Hi folks, I have been scouting around to try and find a Lab retriever puppy that I can afford. It seems to me that many breeders are just taking advantage of the COVID and the lockdown situation. I truly hope when the situation becomes normal again these people will accept responsibility for any labs been "dumped" as owners cannot keep them anymore. Anyway, in talking to a few breeders I have noticed a certain resistance to registering with the Kennel Club. What does come through often is that the Kennel club is just a money making organisation that issues certificates for money and very rarely conduct reliable checks or audits on their members. Two breeders said the only time they hear from the KC is when their membership is about to expire!!! The reason I raise this topic is that 18 months have passed since I lost my Shandyboy and feel I am now ready to take on a pup and give him a great life. I have moved and now live in a rural area in Angus and have access to hundreds of great walks, rivers, streams, forrests etc. I am desperately seeking a honest breeder who would be prepared to help me with a pup. I am not asking for somebody to just simply give me one, but somebody who would read my story and understand my situation. I do have some money saved up but certainly cannot afford the current prices. Could I ask this, is KC registered that important and does this help to inflate the prices with other factors. Thanks members, I hope you and your families all stay safe and well, have a super Christmas and don't forget, your pal lying lying on the floor also deserves a present. .......John
I just had a look on the Champdogs website and can’t believe there are some on there for £2500. Most didn’t state the price. Personally I think health testing is far more important than KC registered but I don’t know if they are connected. I know the kennel club restricts the number of registered litters a dog can have. Personally we bought from a top assured breeder with heaps of paperwork/license etc and still have an unhealthy dog. Could you not look for a rescue dog?If money is an issue going forward make sure you have a good insurance policy in place. Hope you manage to find what you are looking for soon.
We paid £2,200 for our lad. It was 100%, without a shadow of a doubt, worth it (even though we know that before lockdown, we would have been able to pay half that price)! We waited for five years to get a dog - ensuring that we were capable of looking after him etc in the long run. His mum was not KC Registered and his dad was. Mum was a family pet who had an amazing temperament and was quite lovely. Dad was HUGE and beautiful. We were looking for a family pet to love, adore and spoil - so for us, good health and temperament were paramount (but we didn’t care if our dog had a wonky tail or six toes as we had no intention to “show” our dog). We looked for a puppy for six months and what I found was (and this is just my experience! 1) KC Registered breeders did not come back to me, and if they did, they were acerbically rude because I did not want to show my dog. 2) Puppies temperament was not as important to these breeders. 3) When we did finally see a KC registered breeder, the puppies hadn’t been socialised and although they were healthy, something felt off. Our lad is 20 months old now and he has monthly vet check ups - so far, so good. He has mum’s temperament and dad’s build.
@Shandyboy you raise a very good question. One too I have been pondering about. Since lockdown certainly in the U.K. the acquisition of dogs has escalated beyond belief and with that there have been massive price rises, poor breeders, scams and huge amounts of dog thefts. More than ever dogs have become a commodity. It is so sad. I don’t know anymore how you find an “honest breeder” anymore as even the registered KC Champdogs are charging £2500-£3000. Before lockdown those prices were about £1000. If you look on Pets4Homes there are umpteen young pedigree dogs already being sold on. There is going to be a whole new generation of behavioural problems looming. I think I now would either go through rescue and have an older dog, or I would try and find a dog through word of mouth. I hope you find your next buddy, sounds like they would have a marvellous life with you.
Thanks JD. A five star insurance is included in my budget. The ongoing costs, month on month have all been calculated including incidentals the best I can. My problem is that I didnt forsee the crazy escalation of prices. 'Im wondering how KC would respond to this.
Just my thoughts for what it's worth. I would definitely only buy a KC registered labrador. The reason being that I can not only check the hip/elbow scores (and all other test results) for the parents, but also for other pups from those dogs, their parents, siblings etc. Regarding the prices, I am aware of a few breeders who are advertising at high prices (due to the fear of puppies being bought cheap and sold on) but actually selling at more 'normal' prices once the potential owners have been vetted. Breeders are currently reluctant to register litters due to the absolute and utter shambles the KC have made while transferring onto their new system. Breeders have registered puppies in October and still not received their papers and are having to sell the puppies without their paperwork.
Hi Josiepie, you are right in many aspects. I have found ma few breeders out there pretending to care for the welfare of the pup but are really in it for the money. I have also encountered a few people who just dont come across right. I am so scared to perpetuate the puppy farming trade. There are also breeders who give the impression that you are lucky they are talking to you.
Hi 5labs, I would be so grateful if you could get these reasonable breeders to contact me please. Vetting is not a problem at all
Hi, Hope you are well. We recently got a KC registered lab puppy at the end of September, I can vouch that there are plenty of responsible breeders out there that are not charging ridiculous lockdown inflation prices. We would not expect to pay more than £1,800 at most for any KC reg retriever breed. Agree completely with 5labs reply, those are the same reasons for which we would only ever get KC registered pups. We started our research and contacting breeders at the end of June and had a puppy by end of September. To note this can take much longer depending on waiting list availability and we got super lucky through breeder word of mouth. Regarding Kennel Club website - yes the website transfer was shambles, and paperwork has a backlog. We took puppy home, and received our papers maybe 3/4 weeks afterwards from our breeder. That shouldn't be an excuse not to register a litter. If you wish to follow the KC route, here are my tips that I've learnt from chatting with responsible breeders and my own research: 1) Please do NOT buy from pets4homes. So many of these ads are from puppy farms/scams. You can see the adverts that have poorly written English and make up garbage health tests. I read one along lines of: "this is the most health tested dog in the country" Also found many ask for large non refundable deposits. Even if they are valid ads, the prices always seem to be extortionate. I avoided for peace of mind. 2) Champdogs is a brilliant website with a pinch of salt. Dogs only need to be health tested to be on the website (I.e. kc registered is not requirement and you can't filter by it). Pay the £10 or so for the litter update functionality - it's worth it to be notified. I think this covers 3 months. Again watch out for those charging extortionate prices and don't be afraid to ask prices from breeders who don't advertise them. The effort needs to come from you - breeders are being contacted in the 100s and won't have time to get in touch with you to make initial contact, be proactive. We searched by local counties but quickly had to widen the distance to most of England (includes Ireland, Scotland and Wales too as countries). By breeder, we cross-checked current parents and previous litters back to KC website health tests. If they don't exist on KC website, I suggest you ask the breeder for copies of tests up front. We ruled out all non KC registered from the beginning and saved time. We wrote a "mini CV" as an initial introduction message and sent it to select breeders that we thought were great. This just contained basic info such as our names, location, contact details, job details, hours and lifestyle. Easier for a busy breeder to reply to someone who already helps them halfway. Be patient and considerate, I usually gave most breeders a week or two to get back and then followed up. If no reply then I crossed them off. Majority will get back to you soon to say when they are expecting / not. I built up relationships with maybe 2/3 breeders who were all expecting/planning for different times (some in early 2021!) and kept in touch fairly regularly. If you do find a puppy, ensure to cross yourselves off any lists you're on (I went back and rang so they don't have to chase me when they have litters next year). Be super patient, be kind and good luck!
