Dr. Marsha Taliaferro-Gillis is well-known around Gloucester as a clinical psychologist and as an activist in community preservation.

She gives just as much passion to breeding and showing top-of-the-line Labrador Retrievers, keeping five (with support and aid of her husband John) at their home Quailfield in Ware Neck.

Of the current population of her “babies,” Gillis has three show dogs: Moira, who has attained Champion status, and Heather and Nigel. Two littermates, Guinness and Duncan, are retired. Looking at her canine population another way, Gillis has three blacks, one chocolate and one yellow Labrador.

The Gillises have recently returned from one of the largest annual events, a show by the Labrador Retriever Club of the Potomac. Nigel and Heather, currently on the show circuit, competed there.

Moira, who attained Champion status in March at a show in Louisville, Kentucky, is destined to spend a lot of time on the circuit in coming months, shown by her handler Lis...