Meet Laurie Zalewski | Owner& Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laurie Zalewski and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Laurie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
As a former registered nurse, RN, I saw the need for well bred service dogs with predictable temperaments. We had many dogs brought in to the hospital where I worked by patients who had bad temperaments or were lacking training because they were acquired from irresponsible breeders or picked up from a shelter or rescue and expected to be able to do a certain job. Our vision was to add to the pool of service dogs. Just as not every person can be an Olympic athlete , not every dog can be a service dog. The washout rate is very high as the dog may not have the intrinsic trait of workability, may not be able to handle the rigors of public access, or may even be too social.
We temperament test( perform puppy aptitude tests) on every puppy in each litter to identify candidates. This is usually only 1 puppy in each litter. The rest of the puppies go into companion pet homes as there is a need for such puppies with predictable temperaments especially in homes with young children.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The dream of Laurie and Joe’s Labs came to fruition with the birth of our first litter in 2018. It was the hardest yet easiest litter to date. While we did everything responsibly( we had a board certified reproductive vet caring for our dam, health tested her per The Labrador Retriever Parent Club standards, used a remote birthing support service), we were initially surprised at the amount of work involved. Our first mom, Bailey, was excellent and all the puppies thrived and survived. We were so excited! But, we quickly learned that there are lab breeders on every corner and we did need to find a way to set us apart and to find great homes for our puppies. We had started off with a waiting list of family and friends who ended up backing out. We learned that great customer service went a long way in growing our clientele. Simple things like returning emails and phone calls promptly went a long way. We found that most people in the dog world don’t communicate well with people ( only dogs) so we knew we had to be able to do both in order to survive in a dog eat dog world.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We are so involved in the dog world, we haven’t taken a break since 2018. I would probably take them to the biggest local dog show featuring the largest entry of labs.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have been very fortunate to have found several key mentors to help me on my journey: 1. Myra Savant Harris:,Reproductive, maternal, and neonatal specialist. She has written a series of books on the topic, has a dedicated facebook page, and I was lucky enough to attend one of her seminars.
2. Jeanette Forrey: Owner & Founder of 4E Kennels. She introduced me to the concepts of puppy curriculum and puppy evaluations. I was lucky enough to attend one of her seminars.
3. Mark Rothe: Owner & Founder of Overlook Mountain Labradors. He has welcomed me into the cloistered world of showline Labradors.
4. Kelly Curry: Owner & Founder of Puppies Unleashed. He has welcomed me into the world of field training for Labradors.

Website: Laurieandjoeslabs.com

Instagram: LaurieZalewski

Linkedin: Laurie Smith Zalewski

Facebook: laurieandjoeslabs