I’m thinking of buying a registered Labrador pup. I usually adopt rescue Greyhounds but fancy a change due to me wanting a more trainable family pet. I’m not in a rush, would rather leave it till after the Summer but can somebody advise me how to select a good breeder and how much money I would be looking at to buy? I would only buy from a registered breeder who has the relevant Health checks for both parents but looking on line is a mind field and Covid 19 seems to of turned things crazy.
Hi Craig It is indeed a mine field and I wish you luck in your search! That you aware of the necessity of health testing is a great starting point. I am not sure if we are allowed to make recommendations, but Champdogs in the UK is a good place to look. Where abouts are you based? When you contact breeders, make sure you give them plenty of information about your personal situation and what you are looking for. Good breeders receive a lot of emails and I personally don't even bother to reply to any that say "do you have any puppies available and how much are they". Once you have made contact, a good sign of a good breeder is that they will give you the seventh degree of questions, to check that one of their precious pups is going to the right home. Price wise is a very difficult one. There are many many non health tested and/or non registered litters on sites like Pets4Homes going for £3k +. This puts ethical breeders in a difficult situation. Do they price higher because theirs is a well planned, well bred, well raised litter and risk getting a reputation as a "greeder", or do they price lower and risk people buying a pup to sell on at a higher price?! Looking at the market at the moment, I would expect to pay around £2000 for a well bred, well raised litter, from someone who is breeding for the right reasons, rather than for the money.
Thanks for the info it’s appreciated as I’m still researching the prospect. I’ll make my mind up later in the year as to which way I go. Love the idea of bringing a puppy up to be part of the family and train it into being our ideal pet. We’ve had 2 rescue adult Greyhounds, the second being an ex racer. Both were beautiful but hard to train the instinct to chase out of them. My wife grew up with Labs and it seems like the ideal family dog for us now with kids aged 6 and 8 years old, however if £2000 ish is the going rate for a responsibly bred healthy pup I may have to have an even longer think about it.
Champdogs is the best. I found our breeder through the site then I cross-checked parents and health tests back to the KC website. To flag that you will need to get yourself on a waiting list (they are long) and build up a relationship with the breeder. We paid £1500 for our boy and this felt reasonable to us (the last family labrador was £700 odd 20 years ago!) You won't regret it once pup is home - he's changed our lives for the better
I’m torn which is why I’ll give it some serious thought. We’ve always rescued dogs which is rewarding in itself but I do fancy a change. Ild rather pay more now for a healthy pup than pay more later on, financially and emotionally with the pit falls of a none health checked pup. I’ve found lots of KC breeders around the NE so guess when the times right I’ll dig a little deeper. I thought Ild be looking at hundreds not thousands but I’m definitely out of touch with dog prices.
Perhaps you could also sign up with relevant army/police/guide dog websites for working puppies that don't pass training? You might come across puppies at labrador specific rescue too. Glad you've managed to find some KC breeders your way. Best of luck whatever you decide!
Prices have shot up. When we bought ours 3 years ago via Champdogs the average price was £800-£900. The feeling seems to be there will be a lot of dogs being rehomed from all the lockdown puppies.
I think the rehoming sites will be chockablock with puppies sooner or later. Slogans like “a puppies not just for Covid” etc. Once people go back to there lives and haven’t prepared there dogs for extended times alone will be the start. I’ll keep on thinking/researching about it for now though
