Southridge Labrador Retrievers

Paul and Elaine Davey qualified as veterinary surgeons from Cambridge University in 1970. Both had had dogs in their respective families, and Paul owned a Border Terrier bitch, and Elaine a black labrador bitch as students. The prefix 'Southridge' was granted to them by the Kennel Club in 1971, and the couple bred and showed Border Terriers in a small way in the seventies and early eighties. Several of their Borders had considerable success in the show-ring, including the blue&tan homebred bitch 'Southridge Fancy'. They were thrilled when Bertha Sullivan honoured them by giving them 'Ch. Dandyhow Spectator'. Both Paul and Elaine served for many years on the committee of the Southern Border Terrier Club. Labradors were a constant feature of home life, but they were not shown (through lack of time) The predominately small-animal practice in which they both worked, and their own family commitments took nearly all their free time. In 1991 they purchased a black labrador bitch from Miss Anne Taylor(Fabracken), from whom most of the present kennel descends, and on selling the veterinary practice in 2003, they moved to Cornwall, and now show their dogs, qualifying Southridge Caper (black) and S.Nemo (yellow) for Crufts, and they 'pick up' with some of them in winter. They have occasionally bred litters, always insisting on using carefully selected compatible bloodlines, such as Brigburn, Charway and Abbeystead, in order to produce good-looking labradors which are capable of doing the work for which they were originally bred. Naturally, as veterinary surgeons, they are particularily scrupulous about using the BSAVA/KC Health Schemes.