog. I often opt for the latter, and hope that I can produce a unique offering and be on the leading edge of history, rather than being one of many on the same sire band wagon. Certainly, genetics should be supported by outstanding performance to verify that the sire is in possession of those traits predicted by his pedigree. However, in the time that it takes to hone those traits through training, valuable time is lost from a reproductive standpoint. I have no scientific data to support it, but based on fifty years of experience, I have observed that the genetic viability of younger dogs seems to be much superior to older ones. It is my belief that by working with such experienced trainers as Marcy and Kenny at Horsetooth Retrievers, the potential of a young dog may be predicted and evaluated for the purpose of making a enlightened decision about breeding.

When considering this breeding, much discussion ensued pertaining to the viability of Chipper as a match for Sunny. The result of that discussion obviously resulted in a decision to proceed. One of the unfortunate realities as time advances is that the genetic influence of truly prepotent sires and dams in the breed, recede further and further in modern pedigrees. Although, these genetic "influencers" recede further and further back in the pedigrees of today, their influence can still be significant by a certain level of line breeding. Such is the case in this breeding with Chipper and Sunny. If one traces the family lines of this pedigree back, one will see that the influence of some of the greatest producers in the history of Field Trail Labradors are represented and that this breeding is largely a breeding within a family.

If you are searching for a talented pup that will fill your needs as a competition dog, a hunting companion, or just a friend, we hope that you will consider one of these pups. We know you will not be disappointed.

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