Water Oak Labradors

I feel like I have been around Labradors my entire life thanks to my mentors and parents, Larry and Marianne Cook. My mother tells everyone that I was born in a whelping box. We got our first Labrador in 1969. She was a yellow female named Ch. WhiteOak’s Glendora and she was out of Ch. Lockerbie Kismet. I finished her championship at a young age and we bred her to Ch. Almar’s Bobo Quivari. I kept a yellow female from the litter and we named her Ch. WhiteOak’s Laughing Gull or “Panda.” When I was only eleven years old I showed Panda at the Westminster Kennel Club in Madison Square Garden at a time when you only needed two points to enter your dog.

Panda and I went on to win Winner’s bitch, Best of Winner’s, and Best of Opposite. I chose to continue to have labradors in my life and I now run my own kennel. My labs also take part in some field work and we participate in hunt tests at a private gun club here on Long Island.

I am active in conformation shows and I enjoy showing my dogs. In 1985, I had a yellow female named Loki. We were very active in both confirmation shows and hunt tests. She was a wonderful dog, and she went everywhere with me. She was my best friend and when I had to lay her to rest, it was like putting my sister to sleep. There was not a dog that could replace her.

In 1995, my mother was showing a black female named Ch. Beachbrooks Gift of the Magi, or “Maggie”, and I fell in love with her! Emily Magnani of Beachbrook Labradors owned her and I asked Emily that if she bred Maggie, could I have a black female. At this time I was living in Florida. Maggie went on to give birth to her puppies on September 28th, 1995. It was an all black litter and the sire was Ch. Colton’s Against the Wind. I was able to get a black female and I flew into Long Island and picked the beautiful puppy up. The puppy’s name became Beachbrooks Windi O’ WaterOak. “Windi” turned out to be my foundation bitch for my entire line and she goes back to almost all of my current dogs. Thanks to Emily, Windi has given me some very beautiful dogs.

One of my most influential dogs was Beachbrook’s Melanite O’ WaterOak JH, or “Melani”. She is the daughter from Ch. Lobuff’s Bare Necessities JH and Windi. Melani obtained her junior hunter title very quickly and she is one of the smartest dogs that I have ever owned. She has won several Best Hunting Retriever at prestigious specialty shows, such as The Labrador Retriever club of Pioneer Valley and the Mid Jersey Labrador Retriever Club. Melani won Best Hunting Retriever three years in a row at the LRCPV and she was able to retire the trophy. On October 16th 2008, Melani and I competed in the Hunting Retriever class and won. We were then placed into the Best of Breed competition class. To my astonishment, Melani was chosen as Best of Opposite Sex at this prestigious specialty show over many specials and top-winning Labradors. It was definitely a day I will always remember, and Melani is definitely a once in a lifetime type of dog.