Today we’d like to introduce you to Katrina Igler.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
We are an active duty military family. My journey into breeding multigenerational Australian Labradoodles began when my son was turning 1 and my husband was deployed to Iraq. I wanted to surprise my spouse with a low-shedding dog and found the Australian Labradoodle (ALD). We purchased our boy and he was an AMAZING family dog. Then came the problem… he was diagnosed with Discoid Lupus Erythematosis. We had many vet visits and watched him experience issues we couldn’t fix. He lived a long 15 year life full of love. I started this business to try to breed better ALDs by completing extensive health testing and pairing my dogs appropriately to avoid disease traits that we could eliminate.
4Leaf Labradoodles is a member of both the Australian Labradoodle Association of America (ALAA) and the Worldwide Australian Labradoodle Association (WALA), which holds breeders accountable. The ALAA and WALA provide continuing education, mandates testing, provides breeder members access to the ALD data base to assist with healthy pairing of dogs and many, many other benefits to both the breeder and the client. 4Leaf Labradoodles has produced puppies that have gone all over the United States, Mexico and even Germany. I pride our program in being transparent and offering any and all information I can to my families, as well as being a lifetime connection for the pups leaving my home.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The main obstacle ALD breeders face are medical issues that cannot currently be tested. However, I do learn the ancestry of the dogs used in my program and often can see if any genetic anomaly has presented in the dogs line.
Many clients are looking for certain colors, markings or eye color and that can be a difficulty, too. I try to accommodate to the best of my ability, but my ultimate goal is to match these adorable pups to fit the right family. An active family would need a dog willing to be on the go and a sedentary family might fit a laid back pup, for example.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I was a Navy (FMF) Corpsman and specialized as a medical laboratory technician. This skill has helped me tremendously with my program because I am able to do my own progesterone or brucellosis blood draws for testing. Additionally, I do my own ultrasounds for pregnancy confirmation and puppy checks during whelping, if necessary. Otherwise, I rely on our reproductive vet.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
The ALAA and WALA website offer breeder education, which is very helpful in staying up-to-date with new information. I like to get information from the Badass Breeder, Puppy Culture Program and Baxter & Bella, as well.
Pricing:
- $500 Nonrefundable deposit
- $2400 remaining balance due at 6 weeks of age.
- We do offer a 10% military discount
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.4leaflabradoodles.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/4leaflabradoodles or @4leaflabradoodles
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/4leaflabradoodles
