Dyna is doing great! She weighs 23lbs even. She still talks alot, and loves to play & eat! She is a blessing to have, she's been easy to potty train , she sits, shakes, stays, & lays when told.Yes her best friend is a yorkies :) she thinks she is as small as him, when we got her home she was the same size as him & now she towers over him, it's adorable the way they play. She has been alot of fun, we love her so much! Thank you for sending us a true addition to our family! I will be in touch.

Tami Benson- Texas

She is laying with her buddy Gizmo (fixed male yorkie)

Briscoe is a huge but charming pup. He is now sitting to greet. People. Learns commands so quickly but forgets them when it isn't fun to remember. He is so bonded to me that he has some separation issues. He has a lot of fun at Metrodog where he gets to play with someone the same size and craziness and comes home pooped and cuddly. He loves Old Ella and is more respectful of her ears and face and wants out of crate at nite to cuddle and sleep w her. Briscoe is the best puppy. Hope u are all doing well and thank the children for their playing with the puppies and making the puppies love people so much. Joanne

Hello Lady, Hank has turned out great. I cannot thank you enough. He has not chewed on one thing, we take him everywhere. Has a great disposition. My kids consider him there brother and they both have great control of him. Looking forward to hunting him this fall. If you got a place for pheasants let me know. Hope all is well with your family. Talk to u soon. Gil

Biscuit is doing great.  He is almost 90 lbs now.  His fur is really soft and fluffy.  He has the sweetest eyes and is very muscular.  His favorite thing to do is go swimming; he is a great swimmer.  His second favorite thing to do is go for a walk or run.  He is a great running partner.  He is a great cuddler too!  He is still very sweet, very smart, very patient, very loyal, very energetic, very playful, very eager to learn, very alert to what is going on outside, and still very much a silly puppy.  He will do any trick for a treat. He loves meeting new people.  He ADORES children and is very gentle with them.  He makes us laugh every day with the goofy things he does, like growling at the couch, or chasing the sprinkler water, or inspecting the vacuum cleaner.  He likes to steal socks from the laundry basket and run around the house with them.  He likes to chase bugs and flies outside.  He never leaves our side.  Everyone in the neighborhood seems to know him as "that cute puppy over there".   We are really lucky to have him in our daily lives.  He is a dream dog.

Janine Broadway

Our dog Honey is a beautiful yellow lab we purchased from Sterling Labs.  One of my goals in purchasing a lab was to train her to be a therapy dog.  Honey has a great outgoing personality, loves people and is very trainable.  Currently, Honey has completed a course in obedience and is now working on her second class to improve her skills.  We are working with a certified therapy dog and handler to teach Honey what she will need to do once she becomes certified.  Once a week we visit a local rest home for her training.  Our goals are to pass the AKC Good Citizen Test, Therapy Dog Certification test, and to compete AKC trials for obedience.  Honey has been a great dog to train and have as a companion.  Cindy

Leslie K. Emery

Hi Mary Anne

Just wanted to say "hello"  We love our puppy she is a good girl named her "SADIE" she attends puppy day care twice a week and is a quick learner.

Everyone always ask me what kind of dog she is because of her color! I have strangers take photo's just for fun when we our out because she is so pretty!

Anita Main

Baja Limos

      Our Dog “Sam”,

We chose Sam because of the breeder, she was so nice and friendly, her family made us feel welcome, inviting us over and viewing all of the puppies, she was not pushy at all.  She allowed us several visits in making our choice, the whole family was great. We had a yellow lab for 12 years and last year he recently passed and our daughter has been ill for about 2 years and I think Sam lifts her spirits, he makes her feel good, when she isn’t really feeling well, he will lay with her for as long as it takes her to feel better, he wakes her up everyday, he makes her laugh.  Sam is very smart, at 4.5 months he sits, lays, stays, heels, and loves to learn, he even knows what his ball is. He does love to sleep (and is a bed hog). But he never means harm; I would say he is a calmer lab pup. Our other lab was very active as a puppy, Sam has never chewed anything that is ours, and he does have toys and a blanket that he loves. I would highly recommend Mary Anne Sterling puppies; Sterling Labs are everything we hoped to find in a breeder. She is very knowledgeable with the breeding and what type of breeding and the different types of labs and delivering a wonderful dog, great personalities, I loved visiting her kennels because we could actually see all of the dogs, and interact with the puppies.

One day we hope to get another and she would be the one we would call.Thank you, so much   love to all     TheWatson’s

     Loomis California

Here's our Sterling Lab "Nellie," when she and her Shiba Inu friend were babies. Nellie's one now, loving life on 15 acres in Sonoma, with our 3 year old yellow Lab Sea Biscuit, our next door neighbor's 1 year old Golden Retriever Bene, a feisty Pomeranian Lobo, several cats, squirrels to chase and a pool to swim in. She is SWEET!    Erin Collins

Here is our dreamy-eyed charmer. A really social guy who won't be separated from us. Comes every time to his name. Not a ball guy yet. Smarty who can and will open child-proof gates and French doors. At just 5 months we are still crating him if we are not home to avoid redecorating our home! Metrodog is a blessing for daycare some days and the next day he is mellow. He still learns commands in just a few tries. If only we can have the patience to continue reenforcing them! Our trainer is smitten by him and everyone he meets enjoys Briscoe. I would reAlly love to know what his litter mates are like! What a special guy. My bad--- i'm spoiling him and I am trying to do better. Regards. Joanne

Mary Anne and family,

We adore our "Sophie" she is such a joy to have around and loved by all.

Our vet breeds labs and is continually infatuated with her beautiful coloring.

He knew of "dad" and is impressed with our treasure! Way to go Rita!

We plan to take a Holiday photo of the girls and Sophie in the next couple of days, will forward a pix

with a more detailed update. Your web-site is great! 

Much thanks for a wonderful experience. 

You, your family and your labs are truly a treasure.

Chris Gray 

We just celebrated our 1 year anniversary with our boy, Luke.  Throughout this last year he has become such a wonderful part of our family.  He’s funny, gentle and loveable.  We love to take Luke to the river where he is so happy to run, play, and swim, yet always has a protective eye on the kids.  We’ve received so many compliments from others on what a good looking dog he is and we can only agree.  He is wonderful to work with and so eager to please.  We couldn’t have asked for a better companion for our family. 

Thank you so much! 

The Naso Family.

Hi Mary Anne,

I wanted to let you know we're really having a good time with Buddy. We've got a dog trainer coming over once a week to train us, I mean the dog. We've installed a doggy door, which he likes. He's pretty much potty trained. We've got him sleeping in a kennel at night. He's a really good dog, the whole family loves him. 

How's his brothers and sisters doing? We have some friends that may be interested.

Thanks for sending us his papers, we did register him. 

Bryan and Shelby Fairchild

A note from the Weber family.

We have hit the jackpot choosing Mary Anne for our breeder at Sterling Labs.  Hank is just the most amazing puppy (what parent would not say this :-).  He is incredibly smart, he listens well, sleeps through the night and is fully potty\crate trained at just three months old.  He is a great puppy, loves the kids so much and learns very fast.  He already knows how to sit, stay, and lay down.  He goes everywhere and is well adjusted.  We are such a lucky family to have him in our lives and are grateful for the Sterling kids spending so much time with him when he was a newbie...many thanks to Sterling Labs for producing great puppies.

I'm not sure what Buddy weighed when these were taken just this week but he weighed 90 lbs about three weeks ago.

Geoff

my name is kelsey and i got   a female choc lab from you in august. i just wanted to send you some pics and let you know she is a very awesome dog and we lover her so much we named her Kabella bear star thompson she is almost 55 lbs already.  She is healthy and very very active she loves all the other dogs and gets along very well thank you so much for my puppy!!

Mary Anne:

I write to thank you again for providing such a wonderful dog to our family.  We registered him with the AKC and his full name is Augustus Pliny Walker aka "Auggie."  He is a beautiful dog with a great disposition.  And, he seems to grow between morning and night getting bigger every day!  Here are a few photos of him taken in the last week.  We'll check back with you again in the coming weeks/months.

Gratefully,

The Walkers

Hello Mary Anne,

Here is Frodo; photos as promised!

Thanks,

Geeta

Dyna is in Christmas stocking heaven this morning! Have a Merry Christmas!

The Benson Family

from Texas

I just wanted to give you a heads up on Molly’s progress.  She has been excellent.  I already have her fetching, sitting, shaking and going to her crate when I say “bed”.  The kids have really taken to her as well.  I have attached a few pics for you and your family.  Let your kids know that she is very well loved and in a great home.    Take care. Steve Brown

Hi Mary Anne,

I just wanted to thank you again for providing us with the best possible companion we could have ever asked for. She's a total goof, a loyal sweetheart, and a kind soul to everyone she meets.

Funny thing happened the other day, and that is that we met a half brother to Honeybear. His name is Leo and his dad is Jeb from Sugar Pine. It was so funny! I was at the dog park, and up comes this adorable little puppy. I was half in shock because he had the same markings and sweet face as my dog. The owner came up we realized that our pups are related. How cute is that? They spent an hour playing together.

I really don't know what I did before I had HB. She is such a blessing and I love her so very much.

Thank you.

Irene

Thought you would like to see Sam he was 7 months at the time of the photo's, he is now 8 months and we will be sending more photo's time to time, he is achieving a great personality and learning quickly. He is very spoiled. However, he does have training classes and so far he has graduated from both and is getting ready to go into advance. He is rather large, but doesn't realize he is a big dog, so he is very powerful when he tries to get close to some. He loves going to the dog park, and he loves to nap. He gets so excited when he gets to go on walks. I think he is very smart, but that could be because I think he is very cute. Take care love the pics and all of the puppies....I read your blog, I was sad, take care and if you ever need anything call me.....love the Watson's and Sam of course...... 

Rhonda K. Watson

Hi Mary Anne,

The family is really enjoying our new edition: Maya.

Hope you and your family are well. - Javier  

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Mary,

These were taken on January 2nd at the Sierra Buttes - he was only 10 weeks old.

I have more recent photos of him.

Now Sutter is probably close to 40 pounds.  We just got back from a 3 mile walk.  

What an amazing dog he is.  Heels perfectly on the leash and follows me nicely off it.  Completely house broken. Sits on command. Loves to run.

And so beautiful.

I don't know much about show quality, but Sutter must be close to it.

Enjoy the photos.  And if you know of anyone looking for a wedding photographer...

Sutter is the most amazing dog that I have ever owned.  He fills a very big hole in my heart.  So smart. So beautiful.  So perfect in every way.

Thanks, Gary

I had heard of dogs that visit people in rest homes, hospitals and disabled children but it wasn’t until we got our dog Honey from Sterling Labs that I began to research just exactly what Therapy dogs do.  The more I learned the more I felt that Honey would be a good dog to do that type of work.  There is a lot of training involved and several steps to be accomplished before a dog becomes a Certified Therapy Dog. 

My husband and I picked up Honey on January 18, 2009; she was a cute, big brown eyed, yellow lab.  I began training right away with potty training, crate training, basic commands and some tricks.  Honey was eager to please and very treat motivated.  She would sit there and look at us as if to say, “What do you want me to do now?” 

At four months I enrolled Honey in a puppy class.  Mostly it was for socialization and some training.  At six months we began more formal training.  In this class she learned her basic obedience skills, as well as, heeling on and off leash.  We did a total of 20 weeks of class ending when she was 11 months old.

During this training time, I tried to find someone who had a Therapy Dog that I could train with.  One day the paper featured a woman who has a Therapy dog and told what she does.   I contacted her and she was very supportive.  I now meet with her once a week at a local care home to train Honey on learning her new job.  She loves to go and see the people and they love her.  The Alzheimer’s patients look forward to her visits and they have a chance to pet her and talk to her,  she also entertains them with her tricks.  She brings a lot of joy to both the patients and staff. 

Honey has also had the opportunity to go to a Harvest Festival at a school for handicapped children.  They also loved seeing and petting her.  My hope is that she will work with both the elderly and handicapped children.  

Just short of one year, Honey passed her Canine Good Citizen test.  This was the first step toward Therapy Dog Certification.  Our next step is for Honey to get her Companion Title from AKC.  She will need to pass three shows in Obedience.  She will be doing this in April and May.  After that, it will be a matter of when she is ready for Certification.  A Therapy Dog tester will observe her three times in various care homes to see if she is ready to be certified.  She has to pass everything on the test; if she fails any of it she will not be certified.

Another part of training Honey is taking her places in public.  She wears a vest that says she is in training and I take her around town to various stores.  While in public, she needs to heel and match my speed whether it is fast or slow.  She has to watch for turns and sit automatically when I stop.  She also needs to sit before going through a doorway.  I have met many nice people when I am out and many ask me questions about what I am doing.  The store owners and employees have been very supportive and are always asking about her progress.

Currently, Honey is almost 15 months old.  My goal for Honey is to get certification sometime between 18 and 24 months.  Then I will decide where Honey will go for her Therapy visits.  As we go along, we will see what best fits Honey and her personality.  Another opportunity we have is for Honey to become a Red Cross Therapy Dog, there she will bring joy and comfort to those in difficult situations and be a representative for the Red Cross.

It is important when training a dog for a job that they get time to be a dog.  She gets to play with other dogs and have time off leash in a field or orchard to run and sniff.  She likes to play fetch and  hide and seek with her toys.   She loves to be with us whether around the house or working around in the yard.  The main thing is that when the vest is on it is time to work and she needs to be obedient and do what I say.  They need to know the difference between playtime and working time.

Training a dog to be a Therapy dog has been a lot more work than I thought it would be.  It takes time, patience, consistency and a lot of love.  The rewards are huge; you have an obedient dog that is a pleasure to take places with you, and you have the opportunity to bring joy and happiness into people’s lives when they are in a difficult situation, depressed or lonely.  Honey and I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything else in the world.    

MADDIE AND GUS PUPPY IS STUDYING TO BE A CERTIFIED THERAPY DOG

Hi Mary Anne,

Bailey is doing very well. She visited my parent's ranch, met our labs and ran around the hills. We will be going back to Sonora this weekend to visit and get her last set of shots. She is adjusting well to San Jose and is doing very well in her house training. She just adores playing with her toys, but most of all I have found she loves to sleep! I have also found she loves to watch the T.V! Thank you so much for such a great pup, she has not cried a single night and sleeps through without any accidents, I am enjoying her immensely. I hope all is well at Sterling Labs. I included a few pictures for you of Bailey.

- Becky Macedo

Hello Mary Anne

Syrah is doing very well she has adjusted to our family and friend greatly.

Loves walking and camping. Took her to the vet for her procedure and she is doing well calmed her down a bit but she is still very fun to be with.

Thanks for a great friend.

Archie (Adpoted a retired silver female)

Pictures to follow

Hello Mary Anne, 

Thank you so much for our puppy. Duke has been a wonderful addition to our family. He has been full of energy and happiness. Each day he has discovered or learned something new; his new thing is sitting by the door waiting to come back in after he has gone out.  Duke is almost 9 weeks old and he is already getting big he loves to play with all the toys and loves to sleep right on our feet.  I cant thank you enough for Duke we love him so so much! He has been full of love and excitement. Heres a few pictures I thought I would share.

Take care 

-Amanda & Bob Apgar

Dear Mary Anne , Briscoe remains the light of our household. At 80 lb and 10 months he is lean, tall and beautiful and still evokes frequent compliments from strangers. He is smart and likes to render his opinion melodically especially If waiting is involved. He helps my husband do his back exercises on the floor each morning chewing a bone next to him--or sometimes he puts it on his tummy. I hear frequent chuckles which I never heard before. I am still having to walk to dog park twice a day for over an hour if I Mean to have some time to do tasks or errands. This remains the most effective diet I know. Our Briscoe is so social that he stops to study each new person that passes and he personally greets every dog and person at the park. We feel so lucky that we have "Brisky" every single day. Hope your family and dogs are doing well. Joanne

Dear Mary Anne,

We would like to thank you, your family, and of course Parris and Buddy for our wonderful puppy, Houdini. We (or rather he) decided on his name after he managed to wiggle the latch to his pen open the first day he was with us.  He's very obedient and extremely inquisitive. Houdini is extremely easy to train and hasn't "destroyed" anything he wasn't supposed to.  He has brought immense joy to us since becoming a member of our family.

I have attached a few pictures of Houdini. He's growing up so fast that it's hard to capture him in all his stages of growth! Currently he weighs 48 pounds and he is just shy of his 5 month birthday.

Thank you!

The Singh Family

 Hey Mary Anne,

I just wanted to thank you so much for Charley, he is the best puppy ever!! He is about to be 5 months old now and is doing great. He knows how to come, sit, down, give us his paw, and lovessss to run around the orchards. I couldn't ask for a better dog. I have attached a couple of pictures for you,

Thanks again!!

Best,

Jen Driscoll

Greetings Mary Anne and troops,

Sophie is now ten months and again we say Rita you have done GOOD!

She is by far the best, smartest, loving and behaved dog we have ever

had.  We went away on a week long college tour and my dad and his girlfriend

watched Sophie for us and they are in LOVE! I will be contacting you soon or they will.

Love to send business your way it was so easy and a joy to work with you and your children.

Hope everyone is well.

All the best

Chris Gray and gang!

Hi Mary Anne,

My Dad and Houdini are best buddies. Since my dad is retired, he and Houdini spend every waking moment together.  On the weekends he's been accompanying me to my boyfriend's rugby games. All the spectators and guys on team adore him.  I will send more pictures as he grows!

Hope you and your family are doing well!

Aziza

(Houdini is a black male from Tonka and Buddy)

Hi Mary Anne!

Sorry we haven't sent you a note in a while to let you  know how Jane Austen is

doing!  I hope you had a wonderful Easter and that everyone is healthy and

happy.  We absolutely love our puppy.  She is so much fun!  She turned 5 months

on the 10th and we can't believe how big she is getting.  It will be interesting to

see how big she is when she is full grown!

We took our 10 day vacation to Florida and she and Ruby (the Corgi) stayed at

home with a 20 year-old housesitter, who spoiled both of them royally!  So,

there was no need for us to worry about leaving her.  

We took her to the river for the first time yesterday and today.  She had a great

time and was so much fun to watch.  We're going to make it a family outing

every weekend now that the weather is better.   She is doing great with her

training, especially lease training.  We take her for an hour walk everyday

(well...we TRY to get out for that long everyday).   She loves hanging out with

Paul in the backyard and the girls in the house.   She is getting much better

house manners too!

Thanks again and have a great week!

Brenda Saldana

(Parris & Buddy Puppy)

This is Sutter he is a Buddy and Tonka puppy at 7 months old.

Mary-Anne:

Just wanted to drop a note saying hello and to let you know that Hank is growing up and is about to hit his 1st Birthday in August.  He is an amazing dog and has all of our friends and neighbors amazed at his demeanor, smarts, and overall good charm.  He's been the perfect pup.  I hope you, your family and your businesses are all doing well.

Thanks again

Sam Weber

--

This is a Bella puppy

Hi Mary Anne, 

I just wanted to pass along some pictures of Pepper. She is a great little companion and having a great time! Thanks again for raising a great little pup! 

Keep in touch!

Kerstyn 

Mary Anne-

Week 1 with Guinness feels like he's been with us forever.  He's sleeping with his favorite toy, a stuffed Mallard, and doing great. Crazily enough, he's slept through the night every night!  

Take care.

Scott.

Hi Mary Anne,

Thanks again. We love the little girl.

Here's a couple pics.

Cheers,

Roy

Honey is doing very well.  I will be setting up some places to visit this month.  We are going to do a couple of Rest Homes and hopefully get started visiting a school with either autistic or handicapped children.  I have a feeling once we start checking we will find many places that would like a Therapy Dog.  We are going to limit it to three places to start.  I am sending a picture I took of Honey that is on her Therapy Dog ID card.

Hope to see you soon!

Cindy Pitter

Hello Mary Anne,

I've attached some pictures of Mariah taken on our rafting trip of the Salmon River in Idaho.  She is a delight - but a pistol - all rolled up in one.  We sure forgot the demands of raising a puppy!  (She's GREAT when she's asleep!)

Hope all is well.

Rand and Susie Dericco

Hi...i hope all is well. I wanted to send some more pic's of Abe. This

is at our place in Tahoe. We are looking forward to his last shots soon

so we can let him out on the beach. Sorry we missed you at the fair I

hope your kids placed well in the show. Talk to you soon. Just so you

know Abe is the king of our little world we love him like crazy.

Mary Anne-

Just sending a recent picture of Guinness. He's 4 months today and doing fantastic. He can't get enough of the pool, but he's a good boy and only goes in when given the ok.

Hope all is well with you.

Scott Campbell.