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My husband Peter and I live on a 1 acre property in the small village of Woodstock, NSW with our KelpiexColliexCoolie - Croftie CD, our two Labrador Retrievers - Tua (Diacas Tua Tahi) and  Lara (Invergowrie Lara). Plus, who can forget, the matriach from our previous prefix Australian Kelpie - Dixie (Ch Mimbil Burnt Offerings) 

TAPUA means 'to stand out and be prominant', it is also the name of a senior Maori chief of the  Ngapuhi confederation. We are not however newcomers to the breeding of dogs, obedience and the show scene. Under the MIMBIL prefix we bred Australian Kelpies since 1991 with some success, breeding an all breeds Best In Show winner & 3 separate Runner Up Best In Speciality Show winners plus over 100 class in group and show winners.

My personal involvement with dogs began in 1976 when my X-bred mutt Monty and I attended obedience at Centenial Park Sydney. This began my interest in dog training and later led to trialing in obedience and the training of service dogs.  I have been involved in obedience and training most of my adult life and have a particular interest in service dogs. In past I have trained a German Shepherd Dog 'Merlin' and then donated him the NSW Police.  Merlin served with the force for 5 years as a general purpose Police Dog until his untimely death in 2005.  My husband, Peter, has also had a long association with working stock dogs and security dogs via his military service and his professional work.  All the dogs in our yard know their basics in obedience and will sit, stand, drop stay on and off lead.

Due to major surgery for cancer I have difficulty showing our dogs so I do not regularly show these days. In 2003 I was diagnosed with a Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma (EMC) which invaded the bone in my left tibia which resulted in multiple & major surgery, chemo & radiotherapy to retain my lower.  In 2005 I finally managed to get out of the wheelchair and began walking, although my walking has been permanently compromised by my leg. Our beautiful Croftie dog helped me to walk better. Croftie is such a clever boy he deserved the title Companion Dog, his willingness and bidability encouraged me to try and train him for the trail ring.

In February 2006 we entered Bathurst Royal in the Novice ring skipping the CCD level all together and we gained our first pass at our first trial with a score of 176. I have since then returned to full time work and we have had limited opportunity to compete with Croftie again. In August of 2006 at Mudgee, we won the CD ring with a score of 186, which was fantastic. Update on Croftie - July 2008 -Croftie gained his final pass in July 2008 with a fantastic score of 196 out of a possible 200!  Although it sounds like a long time to get his title - I actually only entered him in only 5 trials - due to lack of local trails and lack of motivation on my part. He is now officially a Companion Dog and has earned the title CD next to his name. Both Tua and Lara are currently in training for her CCD title and Croftie for his CDX. 

At Tapua Kennels we aim to breed intelligent, healthy, well-tempered and of course conformationally correct Labrador Retrievers. All our breeding stock are hip, Elbow, PRA & EIC tested. Our foundation bitches have been purchased with health and temperament in mind. From our experience the bitch influences the temperament of the pups more so than the dog. Given they influence both via genetics and alos imprint their attributes duing the important 0-8 week age.

We are very proud to breed sound healthy Labradors and we welcome any enquiries about this wonderful breed.

PHOTO: TAPUA DIAMANTINA 'KIAH'

OWNED BY GRAHAM & 

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