The White Coats of Bainbridge
By Jane Singleton

Early on frosty Kentucky mornings—or any morning, for that matter—passersby pause, smile, and enjoy the moment when Joe Demichael, DVM, aka Dr. D and his fifteen white-coated Labrador Retrievers come bounding out of the house for a romp around the ranch.

“All my dogs live in my home. I have a thousand-square-foot dog room for them and several acres where we run and play and work together. It’s a wonderful sight to see fifteen to seventeen white-coated pups take off running across a field, contrasting with the green grass. It’s fabulous!” explained Dr. D.

It’s a wonderful way for the pups to begin life in preparation for the people who are waiting in line to welcome these pups into their homes. “That’s the way I want it,” Dr. D said, “but it’s a sacrifice, too. I’m not your normal family man, you know; all of these wonderful dogs are members of my family and descendants of my incredible and devoted friend Bainbridge. But think about entertaining—you know you can’t bring a “china doll” in here with fifteen dogs in the house. And that’s OK with me.”

But back to the time before the Lab named Bainbridge came into Dr. D’s life; before all the puppies and Dr. D’s greeting cards business. Back to a time when Dr. D didn’t have the slightest idea of how the Lab named Bainbridge would inspire him.

Born and raised in Connecticut, Dr. D moved to Minnesota to increase his chances of being accepted to the University of Minnesota’s veterinarian program. He was raising Siberian Huskies at the time and had a small sled team. “I never competed with them,” Dr. D said. “I just worked them because that was what they loved to do.”

While still in vet school at the University of Minnesota, working in the ophthalmology department, Dr. D was given his first Lab. A breeder brought a Lab in who had eye problems. It turned out she was going blind so Dr. D took her home. Later they both moved to Seattle where he had accepted a position in the thoroughbred horse industry.

It was then on to Lexington, Kentucky the horse capital of the world, were Dr. D was hired as Director of Veterinary Services for, at the time, the largest equine thoroughbred operation in the country. While there, Dr. D served as advisor to and formed a friendship with a thoroughbred horse breeder from England who traveled to Lexington from time to time to buy horses at the Keeneland Sales.

“We talked now and then after he went back to Europe—about sick foals or one thing and another. About a year later, my friend called from England and asked if I was still interested in another Lab pup. I said yes, but didn’t ask for details.” Although Dr. D didn’t know it until later, his new Lab pup was the pick of the litter from a breeding from one of Queen Elizabeth’s Labradors, and it was a thank you gift from the English horse breeder.

When the new pup arrived at the Lexington airport, Dr. D went to pick her up. It was a day he says he will never forget. “There was this pure-white puppy that I’d never seen anything like before in my life,” he said. “I was completely overjoyed beyond words. She looked like a polar bear cub —not merely light, but white-coated with a black nose and deep dark eyes. I could not have dreamed of a dog such as this. I didn’t know such a Labrador existed and I certainly didn’t have the slightest concept of what she would come to mean in my life. I named her Bainbridge after the northwest’s Bainbridge Island, which I always loved. Bainbridge became my companion, along with Winslow, my very yellow, yellow Lab.”

“Bainbridge made my rounds with me, from barn to barn. Anytime there was a foaling, she couldn’t wait to get nose-to-nose with the foal. She’d either run along side the car as I was going from barn to barn, or she’d be in the back of the vehicle, depending on where we were going and what the terrain was. She was my constant companion,” Dr. D said. “Yes, Bainbridge was ‘royally’ bred, and that’s a great story to tell. But her importance lies in what she has gone on to be, what she has accomplished, and what she is known for with my guidance only, not my plan, if you will. I just kind of steered the ship wherever it was going.”



When the time was right, Dr. D bred Bainbridge to AKC Judge, Sally Bell’s dog. Her first litter went across the country—one pup to a physician friend in Los Angeles, another to a family in Maine—all around. As those pups were raised, everyone raved about them to Dr. D. And, he said, new owners often exclaimed that they’d had Lab pups before, but never one like Bainbridge’s offspring. Soon, friends of the people who had the first litter were calling Dr. D and asking for “a pup just like their friend’s pup.”

As the litters grew, so did the dogs’ place in Dr. D’s life. It turned out the love of the Bainbridge Lab didn’t stop with the pups, people wanted more, more memorabilia that is; Christmas cards and calendars. It seemed to Dr. D., that he had Bainbridge to thank for his success in the breeding business, and now—the greeting card business.

The first cards were very basic and reproduced on a photocopier, but the images of the pups were always exceptional. And soon, with requests for more and more cards as well as calendars, Dr. D’s group gradually began to produce a fine looking product. “It just happened naturally,” he said. “We always take a lot of pictures. I have a nice background of land, lots of pups all the time, lots of dogs doing what they do every day, and we take their photos.”

In Dr. D’s own words: “Our underlying theme for creating each and every Labrador greeting card is constant and really quite unique. Every photograph used to fashion our cards is that of a Bainbridge Labrador taken in their natural environment. Hundreds of images are captured for every one that becomes a greeting card or note card. No studio shoots, no computer generations, no pop art applications … nothing but a genuine “home on the ranch” feel to each and every card. Once we have arrived at an image we like well enough to use, it’s just a matter of letting the photo “speak” to us in order to tell its message in the form of a caption to use in the card. That’s how it’s done … and that’s what makes us unique! The fact that Labradors are the most popular dogs in America has nothing to do with us using them on our cards.”

Dr. D says he is a scientist at heart, not an artist, but agrees that there seems to be art intertwined in his greeting card business. “I know myself. I accumulate facts and I evaluate data. That’s how I was trained. I learned a long time ago to meet major goals by identifying what I need to do and then doing it. Then it’s not up to chance anymore; you follow the checklist. That narrows the odds from 10-1 to even money,” he said. As a vet, you’ve got to accumulate data and make decisions every day of the week. And that’s a scientist, not an artist. But because I appreciate beautiful animals, maybe that’s where the art comes into play.” Dr. D and friend Kim Rubin take all the photos which are a simple and beautiful tribute to Bainbridge and a glimpse into Dr. D’s life with the dogs.

People often ask Dr. D why he doesn’t put his dogs in the show ring. His answer is this: “My champions don’t come from the show ring; my champions are with families around the country who tell me their Bainbridge Lab is the best dog they ever had.”

After a full and incredibly loving life, Bainbridge died in October of 2001at the age of 15 years. Dr. D and the descendants of Bainbridge, a span of four generations, came to Bainbridge one-by-one to tell her goodbye. “I take such incredible comfort in knowing that throughout the United States and the world beyond,” said Dr. D, “the spirit of Bainbridge, and the joy that she brought to so many families, will live on—bringing a giggle to the lips of a small child in Connecticut, a smile to the face of a woman in California, and the deepest gratitude from the heart of this man in Kentucky. Thank you, Bridge.”